Madeline Rile Smith began her glass studies with Josh Cole at the Crefeld School Glass Studio. She has studied with Brent Young at the Cleveland Institute of Art, with Eun-Suh Choi at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, and at Philadelphia’s East Falls Glassworks. Currently she is a BFA student in glass at the Tyler School of Art.
In addition to sculpture work and installations, Madeline flameworks borosilicate pendants and other glass art objects in her studio in Philadelphia. She teaches flameworking privately and in workshops through the Crefeld School. Her work can be purchased in person or online.
Born in Philadelphia in 1989, Madeline has been involved in the arts from an early age, as a musician and visual artist. While in high school, she was an Advanced Study Scholarship recipient at Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and was featured on NPR’s From The Top’s radio and TV shows with her string quartet Seraphina. Madeline plays the classical viola, violin, and trumpet, as well as acoustic guitar and djembe. Her self-described passions are music and molten glass.
“Music has probably been the biggest influence in my life. I started violin when I was two and have been playing since. When I decided to go to art school, I did not want stop playing and lose the musician inside me, so I began planning my own way to incorporate the two. I want to bring my love of music into my passion for glassblowing and creating and expand on all three aspect in my life.”
When not making art or music, Madeline enjoys spending time with her sisters, Lauren Rile Smith, Caeli Smith, and Pascale Smith.
