MFA Open Call

Eligibility- The opportunity is open to MFA graduates, who use glass in their work, and have received their degree between 2021 and the deadline for submission. If you are hesitant to apply or don't know if you are eligible, please email meg@urbanglass.org

Selection Process- Our jurors for this group exhibition are artists who have received this opportunity in years past. Together they will select 3-5 artist to be curated into one exhibition.

Phillip Murray Bandura earned his BFA in glass from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2005. He co-founded Bee Kingdom Glass, which achieved success and accolades such as the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award and Avenues Top 40 Under 40. His work has been shown internationally, including in the USA, South Korea, Germany, and Greece. Phillip was also a founding member of Berlin Glas e.V., Berlin’s first glass-blowing studio. In 2020, he earned an MFA in Craft with a specialization in glass from the Alberta University of the Arts. Phillip was curated into the 2023 MFA exhibition titled Cruising Glass.

Jessi Li is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work investigates the relationship between human intervention and the natural world. Li works in ceramic and glass sculpture. They hold a MFA in sculpture from Hunter College (2019), a BA in ceramics from Bard College at Simon’s Rock (2009), and a post-baccalaureate in glass at VCU School of Art (2014). Li is a 2024 NYSCA Support for Artist and FCA Emergency grant recipient. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include: Sister Cistern, Stone Quarry Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, (Spring 2025); Gravity was an Entity, Management, New York, NY; Form and Formless: Constellations of Knowledge, Urban Glass Brooklyn, NY (2024); Nowhere Fast, Olympia, New York, NY (2023); Heavy Show, Spring/Break, New York, NY; 100 Sculptures, Anonymous Gallery, New York, NY (2022). Li was a visiting scholar at Syracuse University, 2024 an artist in residence at Chautauqua School of Art, 2020 and Pottery Northwest, 2011-13. Li’s work has been published in the New Glass Review, White Hot Magazine and Vogue. Their work is in the collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody. Jessi exhibited in the 2021 Urban Glass MFA show Flesh of my Flesh curated by Baseera Khan.

Kris Rumman graduated with a BFA from Bowling Green State University in 2008 and an MFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture in 2018. She has exhibited and made performances across the United States and internationally including the Strohl and Fowler-Kellogg Art Center (Chautauqua, NY), UrbanGlass (NYC), Temple Contemporary, Little Berlin, Conwell Dance Theater, and Vox Populi (Philadelphia, PA), Project Gallery (Ann Arbor, MI), Georgetown Space (Washington D.C), Ohio Craft Museum (Columbus, OH), Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, OH) and Abate Zanetti Gallery (Murano, Italy). She has taught at Chautauqua Institution, Pratt Fine Art Center, The Toledo Museum of Art, Salem Community College and Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Kris was curated into the 2019 MFA exhibition titled Fresh Masters.

Artist Responsibilities- Artists who are selected to participate will be responsible for shipping their work to and from UrbanGlass, and providing insurance during transit. UrbanGlass will insure the work while on the premises. Artists are responsible for both installation and deinstallation of their work in the exhibition. This includes wall repair during deinstallation, i.e., patching and sanding of any holes or blemishes created by the artist.

Guidelines- All images submitted must be of the same artwork being entered into the exhibition. All artwork entered must be available for sale. All artwork entered must be available during the exhibitions dates. Exhibition install will take place from January 7-13th, 2026 with the exhibition running from January 14th - March 13th, 2026 and deinstallation March 14-15th. [PLEASE NOTE DATES HAVE CHANGED]

Sales and Commissions- All artwork offered will be for sale. UrbanGlass will retain 40% of the purchase price. Shipping and insurance costs of sold work will be the responsibility of purchasers. 

To apply, please submit the following to our Zealous portal by March 31st, 2025:

• Up to 10 images that represent your proposal and highlights the work that you intend to show in the gallery. Images must be in JPG format and be 300 DPI. Maximum size of 6 inches in height and width. Each image should be a maximum of 8M each. Label each image with your last name and the number in the order in which you would like the image to be viewed. Example: Smith_01.jpg. All images submitted must be of the same artwork being entered into the exhibition. 
• Image list in PDF format including: title, date, medium, dimensions, and a description of each work.
• Artist statement in PDF format.
• Current resume/curriculum vitae in PDF format.

All questions about content of applications may be directed to meg@urbanglass.org

All questions regarding technical support with the submission platform may be directed to info@zealous.co