Born in 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hank Murta Adams is an artist and the glass school creative director at WheatonArts in Millville, New Jersey. The son of an architect and an artist, Adams has been immersed in creative work since childhood. He began his own artistic pursuits as a painter and received his BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978. While at RISD, he was introduced to glass by ACC Gold Medalist Dale Chihuly, who was then head of the glass program and became a mentor to Adams. Adams recalls being particularly attracted to the community he found within the glass studio – a strong contrast to the isolation associated with his previous medium of choice. After pursuing further studies in glass at Penland School, Pilchuck School, and an MA from Tennessee Technological University, Adams developed a robust artistic practice. His rough, figurative sculptures are often at odds with the pristine, functional objects ubiquitous within the field, and they have earned him a reputation as an independent innovator. Adams joined WheatonArts in 2003, and has worked there since, expanding and reimagining their programming around glass. His art is represented within multiple public collections, including the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, and the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, DC. Hank Murta Adams was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2016.