Nancy Callan

Nancy Callan’s artistic voice as a glass sculptor reflects her high-level training and talents.  Callan attended the Massachusetts College of Art (BFA 1996) and lives in Seattle, WA where she is part of the vibrant Northwest glass community. Callan’s numerous awards include the Creative Glass Center of America Fellowship and residencies at the Museum of Glass (Tacoma, WA), The Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, OH), the Pittsburgh Glass Center (Pittsburgh, PA), and the Chrysler Museum (Norfolk, VA).  She was a key member of maestro Lino Tagliapietra’s glassblowing team for nineteen years, where she learned and refined the traditional Venetian techniques she continues to use in innovative ways today. 

Her artwork is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, the Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC, the Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, the Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI, the Museum of Northwest Art, La Connor, WA, the Shanghai Museum of Glass, Shanghai, China.  Callan’s work is also in numerous prominent private collections around the world. 

“As I approach twenty-three years of working with glass, I am amazed at how much there still is for me to explore in the material. Using the traditional Venetian techniques to create something fresh and modern is an ongoing journey in my work.  I strive for the perfect form matched with the ideal surface, color, or pattern.  This approach allows me to feel grounded in the traditions of the material but also free to depart and explore the possibilities, which are indeed infinite.  Glass is a fantastic medium for dreaming up new ways to bend space, stretch time, and renew a sense of wonder.”