UofL professor named Educator of the Year by Louisville Visual Art

Ché Rhodes, professor of glass at UofL's Hite Art Institute, has been named "Educator of the Year" by Louisville Visual Art, the area's largest arts collective. He'll receive the honor at the third annual Louisville Visual Art Honors Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on February 7.

Other honorees include Philanthropist Nana Lampton, Artist/Gallerist Billy Hertz and Muralist Liz Richter.

Embodying a rich tradition of Kentucky glass artistry and teaching, Rhodes holds a BA in Art from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he studied with famed glass maker Stephen Powell. After earning an MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Rhodes headed the Glass Department at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, from 1999–2004.

In 2005, he founded the glass program at UofL, where he is associate professor and head of Studio Glass. The program's glass studio anchors Hite's Cressman Center for Visual Art at 100 E. Main St.

A former Glass Art Society Board member and Penland School of Crafts Trustee, Rhodes has taught at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina; the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York; UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York; and the Scuola del Vetro: Abate Zanetti in Venice, Italy.

In January Rhodes was featured on KET - Kentucky Educational Television's show "Kentucky Life," where he described his artistic inspirations and teaching philosophies. View the full episode here.

Last month, Rhodes also created the the blown glass award Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer presented to civil rights activist Mattie Jones during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Keepers of the Dream celebration at the Kentucky Center for Arts.

Purchase tickets here for LVA's Friday Luncheon. Sales to the event support Children's Fine Art Classes.