Overview

The annual GAS Conference is an incredible multi-day showcase of what is happening in contemporary glass around the world at this moment. It provides glass artists and enthusiasts with a platform to make connections, learn new techniques, and share their creative process with others. Welcoming 1,500 attendees to a different city every year, the GAS Conference hosts up to 100 presenters from 20+ countries, and participation is steadily expanding.

Artist-led programs include demonstrations, lectures, lecmos (lecture/demonstrations), panel discussions, films, networking opportunities, and special events.

Conference attendees are generally between 18-65 years of age and are made up of students + emerging artists, mid-career artists, educators, arts professionals, scientists, tool makers, product vendors, gallery owners, and art collectors. The conference provides a hub for connections and opportunities, allowing artists to connect with gallery owners and collectors, schools to find new students, and suppliers to launch their latest innovations.

Every conference is supplemented with a beautiful special edition post-conference journal publication to document the event.

2025 GAS Conference

Join members of the global glass community as we take the innovations of the present and transform them into the glassmaking traditions of the future! At the world-class facilities at the University of Texas at Arlington, conference attendees will have a unique opportunity to enjoy presentations that cover every facet of glassmaking in conversation with other artistic materials like prints and metal. The Arlington-Fort Worth glass community is a tight-knit network of glass organizations dedicated to uplifting each other, promoting all forms of diversity and inclusion, and exploring the latest innovations in glassmaking.

The conference theme, Trailblazing New Traditions, focuses on the work being done in Arlington and Fort Worth. Most of the conference activities will be hosted at the University of Texas, Arlington, where the glass department is run by Justin Ginsberg. “The GAS Conference provides a unique opportunity to invite the global glass community to our backyard and we are excited to host presentations in our state-of-the-art facilities, including a metal foundry, wood shop, and print shop,” said Ginsberg. Activities will also take place at SiNaCa Studios, in the Near Southside Arts Cultural District of Fort Worth, TX.

Clifton Crofford, SiNaCa Studios Executive Director, states “Hosting the GAS annual conference in Texas illustrates the relevance and importance of the local glass art scene and recognizes the growing community of glass artists in Texas!”