“I feel as if I am an explorer. With each piece I make I prepare for a journey, I have a general idea where I want to go, but I never know where the path will lead me. Each piece I work on I set out in the hopes of discovering something new and exciting. As any explorer, my journeys are filed with ups and downs, disappointments and breakthroughs, however with each piece I am sure to gain knowledge and insight which is the excitement that brings me to my studio every day.”

Born in 1972 in Spruce Pine, NC , Alex Gabriel Bernstein is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology where he earned his MFA. He studied glassblowing with David Levi and Dimitri Mechealidis in 1998 - 99 at the Penland School of Crafts after having earned a BA from University of North Carolina.

Alex was department head of glass at the Worcester Center for Crafts in Worcester, MA. He has also taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art, RIT, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, the Penland School of Crafts and Pilchuck Glass School. His work is held in many collections, including those of the Corning Museum of Glass, Glasmuseum Frauenau in Germany, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, The Rochester Institute of Technology, the Mellon Financial Corporation, and the Wachovia Corporation.

EDUCATION

2001      MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology, The School for American Crafts, NY
1999      Concentration in Glassblowing with David Levi, Penland School of Crafts, NC
1998      Concentration in Glassblowing with Dmitri Michealidis, Penland School of Crafts, NC
1994      BA, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC

PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS AND COLLECTIONS

American Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland

American Embassy in Libreville, Gabon, West Africa

American Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland

Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA

The World, Residences at Sea

Truliant Federal Credit Union, Winston Salem, NC

 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA

Corning Museum of Glass. Corning, NY

Glassmuseum Frauenau. Frauenau, Germany

Burchfeild-Penny Arts Center, Museum of Western New York Art, Buffalo, NY

Wallace Memorial Library, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

The Dean of Liberal Arts Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

Mellon Financial Corporation, Harrisburg, VA

Wachovia Financial Group, Greenville, SC

Deloitte & Touche, Boston, MA

Bascom-Louise Gallery, Highland , NC

Royal Caribbean, Oasis of the Seas

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Mobile Art Museum, Mobile, AL