Emily Peterson Nancy Dubois

For Emily Peterson and her mother Nancy DuBois, art has always been a part of their lives.

"I’ve always been an artistic person and I’ve always loved to work with my hands. After graduating early from high school, Salem Community College and the glass program seemed a natural fit," said Emily, a former home-schooled student who earned her GED at age 16.

After taking glass art electives at SCC 10 years ago, Nancy recently enrolled in the College’s glass art program.

"I just decided that it was time to start creating art on a larger scale and learn more about the characteristics of glass," she said.

For Nancy, seeing her daughter’s enthusiasm for glass art re-ignited her passion for the material. Now, Nancy is enjoying mixing media with glass to create large-scale art pieces.

"When you combine all of this together, it gives you a broader palette to work with," Nancy said. "You can be more creative. Everyone approaches art and working with glass differently," she continued. "It just amazes me that you cannot exhaust what you can do with glass in the art world."

The mother and daughter attended SCC’s10th annual International Flameworking Conference in the Paul J. Stankard Studio and Lab at the Samuel H. Jones Glass Education Center in Alloway. Both said they were inspired by the opportunity to learn as much as they could from glass art masters.

As far as co-existing together as students and family, Emily and Nancy said they are doing just fine. There is no competition between the two, although they do offer each other constructive criticism every now and then.

Mannington Township residents, Emily and Nancy consider themselves lucky to live so close to the new glass facility.

Emily said she hopes that more area residents will take advantage of the glass programs at Salem Community College. "People come from all over the United States, all over the world, to see what we have right here."