Demetra Theofanous is a Greek American artist, living in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She was immersed in the arts from a very young age, but this thirst for expression was temporarily diverted, when she received her business degree from the Haas School of Business, at UC Berkeley.  She graduated and spent time working in San Francisco, only to realize there was something missing in her work and she needed to find a way to return to her creative roots.

Demetra entered the medium of glass through flameworking, and developed a method for weaving with glass that provides a continuing basis for narratives and investigation in her work.  She also utilizes the ancient technique of Pate de Verre which offers a detailed and painterly approach to casting that is well suited to creating hyperrealistic installations.  Many of her sculptures now combine this cast glass technique with flameworked elements.  She also has had the opportunity to serve as Robert Mickelsen’s TA and his guidance and expertise has been instrumental in broadening her knowledge of flameworking.

Demetra has been internationally recognized for her woven glass nest and flora sculptures, and is included in numerous private collections, as well as in the permanent collection of the Racine Art Museum.  Notable awards include: a GLANC Scholarship, a Juror’s Choice Award from renowned collector Dorothy Saxe, a Glasscraft Emerging Artist Award, a NICHE Award, a Juror’s Choice Award at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Grant, and the CERF “Get Ready” grant.  She has exhibited internationally, including at the Triennial of the Silicate Arts in Hungary, San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design, National Liberty Museum, Alexandria Museum of Art, and in the Crocker Art Museum’s prestigious Crocker-Kingsley Biennial.  In 2017 she was an Artist in Residence at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art with Dean Bensen, where their exhibition “Intertwined”, showcased the environmentally sensitive work created during their residency period.

Demetra operates a private studio in San Francisco, CA where she continues to develop her signature work.   She has served as lecturer, juror and educator, teaching at top educational institutions such as Pratt Fine Arts Center, Pittsburgh Glass Center, and Bay Area Glass Institute.  Demetra was a 2015 demonstrating artist at the Glass Art Society Conference, where she also served as a Conference Co-Chair. She is Board President of the Glass Alliance of Northern California, and serves as a Board Member of the Glass Art Society.  All of Demetra’s pieces are one of a kind, produced solely by the artist, and created in limited number.