The History of the Glass Fashion Shows!

Laura Donefer

Laura’s lecture will be about the history of the glass fashion shows she has been organizing since 1989, and it all started in Toronto! These events have become the highlight of entertainment for the international glass community.
Every few years, Laura organizes one of her wacky, exuberant glass fashion shows, which are fantastical spectacles for the international glass community to enjoy. The last one took place in Murano, Italy, and featured 33 amazing glass costumes in gondolas going down the famous Vetrai Canal. The next GFS will be in 2026 and promises to be over the top!

Artist Bio: Laura Donefer is an award-winning artist who has been using glass as her primary medium for over forty years, often in combination with diverse materials. Celebrated for her innovative, colorful blown glass and flame worked “Amulet Baskets”, she also pushes the boundary with work that explores ideas concerning memory, assault, bereavement, joy and madness. In demand as an exciting instructor, Laura has taught workshops and given lectures worldwide, including Japan, the United States, China, New Zealand, the UK and Australia. Her work is in many public and private collections, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, the Museum of Art and Design in Manhattan and the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal to name but a few. Laura has been bestowed with many honours, among them “Lifetime Achievement Awards” from the Glass Art Association of Canada, as well as Craft Ontario, the prestigious “Honorary Membership Award” from the Glass Art Society, for her dedication to the glass community at large, and the International Flameworking Award for “extraordinary contributions to the glass art world,” as well as being honored in 2016 with the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass award for her role in the glass community. Laura lives in the wilds of Ontario, Canada, and in her spare time grows kale, hangs out with her husband, The Mighty Dave, and kayaks the nearby waterways, loving and living her life to the fullest!