Sheridan College: History, Legacy, and Impact

In the Autumn of 2024, I was informed that Sheridan College had made the decision to suspend admission to its Craft and Design baccalaureate program. This is a decision I viewed as an existential threat to what I consider an essential pipeline into and pillar of the Canadian studio glass movement and community for nearly six decades. As an alumni of this program and active member of the Canadian studio glass community, I believe it is my duty to highlight the tragedy of a future where this is no longer the case, and expound upon the legacy of an institution that has fundamentally shaped the Canadian art glass movement at it is known today.

In order to do so, I had to privilege to sit down with Andy Kuntz, Jason Cornish, and Koen Vanderstukken for a roundtable interview and discussion regarding these topics. Andy, Jason, and Koen represent a proverbial triumvirate of authoritative figures in the glass studio at Sheridan with careers there stretching back to the early 1990’s an 2000’s respectively. In this discussion these three men offer their insights into how the program and their relationship to it has changed over the decades, their favourite moment’s from its history, and what they believe represents the legacy of this program that has spanned over half a century.

Please join, Andy, Jason, Koen, and myself as we give you a little bit of insight into the history, legacy, and impact of this community that myself and many other have come to love so very, very much.