Chrysler Museum Perry Glass Studio
Original works by local artists from the Chrysler Museum Perry Glass Studio are on display year-round in ORF’s Main Lobby. Installations from the Glasstopia collection are rotated twice yearly and feature a variety of styles showcasing the artists’ cultural backgrounds and disciplines.
Olivia Foss
United States, born 2000
Accidental Casualties, 2025
Glass, reclaimed wood and ocean plastics
Olivia Foss is a glassblower and industrial designer from Boston. An avid traveler, her exploration of oceans around the world sparked a passion for underwater life and the damage she’s witnessed from climate change and pollution has deeply
affected her. Foss uses her work to document the current threats to our ocean systems, crafting comprehensive stories to
educate people on marine life and detail the imminent threat of ecological collapse in an easily digestible form.
Efe Tansel
Turkey, born 2001
The Klown, 2025
Blown and sculpted glass
Some call him Atakan, while others prefer Efe. No one uses both. He’s neither perfect nor flawless, but he is one of a kind.
Made and raised in Turkey, he has been a kid since 2001. A storyteller who uses glass as words, he spins tales with sarcasm-
none of them are actually real. Or are they? When you look into his world, you’ll see that everything is possible.
Laura McFie
United States
BUBBLES, 2025
Solid and blown glass
While pursuing a degree at Old Dominion University, Laura McFie took a glassblowing class at Tidewater Community
College and immediately fell in love with molten glass. The experience of “dancing with glass” forever altered her life.
The Chrysler Museum of Art Perry Glass Studio staff member has since immersed herself in classes, workshops, teaching
and exhibiting her creations.
Kelsey Finnie
United States, born 1990
Larsonite, 2025
Glass
Kelsey Finnie is a staff member at the Chrysler Museum of Art Perry Glass Studio. Her lineage is rich with glass artists.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Ohio State University and has worked as a fabricator, artist assistant and
instructor at many institutions. Finnie is also the owner and operator of Kelsey Finnie Glass, where she sells her wares
all throughout the Hampton Roads area.
Jessie Oblon
United States, born 2001
Patterned Vessels, 2025
Glass
Jessie Oblon is a Virginia-based artist, glassmaker, and ceramicist who earned her BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in 2023. Her work has been exhibited at the Chrysler Museum of Art in 2024 and at The Anderson Gallery Collection in 2019, 2022 and 2023. She is currently working as Sam Stang and Kaeko Maehata’s assistant in Augusta, Missouri at the Augusta Glass Studio. Her work is significantly informed by her introspective journey, navigating the intersections of her neurodivergence, spirituality and musical influences, which collectively shape her internal realm and its expression of the external.
Thato Kokwana
South Africa, born 1996
NKGO YA MAIKUTLO (Sentimental Bowl), 2025
Blown and sculpted glass and glass scraps
Born 1996 in Morokweng, North West, South Africa, the Pretoria-based artist holds a BFA from Tshwane University of
Technology. Kokwana has been working with glass since 2022 and the multidisciplinary artist has graced some of the world’s
biggest stages with his sneaker-customizing art, including the Dubai World Expo, UK Commonwealth Games and the 2024
Paris Olympics. His work narrates the story of being ‘Lekgwelwa’ (the one who never goes home) and how choosing passion
over connection has brought a sense of disconnection and absence to his life. Each of his works serves as a vessel for nostalgia, a testament to the power of art in reconnecting us with our heritage and shaping our sense of self.
Michael Mills
United States, born 1952
Merletto Variations #11 and #14, 2024
Brown glass
Michael Mills was a university faculty member teaching organizational behavior and change when he began exploring
glassblowing. Since 2008, his passion for glass grew while taking classes at Anoka-Ramsey Community College (MN). In
retirement, despite his PhD from the University of Michigan, Mills is focusing his creative efforts on glass. In vessels and
sculptures, he applies traditional glassblowing techniques in novel patterns and forms, emphasizing the optical effects, visual
flow, and joy that glass communicates. His sculptures echo his teaching career by exploring themes of structure change,
generation, evolution, and entropy through color, form and patterns in glass.
Malebogo Molokoane
South Africa, born 1990
Maatia (Strength), 2025
Sand, fritz, glass, metal and UV bonded layers of glass
Malebogo Molokoane, born on September 22, 1990, in Rustenburg, North West, is a distinguished visual artist specializing in glass. She earned a postgraduate diploma in Fine and Applied Art from Tshwane University of Technology, receiving the Golden Key International Honour Society award in 2022. Molokoane lectured part-time in the glass studio for three years. Her work explores concealed identities, layering skin and soil-like textures to symbolize transformation. With a diverse portfolio of drawings, paintings, prints, and glass art, she captivates audiences. In 2022, she won the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award as South Africa’s most promising artist.
Phoenix Yuan
China, born 2001
Red-Caged Fungus, 2025
Blown glass, foam and borosilicate flameworked glass
Gooey, glowing, fragile yet resilient in its own way … glass is just like flesh. Growing up in China, Yuan’s father would often
take them to wet markets, where they found themselves long-staring at butchered meat. Yuan encountered glassblowing
in 2021 while pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts at The Ohio State University and has been creating organic-shaped sculptures
with glass. They found that glass, like flesh, carries metaphors of life and death, which they then translate through sculptures.
Staci Katsias
United States
Earth Peace, Land Peace, 2025
100% Reclaimed glass, kiln-formed
The art of Staci Katsias expresses ecology, conservation,
and wholeness. Using reclaimed materials is integral to
her art. Garbage to gallery is Katsias’ intent; for art and
as essential possibilities for our planet.
Lori Weaver
United States, born 1982
Unloaded, 2025
Wood-colored stained glass and lead solder
Lori Weaver is the proverbial bull in the china shop, and finding glass as a medium has forced her to practice patience
caution, and the fine art of slowing down. A crafter since her youth, Weaver has a compulsion to keep her hands busy and has found inspiration in a variety of media, including working professionally in stained glass fabrication. By exploring objects in unconventional scenarios, this Virginia-based artist looks to highlight the beauty in the ordinary, and she wants nothing more than to make the viewer think, “Huh.”
Tabitha Thierjung
United States, born 1994
Resurrection of Regrowth, 2025
Hot sculpted glass
Tabitha Thierjung uses nature, witchcraft, and spirituality as inspiration for her glass sculptures to create a fun, informative
way to show others the magic in the mundane. She was first introduced to glass by her mother at thirteen and followed suit
in 2013, taking her first glassblowing class at Tidewater Community College. Once she obtained her associate degree, she moved to Tennessee to achieve her BFA at Tennessee Tech University. After doing internships as well as a residency at the
Appalachian Center for Craft, she has returned to the Chrysler Museum of Art Perry Glass Studio to continue her glass career.
Onalesia Howerton
United States, born 1999
Blades of Serenity, 2025
Blown and sculpted glass, dichroic solid glass orbs and metal
Onaleisa Howerton, also known as ONA, is a glittery, glass-obsessed creature from Norfolk, Virginia. Their glass journey began at Tidewater Community College, earning their Associate in Studio Arts with a specialization in, you guessed it, glass. ONA finds inspiration in nature, music and the dark and weird corners of her mentally ill mind. She utilizes glass as a form of therapy, to challenge societal “norms” and to explore the tactile relationship between glass and the body.
Matthew Cox
United States, born 2002
Mutual Goal, 2025
Blown, sculpted and carved glass
Matthew Cox is a visual artist who has been working with glass since 2022 and started his practice at the Cleveland Institute of Art. From school, he created a strong passion for design and pattern that drives his body work. Through the use of these elements, Cox focuses heavily on the fine details within his work that are magnified through everyday objects and forms. Often interested by the mundane and minute details of life, he looks toward nature, the microscopic and modern life which fuel his inspiration.
Community Artwork
King Neptune
On loan from the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, this bronze maquette is a replica of the iconic King Neptune statue located at Neptune’s Park on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
It’s the perfect welcome for travelers embarking on adventures throughout the Coastal Virginia region and beyond.
Student Art Wall
ORF’s Student Art Wall features works by talented student artists from the region’s elementary, middle and high schools.
Works rotate each month to bring vibrant creativity to the Main Lobby throughout the year.
Jerome W. Jones, Jr. and Jeromyah Jones
United States
I AM 400, 2019
On display in the Main Lobby, I AM 400 is a collection of 69 works of art created by Jerome W. Jones, Jr. and his son, Jeromyah Jones.
Featuring both well- known pioneers and unsung heroes, the works are focused on the 400-year journey of African Americans and their solutions for a better future. This project has been featured across media channels both nationally and internationally.
OnieTonie™ Designs
United States
OnieTonie™ Designs is about spreading positive energy and joy through art. The core values of joy, love, health and hope reflect their uplifting and impactful mission. Designs are inspired by surfing and the ocean, giving them a unique, natural vibe. The idea of art as a way to share positivity and make lasting memories creates a sense of community both locally and abroad.