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Melting Pot: Hot Glass Gathering

A two-day international gathering of hot glass blowing expertise and innovation, with talks and live demonstrations from expert glass blowers including Netflix ‘Blown Away’ winner Elliot Walker.

Arts University Plymouth hosted Melting Pot: Hot Glass Gathering, on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 March 2022, as part of the UK’s national celebrations for the United Nations-designated International Year of Glass.

Beginners and professionals in glass, as well as members of the public, were invited to experience the drama and beauty of hot glass, blown in real time by some of the world’s leading glass artists.

Organised and curated by Gayle Matthias, artist and Arts University Plymouth’s Subject Leader for BA (Hons) Craft & Material Practices, Melting Pot brought together live-streamed and in person hot-glass demonstrations and lectures with some of the most exciting artists working in glass today.

Featured artists and studios included Elliot Walker, this year's UK-based winner of the Netflix series 'Blown Away'; Wave Glass in Murano, Italy; Blowfish Glass founder Bethany Wood, and the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Melting Pot also featured regional collaborations in England with the Contemporary Glass Society (which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2022), Rhizome (a collective of Arts University Plymouth glass artist alumni), Cornwall Ceramics and Glass Group, and Teign Valley Glass in Devon.

Friday 18 March | Demonstrations in the Hot Glass Studios at Arts University Plymouth

Saturday 19 March | Demonstrations in the Hot Glass Studios at Arts University Plymouth

Elliot Walker c Simon Bruntnell
Visiting Artist
Bethany Wood c Simon Bruntnell
Visiting Artist
Roberto Beltrami Chief production and Glass master 4 scaled
Visiting Artist
Plymouth College of Art Alumnus Benjamin Lintell at Wave Murano Glass Venice
Visiting Artist & Alumni
Copy of Gayle Matthias
Senior Lecturer & Subject Leader
Ian Hankey glass copy
Fab Lab Principal Technician
Ben Bavin
Glass Artist & Alumni
Colin Wilkes
Glass Artist & Alumni
Ian Palfrey
Glass Artist & Alumni
Laura Quinn visiting artist and alumni of Plymouth College of Art
Visiting Artist & Alumni