A message from our Chairperson, Adrienne Diamond
I am absolutely delighted and privileged to hold the position of Chairperson in this vibrant, exciting Society. My experience as a glass maker is humbled when held beside the expertise and creativity that is in embedded in our membership. I am extremely enthusiastic and energised, both by our members and the fantastic Board that I work alongside and I pledge to do my very best in this role.
The values that are important to me and I know the board feels the same are:
Inclusiveness and accessibility…… every one of us, both board and member has a voice in our Glass Society. As a Board, we will be listening and responding to you.Sustainability practice is a responsibility we now have to embrace. It is important to view all we do through this lens.
Realising the value of our skills …….. Practical skills are being lost in many aspects of our modern life. It is easy to forget the great expertise we quite literally hold in our hands and also the joy our creations bring to others. These skills deserve to be promoted and preserved.
The theme for 2025 is CONNECTING: As makers, we often work alone and isolation is not our friend. Through connecting with others, other makers, other disciplines, connecting with place and nature, cross pollination of ideas happens and in turn will promote growth and innovation.
This closely aligns with the underlying aim of the Society, to keep glass workers in close communication with each other, supporting each other, learning and sharing together.
There are just under 200 members in the Society, that potentially can be a lot of connections.
I am very excited along with the Board to outline the following plans for the
Society:
· The inaugural GSOI Members’ bursary programme has just been
launched. The purpose of the GSOI Bursary Programme is to support
individual members, at any stage of their career, to develop their
practice in the medium of glass.
· Once again this year, as part of the Society’s ongoing commitment to
supporting glass makers at the beginning of their career, the Graduate
award for excellence in Glass has been awarded to a 2025 Graduate.
· A Glass Society Of Ireland Members Touring Exhibition – Connecting
with people / place / nature
Locations: Jerpoint Glass in August and Botanic Gardens in October.
· Educational and networking days are planned; for example Connaught
group is organising an educational day in the Museum of Country life on
October 11th, ‘Sustainability in your practice’ and ‘Inside knowledge’ in
regard to writing proposals are two planned workshops for this event.
More details to follow.
· This year we plan to launch a database of members willing to host
‘Work experiences’ for College students and other makers.
· Using the 2024 Spanish exchange experience as a template we hope,
within Ireland, to build connections between our members in Studio
exchange experiences.
· Sculpture in Context Award for excellence in glass returns again this
year. A financial award by GSOI .
We are applying on behalf of members for National and International events
such as Bloom (where recently our members gave demonstrations to the
wider public) and application to the Venice Glass Week is also in the works
for 2026 alongside Biot International Glass Festival and venues in the North
of Ireland.
We are really excited by what lies ahead for our Glass Community and if you
have any suggestions for potential events, please let us know. The GSoI is
a volunteer and member-run organisation, we invite you to join our team and
help guide the future of Irish Glass. From a personal viewpoint it is a
rewarding and fun experience.
Adrienne Diamond
Who are we?
The Glass Society of Ireland is a professional all-island, non-profit association that opens a window onto the contemporary Irish Glass Community, both here in Ireland and abroad.
The GSOI is a volunteer and member-run organization.
The membership of the GSOI is open to practitioners, educators, artists, curators, collectors, academics, gallerists, enthusiasts and clients of all levels and diversity with a specific interest in glass.
Membership is open to the Irish glassmaking diaspora and international artists who have decided to call Ireland home.
Our Aims
- Highlight excellence in Irish glass; by creating a platform for current activities and hosting events that are relevant to our community in Ireland and internationally.
- Increasing the visibility of our craft; through educational programmes, publishing and working with our glass community in Ireland and abroad.
- Advocate for our community nationally and internationally; gathering relevant data with which to advocate and inform relevant bodies in future strategic planning for our sector.
- Facilitate communication and networking; utilising online and physical platforms to provide networking opportunities for our members.
- Increase public appreciation of the quality of work being created in glass in Ireland; through active promotion of exhibitions and events; championing the work of our members.
- Develop the international profile of Irish glass by continually building on international partnerships to increase the global exchange of knowledge, education and encourage collaboration.