Helen Stolyarenko & Sasha Strekopytova, two young glass artists from Russia, travelled to the U.S.A. from Russia this past summer to work a two-month, 3 city internship, including a stay at Penland. They are writing some guest posts about their adventures on the Looking at Glass blog.

 

“Penland is a wonderland where you immediately feel like home, no matter how long you stay there” they write. “It was our home for 2 weeks, which we’ll never forget. As well as kindness of the school’s stuff, a special thanks to Jerry Jackson (the school deputy director) and Dean Allison (the glass studio coordinator), – people who made our trip possible.” They also had fun working at the Penland auction, which they describe as having a “hot gambling atmosphere.” Of course, the auction is not a gambling event, but it’s easy to see how it might feel like one.

You can read more about Helen and Sasha’s adventures here.

A late-January update: Helen writes, “I’ve got some more news to share – from the new year I got a job position in our academy (Stroganov Moscow State Academy); my duty is to develop public relations of the art glass department. I’m responsible for links and cooperation with foreign art centers, any kind of connections and common projects, experience exchange, organizing exhibitions and students internships. I think they saw the example of our summer trip, so now they want me to go on and work for the whole department.” Congratulations, Helen!