Founded in 2013 as the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation Academic Symposium at UrbanGlass, the 2025 UrbanGlass Academic Symposium is readying for its latest iteration, which is coming up from November 6–8, 2025, in the world art capital of New York City. The event which draws educators and students in glass from around the world for lectures and workshops discussing this year's theme of "Crafting Mastery", will kick off with a Thursday night gallery tour to visit contemporary art galleries showing work in glass. The four-gallery tour will culminate in a reception in the Manhattan neighborhood of Tribeca at Cristin Tierney Gallery, which is exhibiting mixed-media work by Judy Pfaff, much of it featuring neon.
The symposium itself will officially get underway on Friday morning with a keynote presentation by the poet Stuart Kestenbaum, who served as the director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine for 25 years. The symposium will continue with presentations by experts from around the globe converge to discuss the latest trends and developments in the world of glass education with a focus on technical skill, innovation, and creativity.
Some of the highlights of the first day of lecture presentations include:
Jennifer Hand and Jennifer Crescuillo, "Care Work as Craft Work"
Radhika Krish, Glass, Grit, & Jugaad (जुगाड़): A Glass Journey Beyond the Grid
Richard Whiteley, The Glassmaking Institute: Expanding Access and Approaches in Glass Education
Kim Harty, Embodied Lineages and the Hidden Curriculum
On Saturday, the UrbanGlass Academic Symposium will move from the first-floor theater into the UrbanGlass third-floor, where the presentations will continue in the setting of the dynamic studios of this leading nonprofit art center.
Some of second-day's presentations of note:
Shongee Matangira, Neurodivergent Healing Through Beading: Sensory Craft as Alternative Learning
River Valadez, James Akers, Games to Generate Play
Kris Rumman and Najah Alboushi with Phil Garip – Glass Tale from Palestine, the Levant & the Art of Survival
Erin O'Connor, Mastering & (Un)Mastering Mastery: knowledge acquisition in studio glass
Marica Whittemore, Debra Ruzinsky – Creatively Aging: A Community Centered Approach to Glass Art Education
Saturday November 8, 2025 more presentations continue in the studio on the 3rd fl of UrbanGlass starting at 9:30 AM with:
The 2025 Academic Symposium will conclude on Saturday with an evening reception at the Agnes Varis Art Center at UrbanGlass where attendees can take in the epic installation "A Madeleine Moment" by the Burnt Ashphalt Family led by founders Jessica Jane Julius and Erica Rosenfeld.
Coffee, food, and a catered lunch is included with the ticket price, Light refreshments will be available each morning prior to the start of the talks and throughout the day as well as a catered lunch for a midday break.
All-inclusive symposium tickets are still available and are priced at $195.
The 2025 UrbanGlass Academic Symposium was organized by UrbanGlass Education Director Kate Dowd, who consulted with an advisory committee of Katherine Gray, Jessica Jane Julius, Corey Pemberton, Richard Whiteley. and Benjamin Wright.
For more information visit urbanglass.org, or email kate@urbanglass.org.
Tickets are still available for purchase.
IF YOU GO:
November 6th – November 8th, 2025
"Crafting Mastery"
The 2025 UrbanGlass Academic Symposium
647 Fulton St
Brooklyn, New York 11217
718 625 3685
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