Three small purple blown glass bowls in a row.

A Handcrafted Award for Medalists

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Nancy Joseph 07/01/2025 July 2025 Perspectives
in the studio, one glassblower blows into a blowpipe to force air into a ball of hot glass at the other end of the pipe. The other glassblower shapes the hot glass into sphere.
One step in the process of making bowls for Arts & Sciences medalists: Arianna Carr blows air into a blowpipe while Sean O’Neill shapes the molten glass at the other end. (See the photo series below for more about the fabrication process.)

When the eight College of Arts & Sciences medalists* for 2025 met with Dean Dianne Harris before graduation in June, she presented each of them with a keepsake to recognize their accomplishment. Past medalists received a traditional medallion that hung from a ribbon, but this year’s recipients received something more special — a glass bowl, handblown by a team in the College's School of Art + Art History + Design (SoA+AH+D).

“I was thrilled that the medal took the form of a purple-and-gold bowl,” says Jiaqi Cai, graduate medalist in the natural sciences, who earned his PhD in physics. “Having an object crafted by our own School of Art + Art History + Design beautifully reflects how discovery is equal parts science and creativity. It’s a daily reminder of the community that shaped me and my work.”

The pivot to handblown bowls began when the College depleted its supply of traditional medallions. Rather than order more, Harris saw an opportunity for reinvention. She asked Lance Kissler, the College’s executive director of marketing and communications, to brainstorm alternatives. Kissler, recognizing the potential to showcase the talent within the College, met with Annabelle Gould, director of the SoA+AH+D, to discuss possible approaches.

I was thrilled that the medal took the form of a purple-and-gold bowl. It’s a daily reminder of the community that shaped me and my work.

Jiaqi Cai PhD, Physics
portrait of Jiaqi Cai

“From the start, the College was flexible on the form,” Gould recalls. “They were open to something other than a traditional medal on a lanyard and suggested that we explore something more utilitarian.”

Gould talked through possible approaches with SoA+AH+D staff members Sean O’Neill, glass instructional technician, and Lisa Geertsen, sculpture instructional technician. “We brainstormed ideas that involved metal casting, 3D printing, and lost-wax glass casting,” says O’Neill. “Ultimately, we arrived at a blown-glass object because it requires fewer steps to produce compared to other processes, and the results feel special.” A bowl, they decided, would be something the recipients could actually use.

Two photos of a purple blown-glass bowl, one showing the entire bowl and the other showing its base, stamped with a "W" and other text.
"The bowl feels so distinctly UW," says dean's medalist Dave Young. Each bowl has a "W" and the Arts & Sciences medal information stamped into its base. 

Kissler was enthusiastic about their bowl idea. The College’s one requirement was that the UW logo and the words, “College of Arts & Sciences, Dean’s Medal” appear somewhere on the bowl. Gould designed a metal stamp to add that information to the bowl’s foot, the stamp being the only outsourced part of the fabrication process. The College covered the costs for the bowls’ materials and fabrication through the Arts & Sciences College Fund for Excellence, a fund made up of gifts from generous donors.

After producing several samples in clear glass with a purple base, or foot, O’Neill decided a purple bowl would be more striking. He added gold leaf to the foot to include both UW colors. Throughout the fabrication process, using the glassblowing facilities of the School’s Ceramic and Metal Arts (CMA) studio, O’Neill was assisted by Geertsen and Arianna Carr, a graduating senior in the SoA+AH+D 3D4M program. The slideshow below captures the steps involved in creating the bowls.

Sean O'Neill holds a pipe with a molten yellow/orange ball of glass on the end.

The process of making a bowl begins with molten glass. A sphere about the size of a golf ball is “gathered” from the furnace on the end of a hollow steel blowpipe.

At one end of a long pipe, Arianna Carr squats to blow glass through the pipe, while Sean O'Neill stands at the other end of the pipe and uses tools to shape the glass at the other end.

As Arianna Carr blows air into one end of the blowpipe, the molten glass at the other end expands and Sean O’Neill begins shaping it.

Sean O'Neill holds a glass pipe with hot glass at one end and rolls the glass on a smooth metal surface.

The team completes several rounds of heating the glass in the furnace and then shaping it. Here O’Neill rolls the glass on a metal surface to smooth and cool the glass before a bubble is blown into it.

A metal stamp with a "W" and text on it, next to a clear round disk of glass, a sample to show how glass will look after it is stamped.

A metal stamp (left) was created for the project, with the UW seal and text about the medal. The clear glass medallion (right) is a sample of how the glass in the bowl's foot will appear after being stamped. 

Hot glass is snipped from the end of a blowpipe, into a metal mold in the shape of a disk..

Another “gather” of glass from the furnace is rolled across an ultra-thin sheet of gold leaf, then dropped into a graphite mold to create the bowl’s foot.

Hands wearing heatproof gloves press a heated glass bowl into other glass that's in a metal mold.

The bowl is placed on top of the foot using the heat of the glass to join them.

Two photos, showing someone holding a torch to the foot of a bowl, then pressing a metal stamp into the heated foot.

 

The gold foot is heated with a torch and stamped.

close up of a purple blown-glass bowl with a gold-leaf on its "foot."

A beautiful medalist bowl is completed. Just seven more to go!

“Glassblowing is a process that requires years to master, so the ability to design the object, assemble a team, and bring it all together to provide an object worthy of this award was a culmination of years of experience,” says O’Neill. “Getting to put that expertise to use in the [SoA+AH+D hot glass] shop where I have such a long history was very gratifying.”

Gould was also pleased to have the School of Art + Art History + Design be part of celebrating exceptional Arts & Sciences students.

“So often awards can be somewhat generic even though what they acknowledge is so meaningful,” Gould says. “We are really happy with the final design and proud that we were able to produce something special at the CMA that will be used by the College. We hope the recipients enjoy their ‘medals’ for years to come.”

Dave Young, dean’s medalist in the natural sciences, with majors in psychology and biology, certainly will. “The bowl feels so distinctly UW and receiving something handcrafted in the School of Art + Art History + Design makes it feel even more personal and meaningful,” he says. “I’ll definitely treasure it.”

* Read about the College of Arts & Sciences’ 2025 Dean’s Medalists and 2025 Graduate Medalists.

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