Canadian/American artist Laura Donefer has used glass as the primary medium in her art for 30+ years. Mentoring/teaching is equally important to Laura, who has taught at Espace Verre since 1988 and at Pilchuck, Penland and Corning Museum of Glass for decades. Laura is the notorious instigator behind the Glass Fashion Show, the next one being at the Glass Art Society conference in 2026! She is joining us to share the History of the Glass Fashion Show and invite our community to participate.

Laura Donefer, a celebrated and award-winning glass artist and educator, will discuss the history of her groundbreaking Glass Fashion Shows. In 2018, Donefer organized the “Glass Fashion Show in Boats” with 33 glass costumes in 12 gondolas, which traveled along a canal in Murano, Italy. She has been using glass as the primary medium in her work for 40 years, often combining it with diverse materials. 

Laura Donefer is an award-winning artist born in Ithaca, NY and raised in Quebec, Canada. Donefer trained as a glass artist at Sheridan College School of Craft and Design in Ontario, graduating in 1985. Donefer has been staff in the glass department at Sheridan College and permanent part time faculty at Espace Verre in Montreal for over 28 years, helping to mold the school with her dynamic classes. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions, including shows at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in Japan, the Museo del Vidrio in Mexico, the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal and the Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai, China. Her work is in many public and private collections, including the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Art & Design in New York and the Museum of Fine Art in Quebec City. Her honors include two Lifetime Achievement awards from the Glass Art Association of Canada and from Craft Ontario, the Honorary Membership Awards from the Glass Art Society and the International Flame Working award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Glass Art World, as well as recognition from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.

This event is supported by the Temple University General Activities Fund. 
 

Image: Laura Donefer at a Glass Art Society Conference.