Local Artist: Will Dexter
William “Will” Dexter works big. His blown-glass forms are thick-walled, heavy, and engineered for scale—pieces that truly hold a room. Rims rise and fall in slow waves; edges are fluent and precise. Color is saturated and luminous—sometimes a single jewel tone, sometimes layered into multiple overlays—so the work glows from within rather than sitting on the surface. Clear, ice-like anchors and feet ground many pieces; you can see the mass and feel the weight. Up close, light slides over the form, catching a crisp lip-wrap line, a suspended teardrop of clear glass, or the subtle shift where one color yields to another. Dexter’s sculpture reads like motion made solid: organic, generous, and unmistakably handcrafted. William Dexter, like everything he creates, is one of a kind!
To see our featured artist’s work on display in our showroom please come and visit us Tuesday through Sunday here at Warner Art Glass.
To see how this art is created, click on the images to watch.
William (Will) Dexter
Glass artist — organic, large in scale forms • luminous gradient color • Boyertown, Pennsylvania
Throughline
William Dexter creates expansive, organic glass forms with flowing edges and saturated, gradient color. His works often anchor corporate foyers, boardrooms, and public spaces as sculptural focal points, with select series scaled for residential collectors.
Process & Scale
Working primarily in glass, Dexter emphasizes fluent rims, soft contours, and deep chroma that shifts with light. Recent works (>26 in across; 25–30 lbs) foreground edge precision, color depth, and the slow transition between hues.
Education
• M.F.A., Rhode Island School of Design — 1981
• B.F.A., Tyler School of Art (PA) — 1979 Recognition
• Artist As Hero Award, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia — 2013
• Pagoda Award, Lifetime Achievement, Berks Arts Council, Reading, PA — 2007
• Masterworks Fellowship, Creative Glass Center of America (Wheaton), NJ — 1990
Teaching & Visiting (selected)
• Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, RI) — teaching/workshops
• Tyler School of Art (PA) — teaching/workshops
• Pilchuck School (Stanwood, WA) — teaching/workshops • Penland School (NC) — teaching/workshops
• Summervail Workshop (Vail, CO) — teaching/workshops
• Appalachian Center (Smithville, TN) — teaching/workshops
• Visiting Artist, Tulane University (New Orleans, LA) Curatorial
• Curator, “Time Lines,” sitenspecific sculpture, Penn State University, Berks Campus — 1996 Collections (selected)
• Smithsonian Institution — National Museum of American History (Washington, DC)
• Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY)
• Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA)
• High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA)
• Tacoma Art Museum (Tacoma, WA)
• Racine Art Museum (Racine, WI)
• Columbia Museum of Art (Columbia, SC)
• Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (Wausau, WI)
• National Liberty Museum (Philadelphia, PA)
• Wheaton Arts — Museum of American Glass (Millville, NJ)
• Württembergisches Landesmuseum (Stuttgart, Germany)
• The Pilchuck Collection (Stanwood, WA)
• Reading Public Museum (Reading, PA)
• Price Waterhouse (Philadelphia, PA)
• Capital Bank Collection (Houston, TX)
• Cincinnati Bell Collection (Cincinnati, OH)
• Galerie International du Verre (Biot, France)