Remembering Ginny Ruffner

Ginny Ruffner (1952-2025) created sculptures in a variety of media but was known primarily for her use of lampworked glass. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Ruffner received both her BFA and MFA in drawing and painting from the University of Georgia in Athens, completing her studies in 1975. Shortly after completing her degrees she landed an apprenticeship with artist Hans Good Frabel creating glass animals through lampwork. By the 1980s her career was on a fast trajectory filled with many group and solo exhibitions and a grant followed by an artist fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She was an instructor at numerous schools, including Pilchuck School of Glass from 1984-1990. In December of 1991 her career was dramatically interrupted by a near-fatal car accident that left her in a coma for five months. When she emerged from the coma she was unable to speak or walk and had lost any memory of her artistic self. Through an amazing tenacity she regained her speech and was able to return to creating art within a year. She spent five years in a wheelchair and gradually was able to walk again.

Ruffner’s work is playful and exuberant. A pioneer and expert in lampworking, she was one of the first artists to use borosilicate glass, a hard form of glass typically used for scientific glassware, which allowed for exceptionally large lampworked pieces. She also incorporated metal and other materials in her sculptures, as well as painting on the etched surface of the glass to allow it to take the paint. Following her accident she leaned into her love of science, genetics and bioengineering, and coupled with an early interest in the plant world nurtured by her grandmother, created fantastic vining forms with titles like Cephalopoppy and When Lightening Blooms. “I like to integrate objects of beauty with plants. People tend to view art in too precious a light, and maybe they don’t view plants as precious enough,” she told The Seattle Times in an interview from 2001.

Ruffner received many awards in her lifetime, including a Master of the Medium Award from the James Renwick Alliance (2007) and a Lifetime Achievement award from the Glass Art Society (2019). Her work is represented within many public collections around the world, including the Corning Museum of Glass, The Museum of Arts and Design, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Ginny Ruffner was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2010.

Articles in American Craft:
“Speaking of Glass” by Ginny Ruffner, October/November 1988
“Field of Dreams” by Ben Marks, June/July 1990