Profile... Giving for Glass
Nadege Desgenetez, Silver Scape, 2014-2017. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Giving for Glass
JamFactory has gratefully received more than half a million dollars in private donations since 2015 specifically to support glass art and artists through the FUSE Glass Prize and FUSE Glass Artist Residency initiatives.
The biennial FUSE Glass Prize, which launched in 2016, is a great example of how collective philanthropic support can create great opportunities for artists and add extraordinary value to the work of arts organisations like JamFactory. The prize evolved from conversations that began in 2014 between passionate glass art collectors Jim and Helen Carreker and JamFactory, and incorporates an exhibition of finalists from Australia and New Zealand, a substantial catalogue, an emerging artist prize of $10,000 and a non- acquisitive cash prize of $20,000. Jim and Helen proposed a funding model that would see a number of donors contribute collectively to cover all of the outgoing costs. The Carrekers pledged an initial donation and were soon followed by Diana Laidlaw AM, who, like Jim and Helen, supported the prize since its inception, and The David & Dulcie Henshall Foundation passionately supported the Emerging Artist Prize.
In 2020, the Carrekers expanded their support to help launch the FUSE Glass Artist Residency alongside Dr Ian Wall AM (1931- 2022) and Dr Pamela Wall OAM, providing fully funded residencies for Australian glass artists at JamFactory every alternate year to the biennial prize. In October 2025, JamFactory will host the third recipient of the FUSE Glass Artist Residency, internationally acclaimed Naarm/Melbourne-based artist Nadege Desgenetez.
The recipient of the residency is awarded a solo exhibition at Carrick Hill, the extraordinary historic house museum in the Adelaide foothills. Desgenetez’s show of works resulting from the residency will open there in May 2026 to coincide with the exhibition of finalists for the 2026 FUSE Glass Prize at JamFactory.
The finalists’ exhibition will include outstanding works by 12 established and six emerging artists from Australia and New Zealand. The judging panel will include the Curator of Contemporary Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass in the United States Tami Landis, and the 2024 FUSE Glass Prize winner Tom Moore. The deadline for entries for the 2026 prize is 5 March.
Building on the success of the FUSE programs, Jim and Helen Carreker, who are dual citizens of the United States and Australia, have continued to generously evolve their support of glass art and JamFactory. In April 2026, thanks to new funding they are providing through Foundation SA, JamFactory will host a residency for US glass artist Dan Mirer – the inaugural recipient of the Carreker Glass Fellowship. The Fellowship is a groundbreaking initiative that will bring an influential mid-career glass artist from the United States to undertake a two-week residency at JamFactory each year for the next six years.
FUSE Glass Artist Residency: Carrick Hill, 10 April – 28 June, 2026
FUSE Glass Prize: JamFactory, 24 April – 5 July, 2026
For more information, visit fuseglassprize.com