As a teenager, I began to develop a studio practice rooted in glassmaking. I am dedicated to excellence in craftsmanship, and look to historical Venetian references as benchmarks of craft. While embracing traditional techniques, it is my intention to sustain my practice and intuition in the present. Through physical repetition and personal inquiry, I find the forms and patterns that possess quiet, traditional beauty simultaneously with my intuition and contemporary details, which I call “grit.”
– Michael Schunke
BIOGRAPHY: Michael Schunke
Michael J. Schunke is a contemporary American glass artist and designer. He dedicates his work to the pursuit of form and the practice of making. With a strong sense of design focused on the relationship between line and volume, Schunke creates expressive silhouettes and containers of personal meaning. Since his introduction to glassmaking as a student at the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA and the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, Schunke has dedicated his practice to the pursuit of form and refining his method of making.
Michael is an avid educator of the medium and teaches glassmaking around the globe. He is a former professor of Glass at the Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Toyama, Japan; and he has taught at the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA; Haystack School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME; Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC; UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, NY; The Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Cam Ocagi, Instanbul, Turkey; Wheaton Arts, Millville, NJ; and Eugene Glass School, Eugene, OR.
Michael is an award-winning artist, designer and maker who has been recognized as a Fellow at the Creative Glass Center of America, Millville, NJ; and as an Artist in Residence at The Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA, and the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, OH. He has been hosted as a Visiting Artist at numerous museums and universities, most recently at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; and The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA.
Schunke’s glass objects and sculptures are housed in museum collections including the Ebeltoft Museum of Glass, Ebeltoft, Denmark; The Museum of American Glass, Millville, NJ; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Museum of Glass and Contemporary Art, Tacoma, WA; and Toyama Museum of Glass, Toyama, Japan .
In addition to pursuing his personal studio practice, Michael Schunke co-operates Vetro Vero glassblowing and design studio with his wife, co-designer and fellow artist, Josie Gluck. They live in Chester County, PA.