Roberta Eichenberg

Bio

Roberta Eichenberg was born in San Bernardino, California, and inspired from an early age by her mother to appreciate the importance of the arts. She was lucky enough to have attended a high school that was well-equipped for the material arts. There she was able to study painting, drawing and ceramics. 

After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University at Chico, with an emphasis in glass, she went to work for Orient and Flume the local glass art production studio, that specialized in the Art Nouveau style of glass design. She was a part of the production team and designed for their product line as well. She received her Master of Art from California State University at Chico, which became a launching pad for her future research. She then attended The Ohio State University where she received a teaching assistantship and studied under Richard Harned, earning a Master of Fine Art degree. 

After graduate school she took a position at the internationally renowned Pilchuck Glass School, a school in the Northwest where the educational focus is on the material and processes of glass. She started on the maintenance crew, and then Studio Coordinator for three years, and finally Educational Coordinator. Working on the staff a Pilchuck for five consecutive years was the educational opportunity of a lifetime. She worked directly with the most notable American, Australian, Canadian, Italian, British, Czechoslovakian, German, glass artists and loved every moment. 

In 1991 Roberta was selected for the Emerging Artist in Residence program at the Pilchuck Glass School. After that fall residency she relocated to New Orleans, LA, where she taught in the Art Department at Delgado Community College and established her own studio. In 2000, Roberta relocated to Emporia Kansas, and taught, Drawing, 2D Design, Ceramics, Sculpture, and Glass in the Department of Art at Emporia State University for 23 years. She is now an Emeritus Professor of Art at Emporia State. Roberta is currently focusing on producing new work and continuing exhibit locally and nationally.

Artist Statement

The creative process is the oxygen for my soul. The process of working out how to realize specific ideas is the fuel. Driven by rumination of current and personal events to realize through the work and understand where I belong in the world, I value the inquiry embedded in that process. The environment around me, and the forces that effect that environment, directly influences my work. Serious and personal topics addressed in the projects are sometimes approached and presented using humor. Humor allows the viewer to consider and review the work with less apprehension. Nature is an aggregate that bonds the work together.

It has always been the desire of most artist/craftsperson to handle, manipulate, control and structure the materials they work with. While I love all types of medium, glass is my medium of choice because of the qualities and challenges the material possesses. The limitless spectrum surrounding glass manipulation lends itself to the types of conceptual issues I work with. Glass is a ubiquitous and familiar, yet mysterious and magical material. It is hard and cold, clear, and thick, reflective, transparent, and endlessly variable.