Paul Housberg

Education and early career

Housberg received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (1975) and Master of Fine Arts (1979) degrees from Rhode Island School of Design where he has also served as an instructor at various times during 1978-1997.

While he was at RISD, Housberg studied glass under artist Dale Chihuly and in 1972, a year after it was founded, he studied at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington.

Early in his career, Housberg studied painting, but was drawn to glass for its atmospheric color. He began working in stained glass but eventually moved to work in kiln formed glass as an alternative to the lead structure of traditional stained glass.

After his graduate work at RISD, he studied in England with Patrick Reyntiens, a pioneer in contemporary stained glass and the author of The Technique of Stained Glass. This experience was made possible by a scholarship he received from the New York Experimental Glass Workshop, now known as Urban Glass in Brooklyn, New York.

In 1986, as a Fulbright Scholar, Housberg worked at the International Center for Glass Research (CIRVA) in Marseille, France. He spent his time exploring various glass techniques such as fusing, slumping, and kiln-casting. This endeavor was supported in part by a donation of glass from Bullseye Glass in Portland, Oregon, a pioneer in the manufacturing of fusible glass.

Work

Housberg is noted for his inventive applications of glassworking technologies in architectural settings. Central to his work are the tactile qualities of glass and the expression of its materiality.

Although Housberg continues to explore and implement multiple techniques in his work, he is best known for his architectural installations consisting of colorful kilnformed tiles with a sawtooth relief.

Architectural installations

Housberg’s first large architectural commission was in 1990 from The Dreyfus Corporation for the MetLife Building in New York City. This work was done with the architecture firm Swanke Hayden Connell Ltd. of New York and incorporated cast glass fabricated in conjunction with Fenton Art Glass. The 8'h x 21'w wall is of Dreyfus's iconic lion, standing in tall grass.

His second major commission was in 1993 for Pfizer Inc in Groton, CT where he worked with the architectural firm CUH2A Inc., Princeton, NJ. The work was for four 12’h x 11’w walls, each depicting a season. Four Seasons is made of cast and laminated glass.

His third major installation was completed in 1999 at the William J. Nealon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse Annex in Scranton, PA designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Wilkes-Barre, PA. This 14’h x 40’w work was commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration Art in Architecture Program.

In 2001, Housberg completed his first installation to use his signature sawtooth glass tiles. The 12’h x 9’w backlit, kilnformed glass wall is in the lobby of The Peninsula Chicago.

In 2009, Housberg completed a large installation at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) building designed by HOK San Francisco. This particular work was fabricated in collaboration with Derix Glass Studio and Lamberts Glas. The piece features tiles composed of handblown glass treated with vitreous enamels and laminated to mirror. The tiles are mounted to four walls in the lobby.

In 2010, Housberg completed a public art series in Rhode Island at the Governor Philip W. Noel Judicial Complex.

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Publications

Housberg’s work has been published in The New Glass Review and in the book Luxury Hotels America By Martin Nicholas Kunz, Patrice Farameh, Patricia Massó.

His work was also featured in Stephen Knapp’s The Art of Glass: Integrating Architecture and Glass