American Studio Glass: A Survey of the Movement
May 15 - August 24, 2003

Richard Royal
Untitled Shelter Series (S90-130)
Blown glass
1990 28 x 11 x 9

Richard Royal (born 1952; resides Seattle, WA)

Richard Royal studied under Michael Whitley, one of Dale Chihuly’s first students, at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. While there, Royal opened his own studio with friend Benjamin Moore in 1972. Royal was subsequently invited to work at the Pilchuck Glass School. While on Dale Chihuly’s team at Pilchuck, Royal used his free time to develop his own aesthetic. Since 1981, Royal has served as an instructor at Pilchuck, and dedicated himself to the design and production of glass. Royal has also taught worldwide and served as Artist-in-Residence at schools and factories such as Niijima Glass Art Center in Japan and Waterford Crystal in Ireland. From 1978-1995, Royal served as Gaffer at Dale Chihuly Studio. Royal has had solo exhibitions at William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA, the Marx-Saunders Gallery, Chicago, IL, and Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, among others. Royal’s work has been featured in group exhibits ranging from Glass Today by American Studio Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, in 1997, to Masters of Contemporary Glass, which toured the nation to venues including the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Mississippi Museum of Art, and Tucson Museum of Art. His work can be found in the IBM collection, New York, NY, the Daiichi Museum, Nagoya, Japan, and the Seattle Children’s Theater. In 2002, Royal was designated Feature Artist for the Seattle Chamber Music Festival. Richard Royal produces large, abstract blown shapes in broad complementary colors, sometimes in combination with vessel forms, as introspective metaphors for personal self-expression.

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