Ryan Fairweather
Glassblowing, Calgary Alberta Canada
 
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Contact details
Tel: 403 277.7375
Brief Summary
Bee Kingdom is a glass-based studio collective originally conceived by Ryan Marsh Fairweather, Tim Belliveau and Phillip Bandura in 2004, and expanded in April 2011 to include Kai Georg Scholefield. All members graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design from the glass program in 2005 and decided they wanted to pursue an artistic lifestyle\career and built a hot-glass studio in their backyard in the northwest of Calgary, Alberta.

Bee Kingdom is named so for a couple of reasons. Ryan, Kai, Tim and Phillip live and work communally at a seemingly constant non-stop pace. When relating the quality of hot glass it is relatable to flowing honey. We also run our own glass blowing studio, which we consider our kingdom.


Our attraction to glass is drawn from the natural beauty of glass. Glass as a medium is unique and working with the raw, molten material has limitless possibilities. The process is exciting, team oriented, physically demanding, requires precise coordination and demands your mind's complete presence; it is a richly rewarding medium to work with.
Clients
Pilchuck Glass School
FirstEnergy
Calgary Tourism
Travel Alberta
Alberta College of Art and Design
Professional Experience
Education

Graduates from the Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Alberta, 2005

Professional Experience

Board members of Berlin Glas, e.V. in Berlin, Germany, 2010

Centrepiece designers for Smart Night fundraiser hosted by the Alberta College of Art and Design, January 2010

Demonstration and lecture at Espace Verre, Montreal, Quebec, October 2009

Demonstration, collaboration with Feleksan Onar & lecture at the Glass Furnace, Istanbul, Turkey, October 2009

Visiting artists at Tacoma Glass Museum, Washington, November 28 - 30th, 2008

Pilchuck Glass School Centerpiece Designers, 2008

Founders and owners of Bee Kingdom, Calgary, AB, 2007 – present

Founders and owners of Mecha Glass, Calgary, AB, 2003 – 2007

Awards

2012, Emerging artist award, Alberta Craft Council

2010, Calgary Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40

2010, awarded Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award

2010, nominated - PACE Award, Alberta , Canada

2009, nominated - TELUS Arts Award for Artistic Innovation, Mayors Evening for the Arts Award

Exhibitions

2011

June 23 - July 5, The Works, Edmonton Arts Festival, Edmonton, Alberta

June, (upcoming) Natural Flow, group glass show, Esplanade Gallery, Medicine Hat, Alberta

April, Bee Invasion (part of Pictoplasma Character Walk), Nadania Idriss Gallery, Berlin, Germany

March 4th - 26th, Soft Power, Ruberto-Ostberg Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

2010

September - February '11, Vorsicht Glas! 200 - 2010AD, Survey of Islamic Glass, Mshatta Room, Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany

September\October, Soft Power, Nadania Idriss Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2009

October, Cities + New Sculptural Works, Ruberto Ostberg Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

September, Canadian Pavillion Exhibition, Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Korea

September, Cities, Katakouzenos House Museum, Athens, Istanbul

April, Cities, Nadania Idriss Contemporary Art Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2008

August - September, The Future is Later, Nadania Idriss Contemporary Art Gallery, Berlin, Germany

June, The Future is Later, Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta

March 7th – March 29th, Hive: Anatomy of a Glass Arts Collective, Ruberto-Ostberg Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

February 23 - April 16, The Future is Later, Discovery Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

2007

October, Bee Kingdom’s New Glass Sculpture Exhibition, Vanilla Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

August, Bee Kingdom Beastiary, Glass Cube Gallery, Calgary, Alberta

September, Cross + Pollinated: New Glass Works Exhibition, Artists of the World, Calgary, AB

April, Calgary Horticultural Society Garden Show, The Calgary Stampede Roundup Centre, Calgary, Alberta

2006

May - August, Canadian Glass Show, West End Gallery, Victoria BC

2005

September 28- 30th, Calgary Home and Interior Design Show (Micro-Gallery installed)

Grants

2010, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Individual Project Grant for Visual Arts

2010, Canada Council for the Arts, Travel Grant

2009, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Special Project Grant (towards Cities exhibition)

2009, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Cultural Relations Grant (towards Cities exhibition)

2009, Calgary Arts Development Agency, funding for Cities exhibition

2008, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, funded The Future is Later exhibition

2008, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, funded Bee Kingdom as Pilchuck Centerpiece Designers documentary film

2008, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, funded Bee Kingdom biographical documentary film

2008, Received grant from Calgary Arts Development Agency for the publication of autobiographical book on the history and inner workings of the collective

Published Media

Rooms Magazine, Issue #5, 2011

Catalogue for Vorsicht Glas 200 - 2010 AD!, Survery of Islamic Glass

Avenue Magazine, featured on front cover for Top 40 Under 40, July 2010

Edmonton's See Magazine, June, 2010

Legacy Magazine, Fall issue, featured story, 2008

Bee Kingdom: the Story of a Calgary Arts Collective, autobiography, 2007

Calgary Herald, Real Life section, Friday August 10, 2007

Avenue Magazine, April 2006 issue

Swerve Magazine, April 7th 2006 issue

Western Living Magazine, June\July 2006

Fast Forward newspaper, June 15th – June 21st 2006

Alberta College of Art and Design newsletter, Summer 2005

Donations

Unititled Art Society (Calgary, Alberta) fundraiser, 2010

Arts Commission of Greater Toledo fundraiser, 2008 - 2010

Larry T: In Order to Danse, Warehouse Nightclub, August, 2008

STARS air ambulance fundraiser, 2007

Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre, 2005 & 2006

Venino’s Children’s Charity, 2006

Make A Wish Foundation Dinner & Silent Auction Fundraiser-3 blown glass pieces donated, Spring 2004

Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Calgary Art Auction-2 blown glass pieces donated, Spring 2003

United Way of Calgary- Dominion Exploration of Canada Fund Raiser Auction-5 blown glass pieces
donated, Fall 2002, Fall 2003

Private Collections

Elton John personal glass collection, 2011

Tacoma Museum of Glass, 2008

 
Awards and Recognition
2012, Emerging artist award, Alberta Craft Council

2010, Calgary Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40

2010, awarded Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award

2010, nominated - PACE Award, Alberta , Canada

2009, nominated - TELUS Arts Award for Artistic Innovation, Mayors Evening for the Arts Award

2008, designer of the Pilchuck auction centerpiece
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