From its founding in the 1960s by glass artist Robert Held (Fig. 1), the glass working program at Sheridan has produced alumni and fostered experiences that have helped to shape the landscape of studio glass in Canada as we see it today (Details Fine Art Gallery). 

If you’ve made it this far into the project, you’ve probably come to understand that the legacy of this program is the community it has created. It inspired the creation of other glass education programs throughout the country, and has often served as the proverbial glue that keeps the Canadian studio glass movement the cohesive entity it is today (van Moss et al.). Beyond institutional settings, there are likely many studios and private craft practices similar to my own throughout Canada that can trace their roots back to the hotshop at Sheridan College. It’s been my privilege throughout the formation of this project to engage with the community and history that Sheridan College has created in order to highlight the value of Sheridan’s legacy and contributions to the Canadian studio glass movement since its inception. There are, no doubt, innumerable ways this institution and the experiences it tends to elicit through its students, faculty, and alumni that have affected the trajectory and development of this contemporary artistic movement. It's therefore my sincere desire that by expounding on the legacy and history of glass at Sheridan College, that I can illustrate its importance as a bastion of studio glass in this country, and communicate the tragedy of its potential demise.

While we were lucky to hear the good news from Koen Vanderstukken during the roundtable discussion that the Sheridan’s administration has reconsidered to its position and committed to an ongoing future of the program, I don’t believe this detracts from highlighting the importance of its legacy (van Moss et al.). Institutions like Sheridan College and AU Arts offer entry points for uniquely Canadian centered craft education with industry leading facilities and top tier community support (Black). This is not only achieved through excellence in education, but through an extension of that community into grander, more enriching experiences like the founding of the cooperative Glen Williams Glass Studio in the mid 1990s by then (and current) Sheridan hot-glass instructor Andy Kuntz alongside a group of Sheridan alumni (Gorrie). The cooperative operation at Glen Williams is still ongoing today almost three decades later, offering work space for glass workers through membership in the co-op and opportunities for the public to engage with this community through events and lessons (Glen Williams Glass). Similarly, the glass studio at AU Arts where I am now completing my graduate studies was founded by Sheridan College graduate Norman Faulkner in the 1970s, and this list continues with what is, to my knowledge, Canada’s only French language glass education program at E’space Verre (Norman Faulkner - AFA Virtual Museum; Daniel Crichton — Glass Artist). I think it’s clear to see from this alone that Sheridan’s role and legacy in creating these additional educational opportunities, entry points, and pipelines into the Canadian art glass community is undeniable.

With that said, this is not the only legacy Sheridan has to offer through the work of its faculty and alumni, with perhaps one the best examples being Sheridan’s role in creating the hit Netflix reality show Blown Away. A competitive reality series focused on pitting some of the most creative minds the studio glass industry has to offer in competition with one another, it was Sheridan College faculty, students, and alumni who provided the knowledge and highly skilled labor that allowed for the show’s success (Sheridan helps bring blown away reality TV show to life; van Moss et al.). Again, as we learned during the roundtable discussion, this is not the first time the Sheridan Community has offered its services in helping to develop a motion-picture, with Sheridan’s community playing a similar role in the production of the 1999 movie Three to Tango (van Moss et al.). In both cases, it was the work of Sheridan College’s stellar and tight knit community that provided equipment/facilities (or the knowledge and labour required to build and equip them) in addition to professional assistance in the studio to make these productions a success. To me, this is an excellent illustration of the Sheridan community's reputation as a bastion of excellence and competency in the contemporary art glass industry, and how that reputation and community has allowed for even greater contributions towards our more expansive society and culture beyond works that are created in the studio. 

Speaking of the works that are still created within the fires of a glass studio, Sheridan’s students and alumni often prove themselves invaluable assets in helping to maintain the studio practice of more established artists and makers within the movement. An excellent example where we can see the strengths of Sheridan Students and alumni put into place is at Lumel Studios in Whitehorse, where Sheridan College students and alumni find opportunity in the beautiful northern territory as both summer students and employees (Fig. 6) (Lumel Studios Introduce Gemma and Natalie; Our crew). More recently, the Corning Museum of Glass has also employed Sheridan College students in their international summer exchange program alongside students from AU Arts in order to help run and maintain their tourist-focused “make your own glass’ department (2024 Summer Flameworking and Properties of Glass Internship; Hot Glass Programs Intern). In this program, Sheridan’s students can showcase their strengths as artists and makers through extended facilities access and opportunities to pass on the legacy of Canadian studio glass through this unique educational exchange experience and engagement with the public. Coast to coast, and even internationally, it’s clear that there is a reputation of excellence in craft and social amicability that is often associated with the Sheridan’s glass community. 

This reputation continues to prove steadfast and pervasive as ever as Sheridan alumni go on to establish careers and become the makeup of the institutions that define studio glass in Canada. Residency programs like those found at and Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre (Fig. 7) and Mississauga's Living Arts Centre (Fig. 8) (the former of which was originally designed as a summer residency program exclusive to Sheridan College students) are central hubs for not on the art glass scene, but Canadian craft at large (Quach; Resident Artist Program). These spaces offer a natural extension of the communities that are built up through the student experience at Sheridan College for extended periods of time, and foster the collaborative growth that seems to keep these creative communities thriving. Other associations and establishments like the Glass Art Association of Canada are often composed in great part by Sheridan alumni, and provide additional forces that strive for the advancement and continual development of this artistic movement (Meet the GAAC team; About the Glass Art Association of Canada). The Glass Art Association of Canada (barring a global pandemic) occasionally hosts a national conference inviting and hosting glass artists from across the country, and another hallmark of the industry, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, provides both gallery spaces and residency opportunities that help to celebrate Sheridan educated artists on a national level (2025 GAAC conference; Strategic Planning for 2023-2026). The hard work and dedication of this community, as we have learned, often first becomes an intrinsic motivation through the student experience at Sheridan College.

In a 2010 piece for the GAAC’s former publication, Contemporary Canadian Glass, then recent ACAD (AU Arts) graduate Jamie McDonald Grey writes a piece that speaks to what she viewed as the outstanding quality of glass education in Canada at the time. Speaking emphatically, she writes: 

“From the growing variety and multitude of talented people evident in the Canadian glass scene, you’d think Canada has a glass school in every major city churning out master glass craftspeople with factory efficiency. Not so. Canada has only three schools providing a focus on glass technique. And each of these cuts loose only a handful of graduates every year.” (1)

The author goes on to elucidate the strengths she perceives at the various bastions of glass education that exist in this country, with Sheridan, of course, playing no small part in the article(2-5). 

While I am fortunate enough to still see a continuation of this legacy of excellence spoken of in that article today, this cannot be allowed to draw attention away from the importance of its continued existence. I have already brought focus to the impetus to this project: Sheridan College’s decision to suspend enrollment to the Craft and Design program in 2024 (Sheridan College to Suspend 40 programs and reduce staff, citing drop in enrolment | CBC News). According to Jamie Hiemstra in her own call to action regarding this issue, a future without Sheridan College would mean losing not only access to essential infrastructure and a critical pipeline, but a loss of our “cultural identity and regional legacy” as makers. Hiemstra then goes on to decisively assert the necessity of this program and those like it. Much like Jamie, I would view the discontinuation of this program as an irreplaceable loss and devastating blow to the essential fabric of this community. As such, I’ll close this short essay using some words from Jamie’s article in the hopes that they inspire an understanding for the gravity of this situation as it applies to the future of craft movements in this country such as the Canadian studio glass movement: “Craft education doesn’t just teach skills - it builds industries, communities, and culture. We must act before these programs and the future they promise are lost.”.

Fig. 1 Robert Held at Work

Fig. 3 Glass artists Gordon Boyd and Em Thompson working in the hotshop while undergraduate students c.2020

Fig. 3 Andy Kuntz at work at Glen Williams Glass

Fig. 4 Sheridan graduate Courtney Beauchamp (Downman) working as an assistant on the set of Blown Away

Fig. 5 Neve Campbell in character blowing glass on the set of Three to Tango

Fig. 6 Gemma (L) and Natalie (R) at Lumel Studios in Whitehorse, YT

Fig.7 Harbourfront Centre glass studio

Fig. 8 The Living Arts Centre in Mississauga

Fig. 9 The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario

Fig. 10 An empty hotshop at Sheridan College