The MFA in Glass at Tyler is a rigorous, research-based program that cultivates each artist’s individual voice. While glass is a central material, you will be invited to work fluidly across sculpture, installation, performance, video, and critical theory. The program foregrounds conceptual development, technical innovation, and interdisciplinary exploration, encouraging you to challenge dominant narratives and revalue marginalized traditions.
The Tyler Glass program serves as a leading center of interdisciplinary thought and practice where you will develop rigorous research practices, build conceptual clarity, and expand your making through a wide collaborative lens.
At Tyler, glass is more than a material—it’s a platform for risk-taking and deep exploration. The Tyler Glass program supports students in developing individual and collaborative research practices, integrating material experimentation with critical inquiry. With access to nationally recognized faculty, diverse visiting artists, and Temple’s broader research university resources, you will emerge ready to shape the field in new ways.
Grounded in contemporary discourse and material culture, students engage with global histories, sustainability, material science, and critical craft theory. Through immersive studio practice, focused seminars, one-on-one mentorship, visiting artist engagements, and peer critique, students situate their work within broader conversations of contemporary art, ecological responsibility, and the evolving global glass community. Tyler’s MFA in Glass supports technically refined, conceptually rigorous practices that prepare artists to shape and lead the future of the field.
The Tyler School of Art and Architecture features its own admissions team, who can provide you with the information you need to make the best decision for your educational and career goals.
The Glass program at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture is a two-year, 60-credit program leading to the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree that offers personal mentorship from faculty and visionary visiting artists in state-of-the-art facilities and encourages experimentation with media, interdisciplinary projects and public art to ignite social change.
Students are mentored to develop a distinct artistic voice through rigorous research and hands-on experimentation. Glass is approached not only as a material but as a methodology, one that intersects with craft, sculpture, performance, video, writing, and conceptual frameworks. This interdisciplinary emphasis encourages expansive, anti-disciplinary practices that challenge dominant narratives and position each student’s work within broader cultural, political, and ecological dialogues.
Graduate students gain valuable teaching experience and mentor undergraduates, cultivating inclusive learning environments and preparing for future academic and community leadership. Engagement opportunities inside and outside the institution foster collaborative practices and a commitment to accessibility and shared knowledge.
Through studio critiques, visiting artist engagements, and faculty guidance, students develop strong professional practices—including portfolio development, grant writing, and exhibition preparation. Sustainability is embedded across the curriculum, supporting students in building thoughtful, responsible careers that respond to the evolving needs of the field and the planet.
Tyler’s glass studio is committed to a recycling process that produces zero glass waste.
Graduates of Tyler’s MFA in Glass go on to become innovative makers, educators, and thinkers who shift the field forward. Their ability to move across disciplines makes them highly adaptable and impactful in the arts and beyond. Potential career paths include:
Tyler’s 10,000 sq. ft. glass facilities support deep material research and technical innovation across hot, warm, and cold glass processes. Students have 24/7 access to studios and dedicated private spaces for work and reflection. Key Facilities Include:
Graduates of Tyler’s MFA in Glass have gone on to win prestigious awards, found artist collectives, and shape the field through innovation and leadership.
MFA ’17
Yixuan Pan, MFA ’17, is an artist and educator who explores language, dislocation, and collective meaning-making. As Assistant Professor of Culture, Arts, and Communication at the University of Washington Tacoma, she challenges dominant narratives through vibrant, anti-disciplinary creative research.
Rooted in the belief that “language forms a community, and it’s the community that keeps art alive,” Pan’s practice playfully dislocates language from its expected context to question systems we learn and unlearn. Her work spans performance, installation, poetry, digital media, lollipop casting, ASMR cooking, and more—embracing disruption as a way to foster new ways of sensing and relating. Her current project, a collective dumpling-making ASMR experience, transforms routine acts of nourishment into collaborative performance, foregrounding immigrant labor and restoring sensory connection in a post-pandemic world. At UW Tacoma, Pan teaches courses like Urban Walking as Creative Practice and Labor, Globalization, and Art, inspiring students to reimagine art’s role within community, displacement, and joy.
MFA ’23
Jason McDonald, MFA ’23, is a glass artist whose work intertwines technical mastery with profound social commentary. Introduced to glassblowing at age 14 through Tacoma’s Hilltop Artists program, McDonald has since honed his craft, focusing on traditional Venetian furnace techniques. His creations delve into themes of identity, access, and representation, particularly highlighting the challenges faced by BIPOC individuals in creative spaces.
A recipient of the Windgate Fellowship, McDonald has participated in residencies at esteemed institutions like the Pittsburgh Glass Center and the Corning Museum of Glass. His work has been showcased at venues including the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft . Beyond his artistic practice, he is dedicated to education, teaching at institutions such as Pratt Fine Arts and UrbanGlass .
McDonald’s art serves as a conduit for dialogue, using the beauty and complexity of glass to challenge societal norms and inspire change.
MFA ’17
Rïse Peacock (they/she), MFA ’17, is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator whose practice is rooted in equity, accessibility, and the transformative power of art. As the inaugural Curatorial Fellow of Postwar and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass, Rïse contributes to acquisitions, exhibitions, and research, including projects like Collidoscope: De La Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective and Disclosure: The Whiteness of Glass.
With an MFA in Glass and Ceramics from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture and a BFA from Alfred University, Rïse approaches artmaking and curating through a socio-political lens, often exploring themes of queer identity, material culture, and luminous phenomena. Their artistic endeavors span writing, drawing, assemblage, mixed media, and zine projects. Notable exhibitions include Big Mood at Stay Home Gallery and the 2019 Women Create Biennial in Jamestown, NY.
As an educator, Rïse emphasizes applied learning and community engagement, guiding students through projects like the student-led exhibition altered: out of shape. Residing in New York's Southern Finger Lakes, Rïse continues to foster inclusive artistic communities and dialogues.
"My time at Tyler as an MFA student in Glass was exactly the experience I wanted in a graduate program. The faculty, community of students, academic rigor, and the openness to an interdisciplinary art practice in a time-honored craft is the reason I chose the Tyler glass program. The support that I received from this institution was more than I expected, and it was a place where I felt valued as a thinker and maker. I graduated feeling prepared with the tools and connections to succeed in my unique path as a working artist."
"My time at Tyler perfectly fit my needs and desires to challenge myself as an artist and individual. Being able to immerse myself in my research, engage with a diverse cohort of fellow students, and learn from some of the best minds in glass and beyond pushed my work well past what I thought were its limits. I greatly appreciate the support I received from the faculty on my committee, the room to experiment and fail, and the relationships I built over my two years that will last well beyond my graduation."
From performance and video to traditional and experimental glass processes, student work in Tyler’s MFA program reflects a dynamic engagement with material and meaning.
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Our faculty are practicing artists and educators who bring wide-ranging approaches to material, process, and concept. Working across glass, sculpture, performance, installation, and socially engaged practice, they foster a supportive and intellectually curious environment that values experimentation, critical thinking, and personal discovery.
