Born in Miami, Rob was reared in Atlanta where his mother taught art and his father worked in the movie industry and dabbled in photography. Rob attended Northside High School for the Performing Arts, in Atlanta, where he was a member of an elite touring group, singing, dancing, and, acting. While active in many traditional sports, he also enjoyed skateboarding, surfing, and rock climbing. All of these factors combined with the inventive and adventurous spirit he inherited from his grandparents, would be important to his future career as a glass artist.
Rob attended San Francisco State University where he discovered glass making. He worked as an apprentice at John Lewis Glass, an industrial casting facility in Oakland, for five years. Stern has participated in and led numerous workshops worldwide and travels annually to teach and serve as a gaffer at the most prominent institutions for glass – Pilchuck Glass School (Wash.), Penland School of Crafts (N.C.), Bildwerk, (Frauenau Germany), and The Glass Furnace (Turkey).
In 1992, after working as a teaching assistant for Czech master, Petr Novotny, Rob was invited to work in the Ajeto Glass Factory in the Czech Republic. It was the start of a long-term working relationship as he would live and work there for a number of years. Rob continues to work closely with Petr both in Ajeto and doing demonstrations and conducting workshops throughout the world. He was a professor at the University of Miami Glass program from 1997-2004 and was most recently a visiting professor at the Glass Department University of Texas, Arlington for 2010.
He is frequently hired to work as a master craftsman to execute the designs of some of world’s leading artists. Stern has completed numerous public and private architectural commissions internationally while continuing to create original works including sculpture, furniture, and custom lighting. His work has been installed, exhibited, and collected in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Website: https://www.robsternartglass.com/
