Faculty
Natali Rodrigues, Department Head
Natali was born in Kenya, in 1970 to a German mother and Goan father. In 1975 the family immigrated to Canada. Her early education was in French, German and English. These various cultural facets could have lead to feelings of disenfranchisement and alienation. Fortunately the contrary was the case: what seems like disparate cultural elements are united by a rich familial history of story telling, of retaining and reinforcing identity through language, faith and journey.
Going against the conventional wisdom surrounding artists and craftspeople, Natali has never felt she is an outsider, or of being Other. Rather being a maker has allowed her to mark and contextualize her place within the multicultural, multi-faith and cosmopolitan community that is Canada.
Natali’s work explores the treads that bind her family together across the globe, through the exploration of language, faith and journey. These three themes manifested themselves in works that link personal story to the larger narratives of liminal space and transformational experience.
Tyler Rock, Faculty
Tyler Rock has been working with glass professionally since 1989, and has been an instructor in the glass program of the Alberta College of Art and Design since 1995. He has taught workshops and lectured at schools, studios and institutions in Canada, the United States, France, Spain, and Japan.
Rock’s work can be found in many private, corporate and public collections in Canada including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the collection of the former Premier of Alberta, the offices of the Prime Minister in Ottawa, the Canadian Embassies collection, Rideau Hall and the collection Department of Foreign Affairs. http://www.firebrandglass.ca/
Marty Kaufman, Faculty
In 1974 Marty Kaufman traveled from Canada to Europe. There he enrolled in a Parisian stone carving atelier. This pivotal experience drove him to pursue a broader arts education. He came back to Canada to attend classes at the Alberta College of Art + Design as a sculpture major.
When Marty first saw glass blowing, his imagination was captured. This fascination prompted him to change his major to Glass, and the adaptability of glass has kept him involved since. Marty Kaufman lives and works in Calgary. He has been an instructor at the Alberta College of Art + Design, the Department Head of Glass, Chair of the Fine Arts Department, and is currently Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies. His work can be found in many public and private collections. www.martykaufman.com
Robert Geyer, Faculty
Robert Geyer received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, BFA from the Emily Carr University in Vancouver and BA from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. His current art practice is based on enacting interventions to the historic usage of glass as object or commercial product. Robert uses Hot Formed, Cast, Found and Recycled Glass to create objects and installations that create a tension between sculptural form and subtle phenomena through the interplay of light, color and visual perception. Always at the forefront of his work is making sculpture that recognizes and utilizes the distinct properties of glass.
Jim Norton, Faculty
Calgary born Glass Artist and Craftsman – Jim Norton studied art and glassblowing at the Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary, and Pilchuk Glass School in Stanwood, Washington.
Some important collections around the world have acquired Jim’s pieces.
Included among these are:
Alberta Art Foundation, Edmonton, AB
Petro Canada Collection, Calgary
McDougall House, Calgary
Gift from the city of Calgary to Queen Elizabeth of England
Gift from the city of Calgary to Governor General of Canada, Ray Hnatyshyn
Charles R. Bronfman Collection, (Claridge)
Esso Resources Canada Collection
Calgary Civic Collection
The Mayor’s Lunch Awards, commission, Calgary
Mark Gibeau, Glass Program Technician
Mark Gibeau continues to break with tradition in his medium to create some of the most exciting glass work in western Canada. He devotes his artistic energy to the use of hot glass as a material to articulate figural, abstract and representational form.
The quality and vocabulary of images that enhance Gibeau’s work are the culmination of a developmental process requiring extensive experimentation and experience achieved through the production of vas numbers of pieces. Each piece is a one of a kind original. Ever extending the frontiers of his chosen medium by trying out new ideas, Gibeau continues to experiment with new images, shapes and forms to express his own personal vision.
Mark Gibeau’s work can be found in galleries, collections, and museums around the world.
Lisa Cerny, Glass Program Technician
I think of my artistic practice as having two distinct focuses. Foremost , is my role as a creator and artist, and secondly is my involvement with teaching. Both endeavours intertwine to inform, and perhaps even validate the other, and I am becoming equally committed to the creative processes which, though different for each, challenge me to consider the ways in which I communicate.