SONJA BLOMDAHL

I am immensely grateful to glassblowing for challenging me and giving me purpose for over forty years. Glassmaking demands energy and focus, and the practice rewarded me with creative fulfillment, independence, and the rhythm and responsibility of a hot shop.

Glassblowing also introduced me to a community of like-minded souls whose passion for glass motivated me and whose friendship encouraged me. It has been thrilling to see the glass art community expand in size and influence over the past fifty years, and I take great pride in knowing that my work may inspire others. 

Sonja Blomdahl | Biography

Sonja Blomdahl is an American glass artist whose work is recognized for elegant forms which are characteristic of an optical lens exposing color-changing properties in reflective and transmitted light. She is counted among an influential cohort of female artists working in the glass medium and is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts ‘Visual Artists Fellowship Grant.’

Born in 1952 in Waltham, Massachusetts, Blomdahl was introduced to glassblowing while studying ceramics at the Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) in 1971. She received a BFA from MassArt in 1974 and joined a small glass studio in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In 1975, she continued to develop her skills alongside master glass artists and designers at the Orrefors National Glass School in Sweden.

In 1978, Blomdahl was a teaching assistant for Dan Dailey at Pilchuck Glass School where she began adding new techniques and skills to her practice. She was mesmerized by demonstrations given by visiting artist and master glassblower Checco Ongaro who presented several Italian techniques, including the highly technical process called incalmo. She then settled in Seattle, Washington, joining the Glass Eye studio and teaching at Pratt Fine Art Center.

In 1982 Blomdahl returned to Sweden, visiting with artists Bertil Vallien and Ulrica Hydman Vallien, and with designer Ann Wolff, who lent Blomdahl her studio. During this period, Blomdahl created a group of bowls using the incalmo technique. From Sweden, she set out on a journey through Europe, finding aesthetic inspiration in the great cathedrals, in conversations with other artists, and culminating in several weeks in Murano, Italy.

Blomdahl opened her own glass studio in Seattle in 1983, an important period for the artist, as she was able to focus solely on developing her vision, mastering techniques and color studies that would become career defining. For over 25 years, she would create fine art glass for exhibition in galleries and museums, and installations for private and public commissions.

Blomdahl’s work has been presented in museums worldwide, and is held in the permanent collections of institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Arts & Design, New York; the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, Czechia; and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.

EDUCATION

1976 Orrefors Glass Skolan, Orrefors, Sweden
1974 BFA, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA

PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS AND COLLECTIONS

American Craft Museum, New York, NY   Bank of America, Portland, OR Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL Boeing Corporation, Seattle, WA  Brunnier Gallery and Museum, Iowa State University, Ames, IA Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock, AR  Collection of Modern Glass, Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Czech Republic Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY Everett Public Library, Everett, WA Fine Arts Museum of the South at Mobile, Mobile, AL    Harborview Medical Center, Cultural Heritage Artwork Collection, Seattle, WA Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL IBM Corporation, New York, NY Kitazawa Contemporary Glass Museum, Kitazawa, Japan Mathew's Collection, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ MCI Communications Corporation, World Headquarters, Washington, D.C .Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL Museum of Contemporary Art & Design, New York, NY  Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Czech Republic Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI Oregon Public Arts Commission (Salem Public Service Building), Salem, OR Port of Seattle, Seattle, WA Prescott Collection of Pilchuck Glass, Pacific First Centre, Seattle, WA Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI Renwick Gallery, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, D.C. Safeco Corporation, Seattle, WA Seattle Arts Commission Portable Works Collection, Seattle, WA Sheraton Hotel, Seattle, WA Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA The White House Collection of American Craft, Washington, D.C. United Parcel Service Headquarters, Atlanta, GA Washington Mutual Savings Bank, Seattle, WA Washington State Arts Commission (Art in Public Places), Olympia, WA Westin Hotel, Seattle, WA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008-09  Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
2008   Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
2007   Sonja Blomdahl: Encalmo, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL
2005  Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID 
1999   Twenty Years, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008   Clear Your Mind: Contemporary Glass Invitational, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA; Hot Color Cool Glass, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
2006-09  Contrasts: A Glass Primer, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA 
2003   Masters of Contemporary Glass Art, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
2002   Seige Damer; 3 Person Show, Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, WA 
2000   Vessels: The International Exhibition of Glass, Koganezaki Glass Museum, Shizuoka, Japan
An International Survey of Glass, Kentucky Art & Craft Foundation, Louisville, KY
Glass from the Emerald City, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
1999   Glass!  Glorious Glass!,  Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art
Reflections on Light, Holter Museum, Helena, MT
1998   Aperto Vetro - Exposizione Internazionale del Vetro Contemporaneo, Venice, Italy
1997   Glass Today by American Studio Artists,  Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1995   The White House Collection of American Crafts, National Museum of American Art
1994-92  Clearly Art:  Pilchuck's Glass Legacy,  Whatcom County Museum, Bellingham, WA; International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Kanazawa, Japan
1990-89  History of American Glass, Corning Museum of Glass, at the Hermitage, Leningrad & Moscow
1986   Crafts Today:  Poetry of the Physical,  Inaugural  Exhibition, The American Crafts Museum, NY
1985   Northwest Glass, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, OK

AWARDS AND GRANTS

2001   U.S. State Department, gift presented by President Bush to Prime Minister of Sweden
1987   Artist's Trust Fellowship Grant
1986   National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artists Fellowship Grant

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2002   The Pilchuck Glass School, Instructor, Stanwood, WA
1998  Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Instructor, Deer Isle, ME
1992   Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Instructor, Deer Isle, ME
1988   Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Instructor, Deer Isle, ME
1985   The Pilchuck Glass School, Instructor, Stanwood, WA

PUBLICATIONS

2008   Greco, Patti.  "Glass Act," More, Dec. 2007/Jan. 2008, p. 34  
1999   New Glass Review, No's 4, 6, 13, 20.  The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
1996   Oldknow, Tina.  Pilchuck:  A Glass School.  Seattle: University of Washington Press
1995   Monroe, Michael W.White House Collection of American Craft.  New York: Harry N. Abrams
"Matters of Mood:  The Glass of Sonja Blomdahl," GLASS Quarterly.  No. 59, Spring
1992   New Glass Review, No's 4, 6, 13, 20.  The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
1991   Miller, Bonnie.  Out of the Fire:  Contemporary Glass Artists and Their Work.  San Francisco
1990   Biskeborn, Susan.  Artists at Work:  25 Northwest Glassmakers, Ceramists, and Jewelers.  Anchorage, Alaska, Northwest Books
1983-85   New Glass Review, No's 4, 6, 13, 20.  The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY