More than an institution, Sheridan’s Glass studio first and foremost represents a community. A community that I have been a part of almost 15 years now, and a place where I have been blessed to spend almost a third of my life. It’s where I had encounters with the vast majority of people and experiences that have fundamentally shaped my ideals and values both as an artist, and as a person. Perhaps most importantly I learned the value of belonging. There are very few places I feel more among friends- among family- then amidst my peers from the extended Sheridan community. This sense of belonging and the people who provide has carried me through some of the most challenging and rewarding portions of my life.

In late 2024 when Sheridan College announced suspension of registration to program that nearly exclusively offered an entry point into that extended community, the news was almost too much to bear. To think that the opportunity for these formative experiences and entry into this wonderfully supportive and synergistic community, to me, represented a bridge too far. I myself am a two-time graduate from the Glass section of Sheridan College’s Craft & Design Program, both as a diploma and baccalaureate, and I simply refuse to let this go quietly.

It is my sincere hope that this project will serve to shed greater light on the importance this program and institution play in the ongoing stewardship of the Canadian Studio Glass Community, and inspire other to voice their opinions on both the history and legacy of this community, and what I believe was a severely problematic administrative decision to bar entry into it. Thank you very much for taking the time to engage with this project and exhibition of the history written in glass and kinship by Sheridan College.