medium

: Glass

IAIA President’s Convocation in the Dance Circle. Photograph by Jason S. Ordaz

The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)—the University for Indigenous Creative Excellence—is the only higher education institution in the world dedicated to the study of contemporary Native American and Alaska Native arts. IAIA offers undergraduate degrees in Cinematic Arts and Technology, Creative Writing, Indigenous Liberal Studies, Museum Studies, Performing Arts, and Studio Arts; graduate degrees in Creative Writing, Studio Arts, and Cultural Administration; and certificates in Broadcast Journalism, Business and Entrepreneurship, Museum Studies, and Native American Art History. Recent partnerships such as those with The Walt Disney Company, Nike, The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and NBCUniversal Media help students set down footprints in the creative community. IAIA serves approximately 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) Native and non-Native students, representing nearly 100 federally recognized Tribes. IAIA is among the leading art universities in the nation and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).


The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)—the University for Indigenous Creative Excellence is part of the Handwork 2026 Artist Residency Program, pairing master craftspeople, both local and national, with top educational institutions to teach specialized techniques, promote cultural dialogue, and explore American craft traditions.

Santa Fe,
NM
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum University or College
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
Museum Front. ExteriorPhotography by Justin Hankins, 2018

The Hermitage Museum & Gardens, formerly home to the Sloane family, is an early 20th-century Arts-and-Crafts art museum located on the shore of the Lafayette River in Norfolk, Virginia. The Hermitage features a nationally recognized art collection spanning 5,000 years, within richly decorated interiors from the early 20th century. The mix of cultural objects, decorative and fine art within the setting of exceptionally crafted historic interiors, is a celebration of artistic handwork in all its forms. The museum also offers contemporary exhibitions, a newly renovated Goode Family Visual Arts School, and 12 acres of gardens and grounds that offer art and culture to the community. The Hermitage invites people of all backgrounds to explore and discover nature and the arts through its spaces that inspire creation, learning, conservation, and connection.

General admission to the site’s extensive grounds, museum collections and special exhibitions is free. Special ticketed museum and educational programs offer the public one-of-a-kind opportunities to engage with art and nature.

The Hermitage Museum is proud to be a Smithsonian Affiliate since 2012 and holds accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums since 2017.

Norfolk,
VA
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other
Alba Triana 2024 Competition Winner at the 2025 Competition Awards Ceremony. Second Floor Media

ArtFields was founded in 2013 to revitalize Lake City, SC, bring access to the arts to an underserved area, and celebrate artists living and working in the South. Our flagship event turns the town into a gallery with artists competing for $100,000 in prizes. We host rotating exhibitions in three galleries, maintain a public art collection, and provide art education for local youth.

Lake City,
SC
Arts/Cultural Organization
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood
Jim Jackson, leather carver from Sheridan, Wyoming. Josh Chrysler/Wyoming Folklife Collection

The Wyoming Arts Council envisions a Wyoming where the arts are a driving force in the social, economic, educational, and everyday life of its citizens. Through grants, partnerships, programs and unique opportunities, the Wyoming Arts Council provides funding and support statewide for projects big and small. The WAC plays an important role in the economic and social development of every community by investing in the arts. It awards almost 150 grants and fellowships each year, funding programs and projects from every county, thereby serving more than a million participants throughout the state.

The Wyoming Arts Council’s Folk & Traditional Arts Program identifies, documents, supports, and celebrates the cultural traditions that shape the state’s diverse communities. These art forms are expressions of shared identity—passed down through families, neighborhoods, faiths, tribes, occupations, and social groups. Rooted in community experience, these arts preserve heritage, tell stories, and evolve to meet the needs of today’s practitioners. Whether it’s saddlemaking, beadwork, powwow dancing, quilting, or hoop dancing, Wyoming’s traditional arts represent a vital and living history. Through grants, partnerships, and public programming, the Arts Council ensures these traditions continue to thrive across generations.

Cheyenne,
WY
Arts/Cultural Organization
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
This 1840–60 bed covering from the New Mexico History Museum is featured on Collecting250.org. Courtesy of the New Mexico History Museum.

The Decorative Arts Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 1977, promotes awareness, encourages appreciation, and champions the study of the decorative arts and material culture through educational programs, communications, and grantmaking.

For the United States Semiquincentennial, the Decorative Arts Trust (the Trust) created Collecting250.org, an interactive online resource that celebrates the importance of objects in narrating the history and evolution of the United States and the communities contained within. Museums and historical societies submitted images and information about objects in their collections that tell powerful stories about national, state, or local identity.

Collecting250 showcases 250 objects from over 140 institutions, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented. The ability to search for entries based on location, category, and keyword provides the chance to make exciting and enlightening discoveries in unexpected places. Collecting250 is a free and accessible resource.

As a grantmaker, the Trust has awarded funding to a variety of Semiquincentennial projects. Some examples are Concord Museum’s Whose Revolution exhibition and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s publication, Art, Industry, and Reform in Philadelphia, 1876–1926, which accompanies the spring 2026 exhibition of the same name. Semiquincentennial themes will be explored during the Trust’s 2026 programs in New York, Boston, Scotland, and Virginia.

Media,
PA
Arts/Cultural Organization
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood
Sonoran Glass School ink drawing. Sonoran Glass School copyright

The Sonoran Glass School is a public-access educational center for glass art. Our mission is to actively engage established and emerging artists of all ages and abilities in the glass arts and to teach a full range of glass-working techniques.

Our facility offers four studios for the many types of glass-working including kiln forming, glass blowing, torch working, and coldworking.

We strive to share our passion and knowledge for the glass arts with the public through educational classes, experiences, seminars, and community events.

Tucson,
AZ
Arts/Cultural Organization Craft School
Glass
CERF+ Staff. AJS Photography

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) Founded in 1985 by craft artists for craft artists, CERF+ advocates for the well-being and thrive-ability of craft artists and the craft field by supporting the craft community across the U.S. and its territories through disaster relief, preparedness grants, resources, and education. Guided by principles of objectivity, equity, generosity, inclusion, and care, the organization plays a vital role in disaster management for the arts and culture sector and equips craft artists to prepare for and recover from emergencies.

Brattleboro,
VT
Arts/Cultural Organization
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
The Columbia Museum of Art overlooking Boyd Plaza in the heart of downtown Columbia, SC. Victor Johnson / The Columbia Museum of Art

The Columbia Museum of Art is a charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to lifelong learning and community enrichment for all.

Located in the heart of downtown Columbia, S.C., the CMA ranks among the leading art institutions in the country and is distinguished by its innovative exhibitions and creative educational programs. At the heart of the CMA and its programs is its collection, which encompasses 7,000 works and spans 5,000 years of art history.

Established in 1950, the CMA now welcomes more than 150,000 visitors annually and is a catalyst for community creativity and education, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds.

It is the recipient of a National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a National Art Education Association award for its contributions to arts education, a National Park Foundation Award, and two Governor’s Awards for the Arts for outstanding contributions to the arts in South Carolina.

Columbia,
SC
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
UrbanGlass Art Center. Michael Wilson

UrbanGlass, the NYC-based nonprofit established in 1977, fosters experimentation and advances the use and critical understanding of glass as a creative medium.

UrbanGlass was founded as the New York Experimental Glass Workshop in 1977 by a group of recent art school graduates—Erik Erikson, Richard Yelle, and Joe Upham—who wanted to continue their experiments in glass. In addition to providing studio space for artists already versed in the material, the Workshop featured an education program, which provided classes for working artists and the general public to expand their understanding of glass.

Today, the studio program serves approximately 350 working artists each year through equipment rentals and a variety of residency opportunities. The education program now serves over 1,000 students, 60% of whom are working artists, and partners with NYU and Pratt for accredited classes and additional workshops with students from SVA, Parsons and Brooklyn College. Our Agnes Varis Art Center welcomes 12,000 visitors annually and is a space for the public to see and learn about cutting edge art and design in glass. Named in honor of the philanthropist Agnes Varis, the Agnes Varis Art Center features the Window Gallery and Robert Lehman Gallery, which present ever-changing exhibitions of contemporary art.

Brooklyn,
NY
Arts/Cultural Organization
Glass
Pittsburgh Glass Center.Ed Massery

Founded in 2001, Pittsburgh Glass Center (PGC) is a nonprofit, public access glass art school where anyone can take classes, explore the contemporary glass gallery, shop for glass gifts, and watch live glassblowing demonstrations.

Since its opening, PGC has educated nearly half a million individuals, contributed to the ongoing development of the city’s East End, and made Pittsburgh a significant hub in the international studio glass community.

A multimillion-dollar expansion in 2024 nearly doubled its capacity, allowing it to meet the increasing demand for glass programs and studios. PGC continues to cultivate an inclusive and welcoming environment that encourages everyone, from the casually curious to the master artist, to learn, create, and be inspired by glass.

Pittsburgh,
PA
Arts/Cultural Organization Craft School
Glass
Fresno Art Museum Facade, FM Staff photo

The Fresno Art Museum is best known for exhibiting modern and contemporary art from California, as well as art by women artists and works on paper, alongside exhibitions that reflect the visual arts traditions of the ethnic groups that contribute to the rich diversity of the San Joaquin Valley.

The Fresno Art Museum’s permanent collection comprises over 3,800 paintings, prints, and sculptures by notable local, regional, national, and international artists. It features a remarkable collection of Art of the Ancient Americas, spanning over 2,500 years of the major artistic traditions of cultures in West Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Peruvian Andes.

Founded in 1949, the Fresno Art Museum has been located at First Street and Clinton Avenue in Radio Park since 1960. The American Alliance of Museums has accredited the museum since the 1970s.

Mission & History :: Fresno Art Museum

Fresno,
CA
Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Paper Wood
"Princes of Surf", 2025 exhibition at Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. courtesy of Santa Cruz MAH

The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (the MAH) was founded in 1996 to inspire new ways of thinking through the cultivation, exhibition, interpretation and intersection of contemporary art and history.  The MAH’s exhibitions, curricula, and public programs bring together diverse audiences to engage more deeply with each other, fostering critical discourse about our past and present in fun, educational ways.

The MAH achieves its mission by:

  • Presenting art and history exhibitions that are educational, inspiring, engaging and highlight the rich and vibrant cultures that live in our community
  • Collaborating with community partners to further our reach across the California Central Coast and Greater Bay Area
  • Maintaining a permanent collection and archives of contemporary art and historical artifacts and making these assets more accessible to visitors, educators, and students
  • Stewarding the land and programs, and hosting school groups and tours around Davenport Jail and Evergreen Cemetery
  • Stewarding the Kincentricity Garden in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
  • Serving as the cornerstone of Downtown Santa Cruz through our Abbott Square location and ensuring this space is a vibrant town square

Santa Cruz,
CA
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
The Fuller Craft Museum building. Photographed by Dave Houlton

Fuller Craft Museum offers expansive opportunities to discover the world of contemporary craft. By exploring the leading edge of craft through exhibitions, collections, education, and public programs, we challenge perceptions and build appreciation of the material world. Our purpose is to inspire, stimulate, and enrich an ever expanding community.

Brockton,
MA
Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
Image of the facade of the Museum of Craft and Design. Image courtesy of Matthew Millman.

The Museum of Craft and Design is the only museum in San Francisco devoted to craft and design.

Founded in 2004, MCD showcases designers, makers and artists through an exciting and distinctive series of craft and design-focused exhibitions and public programs.

As a non-collecting institution, the museum actively collaborates with artists, designers, museums, and universities, as well as design venues and practitioners to create inspirational experiences in the world of craft and design for visitors of all ages.

San Francisco,
CA
Arts/Cultural Organization Museum
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood
Installation image from NWCraft24 at Schack Art Center, Photo by Brad Curran (@bradcurran)

Northwest Designer Craftartists (NWDC) was founded in 1954 to promote excellence of design and craftsmanship and to stimulate public appreciation and interest in fine craft. Artists in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, who work professionally in clay, wood, glass, metal, fiber, and/or mixed media, are members. Other members support the crafts in the Pacific Northwest as educators, managers of non-profit arts organizations, or buyers of art for public or private collections. Northwest Designer Craftartists is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Langley,
WA
Arts/Cultural Organization
Clay Fiber Glass Metal Mixed Media Other Paper Wood