Pilchuck Glass School’s Board of Trustees is excited to announce the appointment of Donna Davies as the school’s Executive Director. Ms. Davies has been serving as Interim Executive Director for nearly nine months. Prior to that, Ms. Davies has served as Pilchuck’s Deputy Director since 2019.  

“Donna’s ability to seamlessly step into the Interim Executive Director role and ensure the continued smooth and successful operations of the organization has demonstrated to the Board that she is the right person at the right time to lead Pilchuck forward,” says Board President, Katrina Russell. 

Davies’s career has a long history in building strong partnerships in the glass community. For over 12 years, Davies was the Director of the SOFA art fairs, including SOFA CHICAGO, SOFA New York, and SOFA WEST: Santa Fe. The SOFA art fairs were established to create and foster a larger audience for the applied arts, which Davies further developed with national and international art galleries exhibiting art and design, greater outreach to non-profit organizations whose missions supported the applied arts and expanded corporate sponsorship of the fairs. Prior to that, Davies was the Director of Marx-Saunders Gallery in Chicago, and the Assistant Director of Contemporary Art at Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe. 

Davies holds a BA in Art History from the University of Kansas and an MA in Art History from the University of Oklahoma, where she wrote her Master’s Thesis on contemporary Indigenous glass, focusing on the work of Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Tony Jojola (Isleta), and Marvin Oliver (Quinault/Isleta). 

“I am honored to serve as Executive Director of Pilchuck Glass School and to lead this incredible team and storied institution,” notes Davies. “Pilchuck has an amazing legacy of teamwork and collaboration, where a willingness to experiment and probe is encouraged and supported. I am humbled to be a part of this rich heritage and to carry that same collaborative and inquisitive ethos forward. I look forward to continuing to work with our staff and board to build upon and expand partnerships, outreach opportunities, and strengthen and improve our campus studios and facilities for a strong future for Pilchuck.” 

Pilchuck Glass School fosters and educates a diverse worldwide community that explores the creative use of glass in art and design. Each year, hundreds of artists from around the world travel to Pilchuck to learn, share ideas, and experiment with the medium of glass.