Curtiss Brock
Curtiss Brock was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His father was a test pilot for the Air Force and navy, and the family moved around a lot, but settled in the Detroit suburbs for Curt's high school years. Curt developed a strong interest in alternative energy sources, and applied to the program at Goddard College. While studying at Goddard Curt discovered glass. In the Alternative Energy program, one professor seemed to encourage students to go ahead and use up the available fossil fuels, while another harangued Curt for spending so much time in the glass studio. Weighing his options, Curt focused on glass.
After completing his BA at Goddard, Curt continued his studies in glass at Massachusetts College of Art and the California College of Arts and Crafts, and came to the Appalachian Center for Craft in 1981 to study under David Huchthausen. For the next 12 years, he worked at the Center in just about every capacity possible, as a student, maintenance man, dish washer, glass studio manager, graduate assistant, and instructor. In 1993, 10 years after completing his undergraduate degree, Curt was already running the Glass program, but took a leave of absence from the Craft Center to finish his MFA in Sculpture at the University of Illinois.
Looking back over his education, Curt acknowledges that the biggest influences have been those squired during 9 years working and teaching at Pilchuck Glass School, the famous mecca of the studio glass movement located north of Seattle. At Pilchuck Curt work closely with Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, William Morris, Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova, Bertil Vallien and many other well-established glass artists. This experience provided a much broader understanding of glass from a global perspective.
As tenured associate professor and head of the glass area, Curt radically changed the philosophy and approach of the program. Early on, he became convinced that a strong undergraduate program in glass requires a solid foundation of technical skills in both hot and cold glass. Under his guidance, the core curriculum in glass focuses on hand-blown form with a very strong foundation in glass technology and both hotworking and coldworking skills.
Curt assures that the student acquires a comprehensive understanding of the history of glass and its relationship to contemporary work in the studio glass movement. From this platform of knowledge and experience students can begin to express their artistic ideas successfully through this technically complex medium. Curt's emphasis on thorough grounding in practical studio skills and technical knowledge clearly separates the ACC glass program from most others in academia today.
Curt also felt that his program shoulder provide the students with general information about the options available to glass artists in the world today. He knew that teaching this information effectively would require real world experience in producing and marketing art glass. Since 1996, Curt has designed and produced a line of limited edition production work under the studio name CB Glass. He has exhibited and marketed this work in the top retail craft shows in the nation. This has enabled him to intimately integrate the organization and operation of small a production glass company into his teaching curriculum.
While continuing to develop the glass program at the Craft Center, Curt recently renovated a 1929 two-room schoolhouse into a comfortable, spacious residence. His most recent passion/obsession is the attempt to mold Shau Bau, a smooth coated collie acquired from the local animal shelter, into what he hopes will be an obedience trained, championship show dog.
Curt's work is featured in over 25 museum collections worldwide. He has received two NEA grants, a Southern Arts Fellowship grant, and a Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship. He teaches regularly at the Pilchuck Glass School and Penland School for Crafts and has lectured widely in the United States and Japan. In 1988 he was recipient of the Shimono Sake Museum Prize at the International Glass Now Competition.
Curt pursues his vocation and avocation with consistent passion and commitment. As a dynamic and energetic artist and teacher, he pushes the development of his own work and his students'. He manages to combine the traits of a demanding taskmaster and a caring and patient teacher, and his students consistently move towards artistic and professional success.
