Artist

Robert DuGrenier

Robert DuGrenier Associates, Inc. was started in 1980 by Robert DuGrenier as a design studio specializing in glass sculptural pieces and three-dimensional design. Over the years, based on his strengths of creativity and knowledge of materials, Robert has worked in collaboration with architects and designers to create custom glass sculptural installations and chandeliers. These are installed in hotels (The Dorchester London), stores (Tiffany & Co.), museums (The Jewish Museum, NYC) and private residences (Bill Gates) around the world. The company has also become well known for its design and development of innovative packaging for the cosmetics industry (Faberge, Laura Mercier, Nautica) and for creating custom awards for a variety of high-profile clients including MTV Networks, CMT Music Television, and ESPN.

Robert DuGrenier is a well-known sculptor working primarily in glass, metal and marble. Much of his work is informed by nature and its effects over time on a variety of elements. Robert worked on the redesign of the flame for the Statue of Liberty and was commissioned to create and produce the 1/12th scale model from which the French artisans sculpted the new flame.

His most recent art installation features two hundred hand-blown glass planets, each illuminated by an LED light, that comprise the commissioned chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the grand staircase in YesterHouse Museum at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester VT. Each planet has a digital life as an NFT (non-fungible token), a unique digital asset that represents a work of art or collectible; purchasers of NFTs can control the color LED light for their corresponding planet.

“I’ve been fascinated by the sun, moon and stars in the universe since I was little,” says DuGrenier. “I had a telescope in my room and would spend hours looking out the window at the night sky. My NFT VitroVerse collection is a joining of two worlds: the universe and the metaverse”.

Robert has shown his work in various museums and galleries, including solo shows at the Brattleboro Museum of Art, Wilson Museum at Southern Vermont Arts Center, Salmon Falls Art Gallery and Fulcrum Gallery. He has also been part of group exhibitions at SITE: Brooklyn, Heller Gallery NY, University Galleries at ISU, and The American Crafts Museum, NY.

In 2018, Robert was inducted into the College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame at Illinois State University.