Michael received his diploma in Product Design from Kent Institute of Art and Design, and he continued on to the University of Wolverhampton, West  Midlands, UK, where he earned a bachelor of arts with honors in Glass. He came to the United States to enter Joel Myers’ graduate program at Illinois State University and received a master of fine arts in 1998. 

After graduation, he designed and built a hot shop for Kokomo Opalescent Glass, where he worked as a studio director, designer and gaffer until he opened his own studio in October 2007. He is currently in Bloomington, Illinois creating functional designs and mixed-media sculpture. Check out Michael's studio

Gigi Erickson has been working with glass since 1977, beginning her career creating custom leaded glass windows. Her work can be found in homes and businesses around the world, including the Disney offices and Main Street shops at Disneyland, such as Disney Clothiers, as well as in the homes of John Madden and Olympic Gold Medalist Peggy Fleming.

In 1991, Gigi expanded her artistic journey into glassblowing and has been creating one-of-a-kind glass art ever since. In 1998, she founded a Glass Pumpkin Patch fundraiser at her alma mater in Los Gatos, California. The event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the school's art and educational programs.

After moving to Utah in 2020, Gigi continues to create custom leaded glass, blown glass, and fused glass wall art. She has participated in Midwest Glass Pumpkin Patch events since 2010 and looks forward to creating new pumpkin color combinations each year while sharing her love of glass with collectors and friends throughout the Midwest.

Aaron’s glassblowing career started at the early age of 11, when he drank from the first cup he had ever made. Growing up in Boston, he started blowing glass at summer camp and fell in love with the art form. He knew he had found his calling in the transformation of raw materials into art pieces, and he still has that feeling with every finished vessel. Aaron has perfected his technique through decades of devotion, and each piece displays his reflective sense of style, depth and vision.  

In 2014, Aaron launched Baigelman Glass with partner and fellow artist Heather Baigelman. Baigelman Glass creates bespoke pieces, elegant art series and functional glassware inspired by bright colors and clean lines. These one-of-a-kind creations are featured in galleries and stores across the United States.

Claire Coffee started working with glass when she was 14 years old by volunteering at a local nonprofit studio in the Twin Cities until she was hired there to teach in 2021. She continued to develop her glass-making skills by assisting local artists and instructing as well as educating at the Corning Museum of Glass in 2022 as part of the hot glass team where she currently continues to learn multiple glass-making techniques.

Claire is proud to have been community-taught and gives back by teaching Beginning and Intermediate glass-blowing courses while creating her own work and small business. She is passionate about the material and loves to share it with the community through participation in many of Minnesota’s artisan fairs and craft shows. Her work can be found in multiple galleries and studios across the Cities.

“I’m really inspired by nature, flowers in particular, and the hidden language that is behind them and used all over the world. I think there is a gentle power to these things that are often called delicate”. Follow Claire and her work on Instagram

As early as he could remember, Wisconsinite Jeremy Hansen always wanted to be an artist. This passion shaped him along his journey of becoming a maker. Jeremy fell in love with ceramics prior to high school, and this led him to continue his artistic education at Alfred University in New York. That is where he had his first hands-on experience with hot glass. He graduated Alfred in 2016 with a dual focus in glass and ceramics, plenty of experience in woodworking and metal casting, and two minors: art history and religious studies. 

During his career he has been fortunate to work with and learn from many talented artists and he takes a piece of knowledge from each of them that he carries forward and hones into his own working style. Jeremy pursues techniques that challenge not only himself but the teamwork needed when working in a hot shop. Through his style and craftsmanship, he strives to create something new while always learning from those before him.

John is a Wisconsin native residing in Milwaukee. His career in glass began in 1991 with an apprenticeship in stained glass at the world renowned Schlitz Studios. Shortly after, he began assisting in the hot shop making sheet glass for his stained glass projects. He eventually became the production manager for another major sheet glass and pressed jewel company. It was a natural progression for him to start blowing glass in 2005. He owns Sybaritic Studios, which specializes in stained glass, blown glass, and bronze sculpture. He also owns Benu Memorial Glass Works, which produces glass funerary items. 

Thomas began his glassblowing journey in 2006 at Anoka Ramsey Community College, where he earned Associate degrees in Arts and Fine Arts. After transferring to a university in St. Paul, Thomas completed his bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics with a minor in physics. During his time at the community college, he worked as a glassblowing tutor and as a glassblowing teacher’s assistant. Post-graduation, he apprenticed under a local glass artist while attending various workshops at several glass schools and glass studios around the country.

Thomas’s approach to glass art cos his mathematics, physics and artistic backgrounds. He creates intricate patterns and unique designs within each handmade piece. Thomas’s dedication to his craft is evident through the meticulous care and planning that goes into every creation. Check out his artwork from Nye Glass

An art lover since childhood, Amanda was introduced to glass blowing as a high school student. She took several semesters of glass sculpture in college at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare and Sociology in 1989. She spent the next 10 years working as an advocate for battered women and their children, all the while creating jewelry and blowing glass whenever she could.  

In 1997 she took a chance on a dream and opened Funky Hannah’s Beads & Art. In 2005 another dream became reality when she collaborated with other glass artists to restore an 1880s cream brick livery and turn it into a public access glass-blowing facility and gallery – Hot Shop Glass. She now spends her time running two arty businesses. Her jewelry and glasswork are in collections worldwide. 

Kit received her master of fine arts from Southern Illinois University and her bachelor of fine arts from Alfred University. She has taught across the United States and internationally at schools, including Penland School of Craft, Pilchuck Glass School, Corning Museum of Glass,  Bildwerk Frauenau in Germany, National College of Art and Design in Ireland and Canberra Glassworks in Australia. 

Kit has also completed residencies, including the S12 Gallery in Norway, the Tacoma Museum of Glass and, most recently, a  three-year residency at Penland School of Craft. She has received scholarships from Pilchuck Glass School, Corning Museum of Glass, Pittsburgh Glass Center, The Windgate Foundation and the Glass Art Society. 

Her work has been published in New Glass Review editions 36, 37, 38 and 41 and is in the permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum. She is currently a studio artist in Penland, N.C.

At age 21, Jeff Simmons got a job at Kokomo Opalescent Glass in Kokomo, Indiana, ladling hot colored glass out of a furnace to be mixed and pressed into sheets of stained glass. His aptitude for manipulating the molten glass quickly led to a job becoming a passion. He joined the Hot Glass Studio team where he learned to blow glass — soon becoming the Design Lead and, in 2017, the Director of the Hot Glass Studio. 

As an Indiana-based independent glass artist, Jeff draws on over two decades of experience working with the medium to create both custom and production work.

Daniel started with stained glass at the age of seven, continuing through his college years at Michigan State University. Torch work followed, and Daniel made glass beads to adorn his beautiful wife. For many years he took lessons and rented time at Hot Shop Glass in Racine, Wisc., dipping into the crucible to create barware, bowls, vases and home accents. In 2016, Daniel became co-owner of the studio.  

Earlier in his life, Daniel worked flight line avionics in the Air Force and had a year-long stint as staging director for USAF’s song and dance tour, “Tops in Blue.” After finishing up his degree in Hospitality Management, he was department head for the Four Season Hotel downtown Chicago, and then helped open and run Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, Ill. His time working in bars & restaurants, along with his extensive international travel, has helped found the vision for his glass.

Matthew’s art career formally began as an industrial design student preoccupied with the history of design. Through his studies, he encountered beautifully-designed handmade glass objects, specifically from the beginning of the century, and his passion was ignited. Matthew owns and operates Furnace Urbini Glass Works, an environmentally-friendly studio in the heart of Illinois. The studio uses 100 percent vintage recycled glass in all of the designs.