Katya’s formal art education involved full-time study as a sculptor, mould-maker & ceramicist. She studied for 2 years at the Tel-Aviv Art Centre & for 4 years on a BFA at Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem. After graduating, in 2002, she was offered a job in one of the biggest glass studios in Israel: a non-profit organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation of youth at risk, selling glass products made in the factory throughout Israel & the USA.
Here Katya was responsible for the development & design of functional glass products, overseeing the production process, programming kilns and advising on all stages of production - here her love of glass became fully established & Katya was offered the freedom to explore glass as a creative medium. She was offered a kiln & private studio space within the factory to persue her own creative works & she still has it to this day. Although Katya no longer formally works for the Foundation she still assists in a technical & creative capacity.
After 4 months in Seattle exploring the glass scene & joining glass classes in Pilchuck, the Pratt Fine Art Centre & the Glass Furnace in Turkey, her path to an International recognition was established. In September 2008 she offered 1, of 6, two month EAiR programme (Emerging Artists’ in Residence) scholarships for Pilchuck, (the Seattle glass school founded by the worlds famous glassmaker & sculptor, Dale Chihuly) http://www.pilchuck.com
Now Katya wishes to undertake a Masters Degree in Glass, the reason we are making this offer, to extend her skills & contacts. Longer term she intends to use her skills and position as a lecturer at two of Israel’s largest Universities, to help raise the International profile of Israel as a country producing visionary glass artists and designers.
