Every year the Fox Valley Area High School has a Glass Exhibition at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah, and students from Berlin High School’s Art Department participate. The show runs from Feb. 23 through April 1, 2024. Glass and Fibers teacher Lori Rademann’s students created glass mosaics for the competition. These students were Braden Berndt, Violet Daubner, Melanie Resop, and Chloe Dutcher.
“I’ve been entering them for maybe five years now,” Rademann said.
There are only a few requirements for the competition; it has to be mostly made of glass, and it has to be made in the last year. The creator must also still be in high school. This year the show had over a hundred entries.
“This year they utilize the entire museum for the exhibit as it won’t fit in just one room”, Rademann said.
That makes it really hard to win something at the show.
“The number of prizes awarded depends upon how many businesses or wealthy contributors there are in any given year. The donors of prize money also pick their prize recipients, so it just depends on what the individuals like,” said Rademann.
One of the students that went to the Glass Exhibition was junior Braden Berndt. He is in his third year of Glass and Fibers. This year was the first year he has ever entered a piece. This piece was something that Berndt made in his sophomore year, a Lava Lamp.
Berndt said, “It was pretty random, we always have to do three plans for our mosaic before we start and it was just something I thought of. I’ve always thought lava lamps are cool though, and I thought it would look really interesting if I tried to make it from glass.”
Right now Berndt is working on his third mosaic piece of an owl.
“The show was overall really enjoyable and I’m excited to include another piece next year”, Berndt said.
Senior Violet Daubner also entered into the 2024 Fox Valley Area High School Glass Exhibition. This is one of many art competitions that she has entered into. Daubner has been in Glass and Fibers since her sophomore year. She has made a total of two mosaics and is working on her third. The mosaic that she entered into the show was a hummingbird.
“I love birds and I think they make very nice mosaic subjects. Second, my grandma asked me to make a hummingbird mosaic because she was so impressed with my first mosaic that I gave to my mom, so I made it for her as a Christmas present”, Daubner said.
Some of the different awards that Daubner has won are the Silver Key award and the Youth Art Month award.
“It felt pretty cool to win such a high award. I’ve entered many competitions but this one just felt different,” Daubner said.
