Internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement, Paul J. Stankard is considered a living master who translates nature in glass. His work is represented in over 80 museums around the world. Stankard is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary doctorate degrees. He most recently received the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian’s The James Renwick Alliance and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Glass Art Society. He is an Artist-in-Resident and Honorary Professor at Salem Community College. Stankard authored three books; an autobiography in 2007 titled No Green Berries or Leaves, an educational resource in 2014 titled Spark the Creative Flame and most recently, Studio Craft as Career: A Guide to Achieving Excellence in Art-making.

Shane Fero was born in Chicago, IL in 1953 and has been a flameworker for over 50 years, and maintains a studio next to Penland School in North Carolina. He participates in international symposia and conferences by lecturing and demonstrating. Fero is also an educator and has taught at institutions such at Penland School, Urban Glass, the Pratt Fine Arts Center, the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, the University of Michigan, Eugene Glass School, Espace Verre, Montreal, Quebec, the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pilchuck Glass School, Bild-Werk, Frauenau, Germany, the International Glass Festival in Stourbridge, UK, Scuola Bubacco, Murano, Italy, Chameleon Studio, Tasmania, Taiwan, China, Australia, Turkey and in Seto, Osaka, and the Niijima Glass Art Center in Japan. His work can be found in collections both private and public institutions worldwide. He has had over 33 solo exhibitions since 1992 and has participated in over 400 group exhibitions during his career. 

He has been honored with three retrospectives; a 30 year at the Berkowitz Gallery at the University of Michigan in 1999, a 40 year at the Huntsville Museum of Art in 2008, and at the Christian Brothers University in 2010. His work can be found in over 30 museum collections worldwide including the Museum of Art & Design NY, The Corning Museum of Glass NY, GlasMuseum, Denmark, the Asheville Art Museum, NC, the Huntsville Museum of Art, AL, the Museum fur Glaskunst, Lauscha, Germany, and the Nijiima Contemporary Glass Museum in Japan. He is the Past-President of the Board of Directors of the Glass Art Society and received the Lifetime Membership Award from GAS in Chicago in 2014, honored in 2009 for Extraordinary Contribution to the Glass Art World, Salem Community College, Carney’s Point, NJ, and Award for Significant Contributions to the Chinese Glass Community from the Hejian Government, Hejian, China in 2017.