Welcome to North Lands Creative Glass

North Lands Creative Glass is situated in Lybster, a small fishing village on the North East Coast of Scotland. North Lands is open both to glass artists and to painters, sculptors, architects and designers wishing to explore the technical and artistic potential of glass either on its own or in combination with other materials. Through its programme of summer master classes, its annual conference and its residencies, North Lands aims to stimulate a lively exchange of ideas whilst also allowing time for reflection and action in a professional environment. North Lands was born in the nineties out of a need to create a centre of excellence to stimulate the growing interest in the possibilities of glass as an art form.

In its short life North Lands Creative Glass has fired a great deal of enthusiasm and is now an internationally recognised centre of excellence. The first master class was given in 1996 by Bertil Vallien, the legendary Swedish artist, who returned to Lybster in 2002 to lead another class as a mark of his continuing support. Other master class leaders have included noted glass artists like Tessa Clegg, Irene Frolic, Mieke Groot, Richard Meitner, Joel Philip Myers, Dante Marioni, Richard Marquis, Jan Erik Ritzman and Paul Stankard. Sculptors Tony Cragg and Richard Deacon and the Scottish painter Adrian Wiszniewski, have figured among course leaders from disciplines other than glass.

The first Artistic Director was Professor Keith Cummings of Wolverhampton University. He was succeeded by Tessa Clegg, winner of the 1999 Jerwood Prize (1997-1998) and Elizabeth Swinburne (1999-2002). The current Artistic and Technical Director is Jane Bruce who was born and educated in the UK but whose career has taken her to the United States and more recently to Australia as senior lecturer at the Glass Workshop at Canberra School of Art, part of the Australian National University.

In July 2002 the new fully equipped state-of-the-art Alastair Pilkington Studio, designed and developed by Elizabeth Swinburne, was opened by H.R.H. the Prince Charles. It is situated in the handsome refurbished 1870 limestone Lybster old school building. The purchase of the studio was made possible by the generosity of Lady Pilkington who in 1998 offered to sell her late husband's collection of glass to enable North Lands to buy the building. Further substantial funding came from the Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund, Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise, The Foundation for Sport and the Arts and a number of charitable foundations and private individuals.

There are already plans for expansion. It is hoped to acquire an adjacent property to provide a lecture room along with residential accommodation for artists on campus. The international interest in the master classes and residencies has encouraged North Lands to meet further demand by increasing the number of master classes. It is also planned to widen the potential for developing special projects and generally fostering a spirit of permanent enquiry into the artistic possibilities of glass.

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Enquiries

North Lands Creative Glass
Quatre Bras, Lybster
Caithness, KW3 6BN
SCOTLAND

Accommodation, bookings and general information:
Lorna MacMillan: Telephone and Fax: +44 (0)1593 721 229
e-mail: info@northlandsglass.com

Artistic and Technical Director:Jane Bruce
e-mail: JBruce99ny@aol.com