Craft Around the Country

In Detroit, Unity in Glass

Habatat Galleries’ annual celebration of glass aims to provide a balm during tumultuous times.

By Jon Spayde
March 23, 2026

Digital Only

Exhibitions

Glass

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Photo courtesy of Habatat Galleries

Jen Blazina, Striped in Blue, 2025, cast glass, 5 x 6 x 1 in.

“The world’s in a tumultuous place,” says Aaron Schey. “Between political differences and the war situation, people can’t even get along at the dinner table. But art is something that everybody can enjoy, no matter what side they’re on.”

That’s the way Schey, co-owner of the Habatat Galleries Complex in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, Michigan, explains the theme of the gallery’s 54th International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition, unity. “We hope that people can come and explore glass, irrespective of their opinions,” he says.

There will be plenty of world-class glass to explore at Glass54, billed as the “largest and oldest” glass show in the United States. Works by some 100 invited artists from the US, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Italy, and Japan will be on display.

Photo courtesy of Habatat Galleries

Peter Bremers, Inside the Melting Glacier, 2024, cast glass, 34 x 24 x 8 in.

“Featured artists include Peter Bremers, who’s a really well-known artist from the Netherlands, and Alex Bernstein, a talented maker working in North Carolina, one of the most popular artists on social media,” says Schey. “Weston Lambert is another very popular artist, someone whom we’ve just started showing recently. We’ve worked with Deanna Clayton for many, many years; she creates touching, powerful, feminine works. And Michael Janis creates very colorful, fantasy-themed pieces.”

The glass extravaganza will commence on Wednesday, April 22, with a four-day series of VIP events priced at $380 per couple ($350 via online check-in) and $190 at the door ($175 online) for individual admissions. VIP perks include a party with artists, a demonstration at the Axiom Glass hot shop in Royal Oak, exhibition previews, artist talks, a tour of a museum-quality glass collection in a private home, and more.

The show will then open to the public on Sunday, April 26 and run till September 18, free of charge, during regular gallery open hours.

Photo courtesy of Habatat Galleries

Michael Janis, Surrender, 2026, kiln-formed glass and powder printing, 34 x 24 x 2 in.

Jon Spayde is a writer and editor in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A former contributing editor to American Craft, he writes on art, psychology, education, and personal growth for a number of regional and national publications.

Learn more about Glass54 online.

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