THE CARREKER GLASS FELLOWSHIP
THE CARREKER GLASS FELLOWSHIP
The Carreker Glass Fellowship provides a rare and significant annual opportunity for a USA-based, mid-career glass artist to undertake an intensive two-week hot glass residency at renowned craft and design centre JamFactory in Adelaide, South Australia. The first residency will take place in March or April 2026.
The recipient of the Fellowship will be selected by representatives of The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in the United States and JamFactory’s Glass Studio in Australia.
Valued at more than $AU15,000 The residency includes return flights, accommodation, up to ten glassblowing sessions with qualified assistants and an allowance for freight to return works to the United States.
The Fellowship has been made possible by the generosity of Jim and Helen Carreker, dual citizens of the United States and Australia, and passionate supporters of glass art in both countries for over 30 years.
Applications close Friday 25 April 2025
RESIDENCY DETAILS
The Carreker Glass Fellowship enables the recipient to undertake a residency within the Glass Studio at JamFactory in Adelaide, South Australia. The two-week residency provides the opportunity to work with skilled assistants, take risks and experiment with the development of new work using hot blown glass.
The residency includes;
· return economy airfares and transfers,
· self-contained accommodation in the JamFactory studio apartment,
· up to ten four-hour glassblowing sessions with qualified assistants, and
· an allowance of up to AU$2,000 for freight to return works to the United States.
The recipient will be required to provide a public talk and a public demonstration.
SELECTION PROCESS
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of judges including:
Amy Schwartz, Director, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
Richard Whiteley, Senior Programs Manager, The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass
Kristel Britcher, Head, JamFactory Glass Studio
Drew Spangenberg, Production Manager, JamFactory Glass Studio
The two key criteria for selection will be:
1) the artist's demonstrated record of achievement working in blown glass, and
2) the likely benefit of the residency to the artist's development
HOW TO ENTER
The application must include;
- A statement (200 words max) about the nature of your work
- A proposal (300 words max) outlining what you hope to achieve, what new things you wish to experiment with (technically and/or conceptually) and how you would leverage the opportunity for further development of your career
- A PDF File of your Curriculum Vitae (2 pages max)
- A PDF File with up to 10 images of indicative work
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be permanent residents or citizens of the United States of America and must have a demonstrated professional practice as an artist working with glass of at least 8 years.
ENTRY FORM
ABOUT JAMFACTORY
JamFactory is a unique not-for-profit organisation located in the Adelaide city centre and at Seppeltsfield in the Barossa, in the state of South Australia.
It is recognised nationally and internationally as a centre for excellence in glass, ceramics, furniture and metal design.
JamFactory’s shops, exhibitions, public programs and touring exhibitions promote the best Australian craft and design talent. All purchases made from JamFactory directly support the organisation’s training and exhibition program.
JamFactory’s Glass Studio is the longest running hot glass facility in Australia and one of the largest and best equipped studios in the Southern Hemisphere. Associates and staff, guided by current Studio Head Kristel Britcher, work together to design and make corporate awards and gifts, custom one-off commissions, architectural work and small production runs. Associates are also mentored in the development of their own work and are exposed to the many professional artists who use the facility to create their work. Through its Associate training program JamFactory has trained well over 100 glass artists from across Australia and around the world.
STUDIO FACILITIES
JamFactory’s facilities are world class, set up with four hot glass workstations, cold working machinery and four annealing ovens, the studio draws local, national and international glass workers to Adelaide to produce a vast array of glass products from production through to high end exhibition pieces.
The Studio’s hotshop has two 450Lb furnaces, melting Australian made Artisan Gaffer batch. JamFactory have small scale slumping and casting kilns, pickup kilns and a garage and powder booth to accommodate a variety of processes.
The Studio’s coldshop has all fundamental cutting and processing equipment including five flatbeds, two cutting lathes, two sandblasters and two pneumatic grinders. The studio also has a well-equipped technician fabrication workshop that can assist artists during the residency.
Since the 1970s, JamFactory’s Associate Program in the Glass Studio has provided emerging glass artists with two years intensive hands-on training. The Glass Studio team includes a group of skilled and committed glass artists, who work alongside Associates to assist with ideas and skills development and provide technical guidance and support.
Not only used as a training facility for the Associate Program, the Glass Studio is open for external glass blowers to hire. This glass hiring community includes some of Australia’s leading glass artists providing invaluable peer-to-peer support and mentoring for our Associates and work opportunities as Technical Assistants.
DONORS
The Fellowship has been made possible by the generosity of Jim and Helen Carreker, dual citizens of the United States and Australia, and passionate supporters of glass art in both countries for over 30 years.
After moving to Australia in 2004, they established The Louise, a luxury boutique accommodation in the Barossa Valley. Adelaide's status as a global hub for glass art played a key role in their decision to settle in South Australia. Jim also served on the JamFactory Board for nine years, significantly helping to broaden the organization's donor base. In 2021, the Carrekers sold The Louise and returned to the United States.
Jim and Helen are generous supporters of The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass and JamFactory. They were founding donors of the FUSE Glass Prize in 2016 —the most prestigious award for Australian and New Zealand glass artists. In 2020, the Carrekers expanded their support to help launch the FUSE Glass Artist Residency, providing fully funded residencies for Australian glass artists at JamFactory every alternate year to the biennial prize. The funds for this prize and the funds for the Carreker Fellowship are managed by Foundation SA.
