Alumni of UW–Madison’s Glass Lab are on the leading edge, forging new directions in the field. They are building notable careers as artists, scientific glassmakers, executive directors, and more. In addition, they are receiving prestigious awards, fellowships, and grants to further their work. Here is what just a few alumni who have graduated in the last five years are up to.

Anna Lehner, MFA 2019

annalehner.com@alehnerglass

Lehner is the executive director of the Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts in Minneapolis. Their artistic work focuses on environmental themes rooted in geologic and human timescales. In early 2020 on a Fulbright Graduate Research Award, Lehner went out into the field with scientists and researchers to learn more about seismic activity along the Alpine Fault in New Zealand. “I am drawn to the boundaries where tectonic plates come together and collide, and where they separate and form new bedrock,” Lehner says. Their work explores the facets of fracture within tectonic plates and how they correlate to human chronology.

Examples of Lehner’s work:

Click on each image to view a larger version. From left to right are: “Timescale,” 2018; “Soft Rock,” 2018; “Brittle Boundaries,” 2019; and “Shifting Foundations,” 2020.