Sold at Auction: Joel Philip Myers

A graduate of the College of Ceramics at Alfred University, N,Y. Joel Philip Myers became intrigued with glass when he heard a lecture by the head designer from the famous West Virginia glass factory named Blenko Glass. After graduation, Myers was offered a position at Blenko and became its head designer. At the Blenko workshops, Myers was given a unique chance to both design and produce blown glass with creative freedom. By 1966 he won the Best of Show in an exhibition at the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, N.C. and the Award of Merit from the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York. In 1970 he joined the faculty of Illinois State University to begin a glass-making program through which he influenced many students. In 1997 he retired as a Distinguished Professor of Art from that post. Remarkable layering and inclusions of colored glass in Myers work recall the color field and stained canvas art as well as abstract expressionism of contemporary painting. As both an artist and teacher, Joel Philip Meyers is a seminal figure in the studio glass movement.