Helen Kovacs is a Canadian glass artist with over forty years of experience exploring the expressive possibilities of glass. Born in Calgary, Alberta, to Hungarian immigrant parents, she discovered her passion for glass in 1985 and went on to graduate from the Alberta College of Art and Design. She founded Red Dog Glass Studio in 1997 and now specializes in kiln-formed glass and flameworking. Influenced by nature and the resilience of the human spirit, her work reflects a deeply personal connection to color, form, and storytelling. Helen recently completed a three-year study with renowned glass maestro Narcissus Quagliata and now mentors emerging glass artists as part of his team. Her work is held in collections including the Glass Museum in Biot, France, and the Alberta Craft Council.

Kerry Transtrum is a kiln-formed glass artist with over 40 years of experience exploring the expressive potential of glass. He has taught glass forming techniques at conferences, art schools, and studios throughout the United States and internationally. Kerry has studied multiple times at the prestigious Pilchuck Glass School and currently serves as a teaching coach with Narcissus Quagliata’s Painting with Glass Community. He is also a founding partner of Studio-de-Verre, an art glass studio and gallery in South Salt Lake City, Utah. Kerry is also the founding member and serves as the current scholarship chairman for the non-profit organization The Glass Art Guild of Utah. 

Narcissus Quagliata is internationally recognized as one of the most influential figures in contemporary architectural glass, particularly in the creation of large-scale glass domes. Over the past three decades, he has developed a distinct approach to glass, light, and structure that has expanded the expressive and architectural possibilities of the medium. His work is marked by a deep understanding of optics, material behavior, and the experiential role of light within architectural space, in public, ecclesiastical, commercial and residential settings. Among his most significant projects is the Dome of Light at Formosa Boulevard Station in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, one of the largest stained-glass installations in the world. He is also the artist behind the stained-glass dome at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome, a project that brought a contemporary glass language into dialogue with one of the most historically relevant architectural Renaissance spaces in Europe. This course marks the first—and only—time he will share the full invention and realization of a dome project as it unfolds in real time.