Artist's letter to University of Sunderland over course closure that's further nail in glassmaking coffin

A mature student who was chasing her dreams of being a glass artist was left shattered by the news that University of Sunderland is set to close its BA glass and ceramics course.

News the courses would come to an end was announced quietly in March 2024, with a post on the university’s website.

The institution said it had been exploring relocating the programme from the National Glass Centre (NGC) to Priestman Building on City Campus, as part of its work to find alternative locations for activity based in the current NGC building - which will itself be closing be closing in 2026.

But the university says that due to the cost of the relocation estimated at £9.4million, it has instead decided to close the course in summer 2026, with recruitment stopping from September this year.

Although future locations have been mooted for some of the NGC, such as space within the new Culture House, it would not be a purpose-built national centre dedicated to glassmaking, as stands now, meaning much of what it offers now will be lost.

Hundreds of people have took to social media and addressed the university directly to question the decision on the course closure, which is yet another nail in the coffin of glassmaking in the city - a cultural tradition which dates back centuries.

Among them is Jessica Lunniss who was delighted to be accepted for a place on the glass and ceramics just four weeks ago, planning to move back to the UK from Spain to pursue her artistic dreams - only to learn via Instagram that the course will be taught out.

Here’s her open letter to the university’s Board of Governors, explaining the impact of closing a crafts heritage course such as this, a sentiment which is widely echoed by the wider artistic community.

Open letter regarding the closure of Glass and Ceramics at the University of Sunderland

To the Board of Governors, and anyone else who has contributed to the closure of the BA Glass and Ceramics course at Sunderland, this letter is for you.

Only two weeks ago I paid several hundred pounds to to fly over, stay in a nearby hotel, come to interview, and be offered a place on 13th March. To allow the teaching staff to proceed with these interviews and unknowingly give prospective students false information about the future of the course and the NGC is beyond callous, and deeply unprofessional.

I do not for one second think any of the teaching staff I spoke with was acting in anything other than good faith - this is clearly a failure of you as governors and your internal management.

I will be submitting an FoI request regarding your decision, as I believe some of you were well aware the course would not continue before you allowed interviews on 13th March.

As an accountant myself, it is suspicious to me that despite your announcement of a £250million capital development budget for the University, you can’t use a small portion of this to save something so important.

The personal impact of your decision is profound: you have been very careless with peoples lives and livelihoods. Do you think it is a small act - relocating, going back into education, changing careers - over the age of 25, never mind 40+?

I am now in a very difficult position housing wise, having given up my long term housing contract in preparation to move back to the UK from Spain. In 3 months I potentially have nowhere to live and am currently unable to find a new long term contract due to the housing crisis here.

Other 2024 students have been in touch with me, distressed at the fact they have already relocated their lives, property, even their children´s school placements to the area, only for you to renege on your obligations.

I have dreamt for years of studying Glass at Sunderland specifically because of the world-class facilities and teaching staff. Years because, due to my socio-economic background, it has taken me that long to get to the point to make it possible financially.

And overnight you have completely destroyed all of it, with your sneaky little update to the University news page on 22 March - and to find this out from Instagram over the weekend rather than the University admissions team is utterly disgraceful, and I hope at least one of you is completely mortified by this communications failure.

The wider implications of your decision on the arts and glass sector is even more damaging. I’d like to draw attention to the first line of your Strategic plan: "The University of Sunderland is proud of its tangible impact".

Your tangible impact has been to remove one of the last educational pathways into glassmaking, for myself and others like me. Are you proud of this? Dr Petrie has kindly offered help with applying to similar courses - the problem is that there aren´t any similar courses.

UCA Farnham is now the only remaining dedicated BA in Glass in the UK (let that sink in), but as it does not offer the course part-time and is in a HCoL area, it is not accessible to many late career-changers, low-income or ELQ status students like myself.

Education in glassmaking techniques has already become limited and fragmented into hobby courses, the preserve of the time and cash privileged. There are no longer any official apprenticeship pathways into glassmaking. I studied a BTEC in Glass at Kensington and Chelsea College in 2016, this too no longer exists.

Only recently I visited the Glass Heart exhibition at Two Temple Place in London which exalts the heritage and history of glassmaking at Sunderland since the 7th century. Contra your responsibilities to the University as Governors, you are certainly not "safeguarding its assets" by closing this course. I would love to look each of you in the eyes and ask the following question:

How can you bear your own hypocrisy, knowing that your legacy will be one of permanent educational and cultural destruction?

Yours sincerely Jessica Lunniss

When approached for comment by the Echo, the university said it understood the artist’s frustration.

A spokesman for the University of Sunderland said: "The University has contacted Ms Lunniss directly and we fully acknowledge her frustration and disappointment that the BA course will no longer be taught here in Sunderland.

 "The decision to close our academic work in glass and ceramics was not an easy one. However, the Board of Governors concluded that it was not financially viable to spend the £9.4million estimated cost of moving equipment and making necessary building changes to relocate the programme in Priestman building on City Campus, given the very small number of students that would benefit. 

 "The decision to close the programme was taken after interviews were held for those who were considering joining in autumn 2024. These interviews had to take place as the University could not be seen to pre-empt the governors’ decision-making process.”

Reflecting on the history of glassmaking in Sunderland

A stone's throw from National Glass Centre lie St Peter’s Church, where French glaziers created Britain’s first stained glass in AD674 after Benedict Biscop brought them over to craft windows for the Monkwearmouth monastery.

The French craftsmen who visited Sunderland in the 7th century passed on the skill to locals, making Sunderland one of the earliest centres of glassmaking in the country, and by the 19th century it was a booming industry.

Along with shipbuilding and coal mining, glassmaking played a huge role in the city’s industrial heritage and was fuelled by the availability of cheap coal and high-quality imported sand, the two key raw materials needed for large-scale glass production.

Some of the biggest factories included Turnbull's Cornhill Flint Glassworks at Southwick, open from 1865 to 1953, which operated for decades, as well as Wear Flint Glass Works, known from 1921 as James A. Jobling and Co Ltd.

The latter made the iconic Pyrex brand which, thanks to its heat-resistant properties, became a staple item in kitchens across the world after being sold in its millions. Every single piece of Pyrex back then, many of which is now a collector’s item, was made right here in Sunderland.