GLASS WORKS - Creating Glass Lives

What is GLASS WORKS?
GLASS WORKS is a four-year pilot project that Bild-Werk is realizing together with its Danish and Austrian partners. After many years of voluntary planning and research, the starting gun was fired in autumn 2018.

What's happening at GLASS WORKS?
The heart of the project is a start-up training that supports brilliant young glass workers in art, craft and design to pursue their own professional paths and to put down roots in the European glass community. The participants receive a grant and can use our workshops for six months to develop their projects. The practical work in the studios is supplemented by business and marketing courses, organized by our Danish project partner, and internships, primarily in Czech glass companies. Ten scholarship holders each form a group for six months. They exchange ideas and support each other during this time - everyone contributes their specific knowledge and skills for the benefit of the community. Small networks are created that last beyond the duration of the training.
We also promote exchange and networking in Europe in all of our project activities. That's why we organized public events together with our Graz partner and designed an exhibition that is touring across Europe. We are currently building a digital networking platform with which we want to bring together as many different players from the European glass world as possible: artists and designers, regional and international companies, museums and educational institutions. With combined forces, shared knowledge and new ideas, creative glass design has a future in Europe!
Do you want to know more about the start-up training and the different project activities? You can find more information and lots of photos and videos on our website:

What does the future of GLASS WORKS look like?
The EU project GLASS WORKS is coming to an end this year. The popularity of the project and the demand for the training program have increased every year since it started in 2018. This shows us how great the need for this type of support is. And that encourages us to keep going and work to ensure that many more glass artists and makers can benefit from this unique opportunity. That's why we want to establish GLASS WORKS in a permanent facility. Our goal is that even after the end of the project, artists, craftsmen and designers have a place where they can design and market glass together, exchange and develop ideas!

GLASS WORKS wants to make a lasting contribution to making the European cultural heritage of glass sustainable. This future are emerging glass artists, designers and makers. We help young, talented glass creators to make their way into professional life in a changing world. We support them in networking across borders. In Frauenau we create a place to exchange knowledge and skills and to start a successful career in glass.

Working with glass has a long tradition in Europe. But globalization and digitization have massively changed the world of glass. Entire glassmaking regions with their complex knowledge and skills, their diverse infrastructures are in danger of disappearing. These changed production and sales conditions affect young glass creators in particular and make it difficult for them to find their way around in today's diffuse markets.
Something must be done for the future generation of glass workers. We have taken on this task with GLASS WORKS and invite everyone to make their contribution!

We invested a lot of time and volunteer work in the project. Because we are convinced that this path is important in order to support young glass workers in Germany and Europe and to give them a perspective.
The project is funded by the EU's 'Creative Europe Culture' program with €200,000, which is divided between all three project partners. Our project part at Bild-Werk Frauenau is also funded by the State Ministry of Finance and for Homeland. As is usual with project funding in Germany, in addition to the countless hours of unpaid intellectual work, we have to pay 10% of the project costs of €500,000 ourselves. 10% of over €500,000 is still a lot of money. Too much for a non-profit association that is permanently underfunded and is kept running by volunteers. So that we don't run out of breath on the last few meters to the finish line and we can build on the achievements of the last three years and lead GLASS WORKS into the future, we need your support!
For those who are interested in more detail, we have listed the total costs and project financing for all partners here:

And a brief explanation, since half a million euros sounds like a lot of money: These are the project costs that Bild-Werk Frauenau e.V. alone incurs over a period of 4 years. Most of this goes towards material and energy costs (working with glass is expensive!), grants, and staff costs to run the training program. We originally wanted to raise these 10% of our own funds through donations from glass companies. But that was thwarted by the pandemic. Now we are pinning our hopes on this crowdfunding campaign.