2025 UrbanGlass Crafting Mastery Symposium

Important Dates:

• March 1, 2025 – Call for proposals opens!
• June 25 – Call closes
• July 7 – Jury process begins
• July 10 – Jury process closes
• July 15 – Presenter notification begins
• July 20 – Acceptance Deadline
• August 1 – Press photo, bio, and final promotional materials due
• September 15 – Final presentation materials submitted
• November 5 – Arrive in NYC
• November 6 – Symposium begins

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to connect with fellow educators, students, designers, artists, and industry scholars, showcase your work, and share your insights and innovations in the field. Submit your proposal today and join us in a dynamic and collaborative exploration of the future of glass education!

All questions may be directed to kate@urbanglass.org

Keynote Speaker 

UrbanGlass welcomes Stuart Kestenbaum as keynote speaker or the 2025 symposium presenting How We Make Work: Ingenuity and Imagination.

Stuart Kestenbaum is the author of six collections of poems, most recently Things Seemed to Be Breaking (Deerbrook Editions 2021), and a collection of essays The View from Here (Brynmorgen Press).  A Quiet Book (Brynmorgen Press), collaborations in writing and visual art done with visual artist Susan Webster, was published in 2024.

He was the host of the Maine Public Radio program Poems from Here and the host/curator of the podcasts Make/Time and Voices of the Future. 

Stuart Kestenbaum was the director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts for 27 years, where he established innovative programs combining craft and writing and craft and new technologies. He is an honorary fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the Distinguished Educator’s Award from the James Renwick Alliance.

More recently, working with the Libra Foundation, he designed and implemented a residency program for artists and writers called Monson Arts. Stuart Kestenbaum has written and spoken widely on craft making and creativity, and his poems and writing have appeared in numerous small press publications and magazines including Tikkun, the Sun, the Maine Arts Journal, the Beloit Poetry Journal, the New York Times Magazine, and on the Writer’s Almanac and American Life in Poetry.  He served as Maine’s poet laureate from 2016-2021. 

Former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser has written “Stuart Kestenbaum writes the kind of poems I love to read, heartfelt responses to the privilege of having been given a life.  No hidden agendas here, no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love.” 

Advisory Committee

 The symposium's advisory committee consists of leading educators, artists, and scholars who help shape the event's vision, guide the selection process, and ensure diverse perspectives are represented. Given their extensive knowledge and contributions to the field, their insights and expertise are invaluable to the success of this event. The Advisory Committee plays a pivotal role in shaping the symposium’s content, selecting key speakers, and ensuring that the event resonates with the global glass community.

The 2025 Advisory Committee

Katherine Gray

Jessica Jane Julius

Corey Pemberton

Richard Whiteley

Benjamin Wright 

Thank you to Our Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

Sponsorship Opportunities

By sponsoring the 2025 Crafting Mastery Symposium, your company will have the opportunity to connect with a dedicated community of glass professionals, curators, educators, and students. Your support will directly contribute to making the symposium a meaningful and accessible experience for all attendees, covering honorariums for speakers, event costs, and more.

We offer several levels of sponsorship, each with unique benefits tailored to increase your organization’s visibility and engagement.

Learn more about Sponsorships HERE

Event Images