Through 25 years of working in glassblowing, Benjamin Cobb has honed his mastery of glass, traveled across the globe, and worked with hundreds of artists. An east-coast transplant, Cobb holds a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has been a demonstrating artist at glass studios as far afield as Sweden, the Czech Republic, Italy, and France. He’s taught at Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, and many other glass programs in the US. He’s a recognizable leader and voice in the glass community and has contributed to the success of countless works of art. In his own work, Cobb draws inspiration from the natural world, as well as the scientific process. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Glass and the Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, WA, and dozens of galleries across the country. Benjamin joined the Glass Art Society Board of Directors in October 2019.

Mika Drozdowska works as a curator in BWA Wrocław Galleries of Contemporary Art and head of the SIC! BWA Wrocław Gallery (which she transformed from the Glass and Ceramics Gallery), putting emphasis on experiments and searching for new values. 

Her interests focus on glass and ceramics as a medium of contemporary art. In turn, her experience and deep interest in art in the public space means that she tries to operate at the interface of these two fields (an example of which is the project of the city game GlassGo and Art on request, a mobile gallery with the exhibition Invasive species by Ben Snuffy Wright). 

Mike is the curator of many exhibitions of contemporary art including Autonomous Zones– group exhibition in the occasion of 50 anniversary of Pilchuck Glass School; Still Life by John Moran; Florentine Syndrome by Einar and Jamex de la Torre; Everything comes in handy by Kalina Bańk; Exotic dreams and poetic misunderstanding by Lin Wang , “Gold Standard” by Matt Szosz . She co-created the residency program in BWA Wrocław. Mika serves as a board member of BWA Wrocław Galleries of Contemporary Art and Studio Gent Glass in Gent (Belgium). She worked as a producer of many projects and exhibitions, and also as a coordinator of two editions of the International Biennale of Urban Art OUT OF STH (2012, 2014) in BWA Wrocław. Mike graduated from the Faculty of Glass and Ceramics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw (Poland). She also studied at the University of Anadolu in Eskisehir (Turkey).

Percy Echols II is a Pittsburgh-based Artist, Alchemist, and Educator who pioneers the development of Neon and Plasma Light Art at the Pittsburgh Glass Center and is the creator and host of the Podcast Taming Lightning. He began working in glass in 2011 when he took his first Glassblowing Class at Illinois State University, although his interest in plasma began in 2014 at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA. Here he was introduced to the medium of plasma light sculpture through furnace glassblowing in a class taught by Patrick Collentine and gained a friend and mentor. He continued working in plasma while pursuing his BFA in Studio Glass at Illinois State University. After graduating he moved to Pittsburgh in 2016 for a year-long apprenticeship at the Pittsburgh Glass Center which quickly became his new home. Here he was gifted with an opportunity to make use of donated neon equipment and a growing network of artists, where he studied, built, and developed studio equipment and programming. This allowed him to not only make his artwork, but to allow PGC to provide workshops, classes, and private lessons, as well as allow for commissions, services, and collaborations for Plasma and Neon. In 2019 he joined the Plasma Art Alliance Board and was nominated for a leadership role in 2020, to further its mission to promote illuminated plasma in glass as a sculptural art medium as it aligns with his own goals through Taming Lightning. Percy currently pursues the goal of formalizing methods and knowledge he has put into practice for plasma and sharing them with the greater community of interested artists, makers, and engineers and encouraging accessibility through public art institutions.

Frederik Rombach is the owner of Rombachs Glass in Antwerp, Belgium. His studio focuses on two topics; Environmental Awareness and Community Outreach. Frederik firmly believes these two topics are connected and endeavors to acquire as much knowledge as he can in both areas to connect in his own studio and to disseminate into our international glass community. He sees his role on the GAS Board of Directors as a huge honour. In the coming years, he hopes to learn, evolve and exchange knowledge and experiences as productively as possible with you all.

Dr. Sunny Wang is one of the leading glass artists in Asia. She uses the unique material qualities of glass in contemporary art practices to explore diverse themes including Buddhist philosophy, Chinese calligraphy and the human relationship with the natural environment. Solo and group exhibitions of Sunny Wang’s work have been presented internationally including Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Italy, France, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, America and her native Taiwan.Dr. Sunny Wang founded the Glass Studio at the Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University in 2007 and has served as an Associate Professor at the Academy since 2020.

Martha Zackin is a Boston lawyer, concentrating in the representation of management in all aspects of labor and employment law, including litigation, collective bargaining, and counseling.  With more than 30 years of experience, Martha advises and represents clients on a broad range of employment law issues and in adversarial proceedings.  In her role as an advisor to employers, boards of directors, and executives, she regularly provides practical advice and counsel on a wide range of employment-related issues, including employee relations and policy matters; employee classification and wage and hour laws; violations of noncompetition, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements; employee training; employment and separation agreements; affirmative action; mergers and acquisitions; and internal investigations. Martha has represented clients before administrative and governmental agencies, courts, arbitrators, and mediators. When she’s not lawyering, Martha spends her time with her dogs on Casco Bay in Maine or in the hot shop, taking classes or renting blow slots at NOCA Glass School.  NOCA, located just outside of Boston in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, is housed within Almost Perfect Glass (APG), home to a fantastic array of glass artists, sculptors, jewelers, and a few dogs. 

Leia Guo (she/her) is an interdisciplinary Canadian artist who works at the intersection of photography and contemporary glassmaking. Her signature “vitreoscape” prints combine hand-blown optical plates with the silver gelatin printing process to create landscapes that exist in temporal flux. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in Glass (2022) and a Bachelor of Design in Photography (2023) from the Alberta University of the Arts in her home city of Calgary. During her undergraduate degrees Leia was a central part of her university’s artistic community -organizing alumni visits, gallery openings, and fundraising opportunities. As an alum, she works as the coordinator for her school’s student art market. Her passion for community-building led her to join the GAS Board, where she is the current North American Student Representative. Leia currently works out of her custom home darkroom and at a local hotshop to create her unique silver gelatin prints. She has exhibited her work at various national and international exhibitions and was a 2023 Pilchuck Fellow. When she’s not in the studio, you can find her cuddling her kitties or roadtripping through the Albertan prairies.

Wandering around the world with her ability of perfect pitch and quadrilingual skill, Jocelyn Chan creates installation and performance artworks using the language of sound and music. Born in 1998 and raised in Hong Kong, surrounded by the rich history of neon lights, Jocelyn was initially drawn to glass through the process of neon bending at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She found a passion in glassblowing in their hotshop, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Glass and Printmaking. After graduation, Jocelyn worked at AO Glass in Burlington, Vermont and Chrysler Museum Glass Studio in Norfolk, Virginia. She continues to create challenging works and explore different opportunities when traveling around the world. Jocelyn is currently advancing her studies in glass at Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Toyama, Japan.