John Nygren
Perfume Bottle, 1977

Signed and dated 1977

After earning an MFA degree from the Cranbook Academy of Art, Nygren first trained in the art of glassblowing at NC’s Penland School of Crafts in 1968. A year later he moved to Walnut Cove, NC, where he built the New Branch Glass Studio. Though living in North Carolina, Nygren’s successful art career was firmly launched as a member of New York’s newly formed Contemporary Art Glass Group (now the Heller Gallery) in 1973. Nygren, among his numerous awards and honors, was named the Winston-Salem (NC) Artist of the Year in 2000. In 2006 he was awarded the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Alumni Achievement Award for Art. His work has been shown in more than 350 exhibitions throughout the world. Collections that feature his work include the Asheville Art Museum, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, the R.J. Reynolds Collection, the Corning Museum of Glass, The Mint Museums and the Smithsonian Institution.