OUR TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS
JOSEPH ROSSANO
ARTIST + FOUNDER
Joseph Rossano, b. 1962, American, is a multidisciplinary artist, environmentalist and outdoorsman. His work explores themes of natural history, extinction, taxonomy, and conservation in the genres of assemblage and installation art. Rossano is known for manufacturing environments incorporating wood, photography, technology. and glass. Through the creation of collectives, including artists, scholars, scientists, and industry, Rossano presents contemporary histories, revealing human interaction with species throughout recorded time.
DR. CHRIS MEYER
SCIENCE DIRECTOR
Dr. Chris Meyer is a research zoologist and marine invertebrate curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. His passion for biodiversity and the adoption of new technologies has lead him to be part of many large-scale inventory and assessment projects around the world. He is particularly interested in marine speciation, diversification, biogeography and phylogeography, as well as the history, assembly, and maintenance of tropical reef communities. Chris’s work is helping to document marine biodiversity, better understand the drivers of diversification, figure out how ecosystems function, and predict how they will respond to change. Chris directed the Moorea BIOCODE Project, co-founded the Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center at Udayana University in Bali, and leads the Global ARMS Program at the Smithsonian. He is also one of the founding members of the Genomic Observatories Network.
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BEN COBB
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Studio Director Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. Through 25 years of working in glassblowing, Benjamin Cobb has honed his mastery of glass, traveled across the globe, and worked with hundreds of artists. An east-coast transplant, Cobb holds a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has been a visiting artist at glass studios as far afield as Sweden, the Czech Republic, Italy, and France. He’s taught at Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, and many other glass programs in the US. He’s a recognizable leader and voice in the glass community, and has contributed to the success of countless works of art. In his own work, Cobb draws inspiration from the natural world, as well as scientific process. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Glass and the Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, WA, and galleries
across the country.
JASON MOUER
EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Born and raised in Allentown, PA, Mouer has been part of the international glass community for the last 29 years. He received his B.F.A. from Alfred University and his M.F.A. from Illinois State University. Currently based in the Northwest, Mouer has worked
for such luminaries as Dale Chihuly and Lino Tagliapietra, and has managed some of the most prestigious hot shops in the area. Mouer currently teaches the glass arts to underserved youth populations in Tacoma, WA, as an instructor and Hot Shop Manager at Hilltop Artists. Mouer’s mixed media sculptures have been shown at galleries, universities, and museums throughout the Northwest.
THE FIELD
ANDY LAWRENCE
MIRROR MASTER
Hailing from Bellingham, Washington, Andy Lawrence started blowing glass at the age of sixteen when he was still in high school. Initially working production, in 2011 he began teaching for Western Washington University’s glassblowing program. Ultimately leaving Western in 2017, he now works for multiple Northwest artists while pursuing his own work.
C.B. BELL
PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR
C.B. Bell, American, b. 1957, is an American portrait, event, and fine art photographer. Raised and schooled in several European countries, as well as the U. S., Bell migrated to Seattle from New Orleans in the early 1980s. He has been one of the premier photographers in the Pacific Northwest since that time. His work—influenced by childhood travels from Moscow to Morocco and Tanzania to Timbuktu—has appeared in publications as diverse as Martha Stewart Weddings, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times, and Smithsonian, among others. He has photographed CEOs of AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile, and Microsoft, and has been commissioned to create the official portraits for several federal judges on the U. S. District Court (WAWD) in Seattle.
STEPHEN RUE
EXHIBITION DESIGNER
Stephen Rue is an exhibition designer and installer based in Tacoma, Washington. After receiving his masters degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2002 he worked as an artist and college educator for over 10 years. Pivoting from there, Stephen created his own business renovating homes while simultaneously working as a freelance art installer for museums, galleries and private collectors in the Seattle region. In 2017 he transitioned to the museum world full time, becoming the head exhibition preparator at Bellevue Arts Museum and later at Tacoma Art Museum where he currently works. It was at Bellevue Arts Museum that Stephen helped install the inaugural exhibition of Salmon School in 2019.
SHANE ANDERSON
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Shane Anderson is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based out of Olympia, Washington. In addition to owning North Fork Studios, Shane also works as the director of storytelling for Pacific Rivers, a river conservation organization based out of Portland, Oregon. Shane is a former professional downhill skier and his interest in film began in 1998; he worked in the film and television industry in Los Angeles for eight years before studying fisheries biology at Humboldt State University, where he decided to merge his love of the outdoors and conservation with visual storytelling. In 2014 Shane completed his first documentary feature, Wild Reverence, and has since produced Behind The Emerald Curtain, A River’s Last Chance, Run Wild Run Free, and is finalizing production on Chehalis: A Watershed Moment. Four of Shane's films have aired on PBS stations across the west coast and have been distributed through Link.tv and Amazon.
BENEDICT HEYWOOD
CURATOR
Benedict Heywood is an international art museum director, consultant, and historian. A graduate of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art, he has previously served as Deputy Director of the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust/Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, and Visual Arts Officer for Public Art and Architecture at the Arts Council of England. Since moving to the US in 2002, he has been Director of Pivot Art + Culture, a gallery and exhibition project of Paul Allen, and Director and Chief Curator of the Bellevue Arts Museum, both in Seattle, WA. In Minneapolis, MN, he founded The Soap Factory, a studio and laboratory for artistic experimentation across contemporary visual arts, and the largest space for emerging visual arts in the Midwest.
CLAIRE ZAMBUNI
COMMUNICATIONS
Born in London, Claire is now based in Chalabre in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. With 35 years of communications and events expertise, Claire is also an accredited coach and works within the environmental sphere. Zambuni Communications work with NGO's, environmental organisations and campaigning groups to amplify their message and deliver tangible results working across a range of mediums. Building communities is at her core and this is reflected in the niche festivals she organises in France and the UK around fly fishing, fire-cooking and wild food. Claire has written for a wide range of magazines from Town and Country to GQ to the Field.
PAT DAVIDSON
PROJECT LIASION
Patricia is an internationally recognized artist/educator residing in Seattle. She has received many awards and accolades for both her art and teaching career. She has developed glass curricula and programming for Tacoma Public Schools, the Museum of Glass, Arts in Service, and the University of Washington Tacoma. She maintains a studio practice in Seattle.
DONNA MORTON
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
Donna Morton is an artist, activist and entrepreneur and futurist. She is currently co-founding a think and do tank www.thedawncollective.org; she is a co-founder and board member of Change Finance, the first 100% fossil free and high social justice ETF. Morton has over 30 years experience building and advising strategies, organizations and companies that solve the most wicked problems of our time, including climate change, clean energy, innovative policy, finance and social justice issues. She is an Ashoka, Ogunte and Unreasonable Fellow and lifelong serial social entrepreneur.
THE GLOBE
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NADÈGE DESGENÉTEZ
SCHOOL AUSTRALIA
Originally from France, Desgenétez has worked, taught and exhibited in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and residencies, including the “Prix d’Honneur de la Fondation de France” (Paris, France), the Saxe Award from Pilchuck Glass School in 1997 and 2004 (Stanwood, USA), the “Prix de la Vocation” from the Fondation Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet (Paris, France), grants from Arts ACT and the Australia Council for the Arts, and residencies from North Lands Creative (Lybster, UK), Pittsburgh Glass Center (Pittsburgh, USA) and Museum of Glass (Tacoma, USA). She has been teaching at the Glass Workshop of the Australian National University in Canberra since 2005.
HIROSHI YAMANO
SCHOOL JAPAN
One of Japan's leading figures in glass art, Hiroshi Yamano is known for his diverse skills and innovative surface applications. Drawn to nature, Hiroshi uses the fish as his personal symbol to describe his journeys from Japan to America, traversing the oceans. He is co-founder of Ezra Glass Studio in Japan, and chairman of the glass department and head of the craft department at Osaka Art University. Mr. Yamano's work is exhibited widely in the U.S. and abroad, and is included in many museum and public collections.
JOE GRANT
SCHOOL EASTERN US
Embracing the myriad relationships between science, nature, and art allows many of Joe Grant’s sculptures to emerge. After being struck by the transformative qualities of glass, he received a BFA with a focus in glass from the University of Illinois. Later, he earned his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Grant is currently the director of STARworks Glass in North Carolina. He has taught at numerous craft schools including Pilchuck Glass School, Penland School of Crafts, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. He has also taught in many University programs, including Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, and was a visiting assistant professor at Illinois State University. Grant’s work has garnered him numerous awards, including a fellowship at the Creative Glass Center of America and the North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include a glass-and-vocal performance at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio in Norfolk, VA; the William King Museum in Abingdon, VA; the V.I.P. room of the World Science Festival at the W Hotel in New York, NY; and The Carrack Modern Art in Raleigh, NC.
SILJA SKOGLUND
SCHOOL NORWAY
Born in Tromsø in 1973, Silja started her glass studies at the Kosta Boda Glass School in Sweden in 1994. After the first years with glassblowing in Sweden’s deep forests, she has been working in different glass studios and factories in Scandinavia. After several years based in the southern part of Sweden, her longing for the northern vibes called her to Tromsø, where she founded the glass studio Blåst in 2002. Educating the northern audience with a hands-on glass approach, she has been the CEO and artistic leader, making Blåst an important place to experience and purchase glassware. In 2013 she received the country’s art grant, and has been travelling to Istanbul, via Czech Republic, and West Coast USA to work with such artists as Rob Stern, Jiri Pacinek and Karen Willenbrink, broadening her horizon of glassmaking. During the years Silja has made permanent installations and series, been an invited artist at symposiums, performed workshops for school classes and seniors, and educated apprentices in her own workshop. She is currently the chair of the board of North Norwegian Art Centre, and is a part of the group that founded Norgesglass, the organization of Norwegian studio glass artists.
JAMES DEVEREUX
SCHOOL GREAT BRITAIN
James Devereux lives and works as a glassmaker in the Wiltshire countryside in the UK. After his studies, running a small studio, and a number of years as a technician at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, Devereux founded his current business, Devereux & Huskie Glassworks, with business partner Katherine Huskie. The studio is frequented by many of the UK’s most revered glass artists as well as artists from around Europe, and regularly takes on large-scale commissions and consultation work.
As a practicing glassmaker for the last 20 years, Devereux is also known for his own art practice, in particular his "hot chip" glass-sculpting technique. He has had the privilege of traveling and working in many glass studios in the UK and abroad, including London Glassblowing (UK), North Lands Creative (UK), Soneva Fushi (Maldives), Ngwenya Glass Swaziland (Swaziland), Glazhuis (Belgium), Pilchuck Glass School (USA), and Public Glass (USA).
Devereux is also a highly experienced Scuba Diving Instructor and Power Boat Skipper.
JAMES O'CALLAGHAN
SCHOOL GREAT BRITAIN
James O’Callaghan is a world leading Structural Engineer who is widely acknowledged as an authority in the use, and design of structural glass. His innovative and practical approach has made him an integral part of the design team for a number of internationally known clients and their pioneering and award-winning projects. These include Apple, Google and LinkedIn to name but a few. He is passionate about sustainability and strives for continual improvement and evolution in all his designs.
He is co-founder of the multi award-winning structural engineering practice Eckersley O’Callaghan which he has developed into one of the most recognized creative engineering design practices in the world. The practice now has 10 offices around the world which James established and is growing further.
As Professor of Architectural Glass at TU Delft, James has a key role in establishing research in all areas of glass in architecture. This is helping to map out the use of glass in the urban fabric of the future and accelerate more sustainable and responsible solutions.
ALEX RIDDICK
SCHOOL GREAT BRITAIN
Alexander is an accomplished structural engineer skilled in the design and detailing of superstructures within multi-million-pound major developments such as the Kings Cross regeneration in London.
He has led Civil, Structural and Geotechnical services for the Tottenham Hale Central mixed-use development, forms part of the team delivering one of Eckersley O’Callaghan’s most notable projects to date; the world’s tallest hybrid timber building, Atlassian Central. He is also leading the design team in London on a new sustainable life science campus, 10 Twin Dolphin Drive, in Redwood City, California.
Since 2017, Alexander has continued to act as an engineering design mentor for University College London, where he supports students studying the Masters of Civil Engineering course through their final year of the Integrated Design Project (IDL).
ADVISORS
RAY TROLL
ARTIST
Ray is an artist based in Ketchikan, Alaska. He is best known for his scientifically accurate and often humorous artwork. His most well-known design is "Spawn Till You Die," which has appeared in many places, including the film Superbad and being worn by actor Daniel Radcliffe. Troll's renditions of everything from salmon to marine mammals to creatures only found in the fossil record have become iconic in fishing, scientific, and environmental-activism communities around the world. His paintings and mixed-media drawings are in the collections of the Miami Museum of Science, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Alaska Airlines, the Anchorage Museum, the Alaska State Museum, and the Ketchikan Museum.
MARK TITUS
COMMUNICATIONS
Mark is the founder of Eva's Wild, an organization dedicated to saving the wild places we love — starting with Bristol Bay, Alaska.
Since 1993, Mark has spent nearly 30 years learning the salmon industry, first as a processor in Bristol Bay, then as a wilderness fishing guide in Southeast Alaska. Mark has directed and produced short films since 2003, founding August Island Pictures in Seattle in 2006. He has learned the craft of storytelling by writing and directing brand films for clients like Amazon, Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy, T-Mobile, and the United Nations Development Programme. In 2014 Mark helmed The Breach, an award-winning feature documentary about wild salmon. The Breach screened at 25+ international film festivals, and in 2015 completed a 20-city national theatrical tour across America.
Through his storytelling, Mark carries the message that humanity has an inherent need for wildness — and that to fulfill that need we have a calling to protect wild places and wild things.
CURT KRAEMER
FISHERIES BIOLOGIST
A lifelong Washington state angler who was fortunate enough utilize his fishing passion for the region’s salmonids as both a conservation advocate and biologist. Graduating from University of Washington in 1969 with a BS in fisheries science, Kraemer spent more than three decades with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (originally the Department of Game, then the Department of Wildlife) working primarily in the north Puget Sound region with a special interest in the wild steelhead, coastal cutthroat, and bull trout. Following retirement in 2005, Kraemer remains active in a variety of conservation activities and fishes regularly.
KATHERINE HUSKIE
SOCIAL MEDIA
Katherine Huskie is a glass blower and neon artist based in Wiltshire, UK. Huskie has been working in glass for over a decade and has spent time working for studios overseas in Australia and in the UK. In 2013 Huskie founded Devereux & Huskie Glassworks with James Devereux where they specialise in creating bespoke glass for designers and artists from the UK and around the world.
Huskie graduated from The University of Sunderland and in 2021 was awarded the role of Visiting Enterprise Fellow for the university in a 3 year position. Huskie has won numerous awards and scholarships including being awarded the Wimbledon Championship Artist of the Year 2018, alongside Nancy Sutcliffe. They designed and produced 2 large scale (80cm free blown glass roundels that were hand engraved & gilded) glassworks which are on permeant display at the AELTC clubhouse. Then in 2020 Huskie was awarded the QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) scholarship grant to be able to continue training with masters in the art of neon. Huskies own work has a strong identity in form and texture. She has a passion for manipulating hot glass with the intention of drawing the viewer in and wanting them to interact with the artwork.
CORBET CURFMAN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Corbet is an award-winning creative director and designer with decades of experience deploying strategic brand-building campaigns. He’s driven loyalty, awareness, and growth for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and a host of organizations dedicated to making a positive impact in child welfare, healthcare, housing stability, environmental sustainability, and more.
As a leader in the creative community, Corbet has a proven track record of developing high-caliber brands and engaging digital ad experiences that captivate audiences utilizing innovative methods, eye-catching and thought-provoking designs, and new media channels. From concept to completion, his inspired vision and technique helps clients achieve their creative and strategic goals.
He’s won multiple awards for his work, including local, regional, and national “ADDYs” — a prestigious honor given by the American Advertising Federation for excellence in the industry. Corbet’s work has also been featured in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Upworthy, and various design and branding books.
JOANNA SIKES
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Joanna Sikes has over 30 years of Senior Leadership experience in Art Museums — holding the positions of Executive Director, Director of Development, Chief Curator, and as a member of the Board of Trustees.
With expertise in institutional nonprofit fundraising, she removed operating budget deficits and created a path to financial sustainability for Museums and artist’s studios across the country. This work has included major grant writing initiatives, Capital Campaigns, exhibition concept and presentation, development, and project management.
Holding a BFA from the University of California, Davis, she has lectured in the Museum Studies certificate program at the University of Washington and served as a guest speaker at national meetings of Museum Professionals.
