The Art Glass Association Initiative

THE ART GLASS ASSOCIATION PRESENTS
ART GLASS IN ART GLASS

My name is Mark Veit with AAE Glass and we had the honor and the pleasure of being a sponsor for the first time to the Art Glass Association and their initiative know as “Art Glass in Art Class.” This program took the association to 4 different locations across the country (Kentucky, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan) and exposed several local teachers and schools to the world of glass art. In doing so, they were able to communicate how easy and cost effective it is to offer glass art classes to students of all ages. I took a trip up the west coast of Florida to St. Petersburg in order to see the association in action.

What I saw was amazing! Of the 30 or so booths at the convention, the Art Glass Association was 3 deep with people wanting to make a glass pendant on site. With the help of several volunteers in the glass world, they were able to present glass art in an extremely positive way. As I stood watching the faces of teachers coming back to pick up their pieces after they were fired, I was impressed that every single person had an enormous smile and they all wore it out of the convention. Honestly, 90% of the people at this convention were wearing glass pieces and to top that, they were stopping each other and asking questions about how they got the effect they did on their piece. The awareness that the Art Glass Association brought to thousands of teachers was more than impressive.

AAE Glass shares many of the same beliefs as the Art Glass Association. We believe in getting glass art of any kind in front of as many young people as possible. It is a way to strengthen the industry as a whole. If we can get glass art in schools and have children learn at a young age, we are cultivating future glass artists. Those of us in the business know the joys of glass art because we have been around it for so long, lets share that same passion with as many people as possible. You never know when the next world renowned glass artist, who is currently in 7^th grade, will come about. They need to be exposed to glass art sometime...Why not now!

Steve Shupper made me aware of the AGA during a convention in Omaha, Nebraska earlier this year and I am glad he did. AAEGlass will be a supporter of theirs from here on out. The AGA is the largest association in the world dedicated to the business of art glass. It was founded in 1986 and is an international non-profit organization. To learn more about the ArtGlassAssociation, please visit their website HERE. I encourage everyone to learn about this great organization and support them any way you can. Even if it is just spreading the word, any help is appreciated.

I want to recognize the volunteers I met in St. Petersburg and their shops. They worked very hard to make sure everyone knew what they were doing as well as answering numerous questions. These people are all willing to help spread the word of glass art and are willing to share their studios with anyone who wants to learn.

Kathleen Bromley Rothman of The Stained Glass Studio of Clearwater.

Petra and Wolfgang Kaiser of Kaiser-Lee, LLC

Steve Shupper of Glass Accessories International

And after I returned and told Tanya Veit about my excitement, she immediately offered up the AAE Glass Art Studio in Cape Coral, Florida.