Documenting Laura Donefer's Glass Fashion Show

Laura Donefer is known for artwork that pushes boundaries by exploring memory, assault, bereavement, joy and madness. Celebrated for her innovative, colorful blown glass and flameworked Amulet Baskets, the artist has been using glass as the primary medium in her work for over 40 years, all while teaching, promoting the glass arts worldwide, and producing her unforgettable Glass Fashion Show (GFS). Donefer has produced 15 of her extraordinary fashion shows, many for the Glass Art Society (GAS). In fact, at GAS Murano 2018, her remarkable and ground-breaking event included 33 glass costumes worn by models as they glided past thrilled onlookers through the canals of Murano, Italy.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker David Marshall of Blue Sky Projects Films has undertaken a years-long documentary project dedicated to capturing both the history of Donefer's GFS and the work artists are undertaking to present a captivating and memorable show at GAS's June 2026 conference to be held at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.

Writes Donefer's assistant and GFS participating artist, Jennifer Hand:

"Ten years ago this June, Rik Allen stepped onto a catwalk at the Corning Museum of Glass in a full astronaut getup accompanied by David Bowie's Major Tom and changed my life forever. I found my community in the rapturous throng of creative, compassionate and collaborative humanity who cheered alongside me that night: Die-hard lovers of glass art united by the magnificent spectacle of Laura Donefer's Glass Fashion Show. It was my first Glass Art Society conference, and though the days before the grand finale had been filled with inspiring content and exciting connections, nothing could have prepared me for the cascading emotions I felt witnessing the wild, weird wonder of the artists who had spent years creating costumes for this one-night-only performance. It would have been inconceivable to me at the time, but two short springs later, I danced in my own glass costume on Murano's grand canal to an equally exuberant crowd.

It may be challenging for those who have not had the pleasure of attending one of these happenings to fully appreciate their splendor, but for prior participants and audience members alike, the verdict is unanimous - there is nothing on earth like the GFS. Since Donefer hosted the inaugural show at the first Canadian GAS Conference in 1989, she has traveled around the world putting on versions of the event - including several at Corning, T