Meet Our Featured Speaker:

KCJ Szwedzinski is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and arts administrator whose practice moves between sculpture, neon, and social engagement. She is cofounder and executive director of Project Chance, a nonprofit that raises and trains service dogs for children with autism and other disabilities. Deeply committed to community and creative equity, KCJ co-created the Neon Residency at Pilchuck Glass School to support continued education in a shrinking field and to expand access to neon’s transformative possibilities.

She has studied, assisted, and taught at Penland School of Craft, Tulsa Glassblowing School, Pilchuck Glass School, MIT, NOCA, the University of Washington, and the University of Louisville. KCJ has been an artist-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center, Chulitna Research Institute in Alaska, the Pierini International Glass Art Center in Biot, France, Mini Mart City Park in Seattle, and Rero Glass in Antwerp, Belgium. She is currently the Operations and Programs Assistant at the Glass Art Society and a recent participant of the WA State Arts Commission’s Change Leader Institute. In 2024, she was a Pilchuck Emerging Artist in Residence.

KCJ’s current body of work, False Profit/Prophet, draws inspiration from stained glass and commercial signage to investigate how systems of belief, power, and control shape our desires and fears. Whether fabricating glowing altar pieces or building platforms for others to thrive, KCJ’s work is grounded in care, curiosity, and collective possibility.