Glass Art Society 2015 Award Winners - Paul Stankard & Mary B. White to Receive Top Honors at 2015 San Jose Conference

The recipient of the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award for outstanding service to the Glass Art Society is Mary B White.  

"Paul’s insatiable search and discoveries built the innovative platform to transcend a 19^th century decorative art, the paperweight, turning it into an intimate contemporary sculptural language of form imbued with meaning through realistic beauty and mystery.  His work paralleled the search for form of the studio glass movement, while remaining true to a personal aesthetic inspired by meditation upon nature’s beauty, fertility and decay." 

-Jan Mirenda Smith, Executive Director at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass

Paul J. Stankard is an internationally acclaimed artist-in-glass and is considered a living master in the art of flameworking. He is known for his small-scale botanical themes encapsulated in clear glass. His work is represented in over 60 museums around the world. Stankard has received two honorary doctorate degrees and numerous awards such as the Masters of the Medium from The James Renwick Alliance, The American Craft Council College of Fellows class of 2000 and Honorary Professor/Artist-in-Resident at Salem Community College in southern New Jersey. He is the author of two books; an autobiography titled No Green Berries or Leaves: The Creative Journey of an Artist in Glass and most recently, an educational resource titled Spark the Creative Flame - Making the Journey from Craft to Art.   

"Mary White has been and continues to be a huge gift to the Glass Art Society.  Mary was a past co-chair of the 1994 GAS Conference and wrote a manual about it,  served on the GAS Board, volunteers at most every conference, donates to the auction and always supports GAS.  The Glass Art Society is lucky to have her in our corner."

-Pamela Koss, GAS Executive Director

Mary B. White is a sculptor and arts educator. She is an adjunct instructor at St. Mary’s College, Ghost Ranch and Chair of the Board of WEAD: Women Environmental Artists Directory. From 1985 to 2005, she was Head of San Jose State University Glass Program and was Co-Head of Glass at the Crucible from 2002-2013. White co-chaired the 1994 GAS conference and California Glass Exchange in 2002 and 2012. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin from 2009 -2010. One year later, she completed a collaborative Flood Level Marker in Boulder, Colorado. Mary has lead many workshops, including California College of the Arts, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, the Corning Glass Museum School and Pilchuck Glass School. She has BFA/ Ceramics, MFA/ Glass from CCA, Oakland, CA.

GAS will present these awards to Stankard and White at the 44th annual conference in San Jose, CA on June 5, 2015. Paul Stankard will present his lecture titled, A Backward Glance at the conference opening ceremonies and will also give a flameworking demonstration as part of the conference program.

To view the complete list of past award winners, visit www.glassart.org/Lifetime_Awards.html