From the Fuse Glass Prize website, posted March 2016:
JamFactory is thrilled to announce 15 outstanding finalists have been selected for the inaugural FUSE Glass Prize.
The judges reviewed 83 high quality and diverse entries from across Australia and New Zealand, as well as Australian and New Zealand citizens located in Europe and North America.
The winner of the established artist category will receive a $20,000 cash prize, with the emerging winner receiving $2,500 plus a professional development opportunity at JamFactory valued at $2,500.
The finalists for the 2016 FUSE Glass Prize are:
Emerging Artists Category:
Lewis Batchelar (SA)
Hannah Gason (ACT)
Marina Hanser (ACT)
Andrew Plummer (NSW)
Alex Valero (SA)
Established Artist Category:
Clare Belfrage (SA)
Mel Douglas (ACT)
Tim Edwards (SA)
Wendy Fairclough (SA)
Brenden Scott French (SA)
Elizabeth Kelly (NSW)
Jessica Loughlin (SA)
Nick Mount (SA)
Richard Whiteley (NSW)
Kathryn Wightman (NZ)
The 2016 winner will be announced on 12 May, with an exhibition of the finalist’s work held at JamFactory Adelaide from 13 May – 3 July and JamFactory at Seppeltsfield from 9 July – 18 September.
The 2016 FUSE Glass Prize judges are Tina Oldknow, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at Corning Museum of Glass, New York from 2000 – 2015; Dr Robert Bell, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the National Gallery of Australia since 2000; Margot Osborne, Independent Australian Arts writer and Curator and author of several books on glass artists including the 2005 Survey Australian Glass today; Brian Parkes: Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director at JamFactory; Lisa Slade: Assistant Director, Artistic Programs at the Art Gallery of South Australia and Curator of the 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art. Parkes says of the judging process that, ‘the judges were thrilled with the quality of the applications and it required intensive debate to bring the field, which included so many leading Australian and New Zealand artists working in glass, down to just ten established and five emerging finalists.’
This biennial FUSE Glass Prize has evolved from two years of dialogue between passionate glass art collectors Jim and Helen Carreker and JamFactory. The Carrekers are founding donors for the prize along with Diana Laidlaw AM, Phil and Diana Jaquillard, Alan Young AM and Sue Young, The Thomas Foundation, and Sandy Benjamin OAM, who share the Carrekers’ love of glass art.
This group has raised funds for the prizes, marketing and program costs, enabling JamFactory to develop this new award into Australasia’s richest prize for glass, and one of the world’s premier recognitions for artists working in this dynamic and seductive medium.