David Ruth is an Oakland, California based glass sculptor that has been making large-scale cast glass sculptures and cast glass architectural features for over 30 years. Often featuring bright colors and contrasting polished surfaces with rough textures, the work has been featured in architecture, museums, and in galleries around the world.

In 2006 Ruth received an award from the National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program for travel to Palmer Station, Antarctica. The exploration and work from this residency would become the foundation to his most recent work: Geologic Editions and Sculpture. This body of work focuses on geology and climate expressed through cast glass usually supported by metal. 

When geology and ice are translated into glass and put in the light, the patterns refract the daily sun and become time markers for our planetary existence.  The light transmitting through the glass becomes an indicator of time, in the day, year,  the course of human activity, and the formation of the rock… extending back deep in history.  Watching the work change it becomes an interactive experience where time itself stretches and contracts.

Education
MFA, California College of the Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, 1987
BA, American History, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1973

Awards
National Science Foundation, Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, 2006

Selected Public Commissions

• Rainbow Bridge, Oakland, CA, 2023

• Fairbanks International Airport, Alaska, 2008

• Levuka Fountain, City Place Center, Santa Ana, CA, 2008

• Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR, 2008

• Willow Glen Branch Library, San Jose, CA, 2008

Selected Private Commissions

• Colorado Cascade Cast Glass Mural, Vail, CO, 2018

• Takaroa Fountain, Green Hill Tower, San Francisco, CA, 2004

• Tongatapu Glass Mural, Tokyo DisneySea, Japan, 2000

Selected Exhibitions

• Turning Point: 20th Anniversary Retrospective, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, 2023

• Timefull, Almyra Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland, 2022

• Timefull, Della Walker House, Carmel, CA, 2021

• Timefull, Lipman House, Orinda, CA, 2019

• Geologic Editions, Designfunktion, Bonn, Germany, 2019

• State of Change, Slate Gallery, Oakland, CA, 2019

• Shattered: Defying Expectations in Glass, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, 2017

• Inaugural Exhibition, MusVerre, Sars-Poteries, France, 2016

• Sparks: California Glass Networks, San Jose, CA, 2015

• Glass Sculptures by David Ruth, Peninsula Museum of Art, Burlingame, CA, 2014

• Hot Spot, Museum of Los Gatos, CA, 2014

• THEN IS NOW, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA, 2014

• 57º, Tides Foundation, San Francisco, CA, 2012

• Taos Glass Invitational, J Fine Art, Taos, NM, 2010

• Antarctic Artists and Writers, National Science Foundation, VA, 2009

• antARcTica: Collected Images, Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, 2009

• Sticks and Stones, Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2008

Selected Publications

• Chill Project, Antarktikos, 2023

• The Story of the Earth in Glass, Neues Glas, 2023

• Geological Editions & Sculpture, 60 pages, 2021

• Ice and Fire, CA Modern, 2014

• The Mood of Nature, Glass Art Committee, China Craft Council, 2007

• Suspended in Glass, World Art Glass Quarterly, 2006

• Internal Life, 44 pages, 2005

Public Collections
Nevada Art Museum Center for Art + Environment
National Science Foundation, Palmer Station, Antarctica
Porter College, University of California, Santa Cruz
MusVerre, France
Glasmuseum, Denmark
Corning Museum of Glass, NY
Oakland Museum, CA
Noto Jima Glass Museum, Japan
Crocker Art Museum, CA

Private Collections
George and Dorothy Saxe, Menlo Park, CA
Walt Disney Imagineering, Glendale, CA
Wolfgang Puck and Barbara Lazaroff, Malibu, CA
Jordan Schnitzer, Oregon
Ann and Gordon Getty, Hawaii
And others in the U.S., Europe, and Asia

Artist Residencies

• NSF Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, Antarctica, 2006

• Uroboros Glass Company, Portland, OR, 2006

• Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, 2003

• Musée-Atelier du Verre, Sars-Poteries, France, 1987–88

For the last 20 years I have been exploring the intersections of geology, natural forms, and climate change through cast glass art. My journey began with a transformative expedition to Antarctica in 2006, where I collected texture molds of glacier ice and stone. Since then, my work has evolved to reflect the urgent realities of our warming planet coupled with an awe for the light-filled world we live in now.

Using these molds, I infuse my sculptures with a prismatic effect, capturing the ever-changing interplay of light and shadow. Recent projects like "The Colorado Cascade," commissioned in the Rocky Mountains, have allowed me to delve deeper into themes of thawing and freezing, lighting and enlightening the dynamic processes shaping our environment.

Through the immersive experience of viewing glass, I aim to provoke contemplation on the fragility of our world and the necessity for collective action. Each piece serves as a tangible reminder of our interconnectedness with the natural world and the imperative of responsible stewardship in the face of climate change. In a rapidly evolving landscape, my art stands as a call to action, urging viewers to embrace their role as stewards of our planet's future.

I am Oakland-based glass sculptor crafting large-scale cast glass sculptures and architectural features for over 30 years. My work, known for vibrant colors and juxtaposition of polished surfaces with textured elements, has been in architecture, museums, and galleries worldwide.

In 2006, I was honored with an award from the National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Program, leading me on an expedition to Palmer Station, Antarctica. This experience laid the groundwork for my recent focus on geology and climate in my work, which I call The Chill Project, featuring the Geologic Editions and Series.

By translating geological formations and ice into glass, I capture the essence of time, refracting sunlight to mark our planet's history. Observing the ever-changing interplay of light and glass yields an ever-changing view  of different time-scales.  The glass, made now, refracts the traveling sunlight, which in turn shows the geologic evolution of our place, the up thrusting of rock with the movement of our North American tectonic plate against the Pacific Plate.  The view becomes an interactive experience, where time itself seems to stretch and contract, inviting viewers to contemplate the passage of time and our planet's evolution.