Portland-based artist and educator Nathan Sandberg has established himself as one of the leading kiln-glass instructors working today. Through OnGrade Studio, which he founded in 2012, Nathan teaches innovative glass curriculum to students worldwide.
Nathan is widely credited as a pioneer of modern Vitrigraph methods, which he began developing in 2009 and have become an integral part of his glass practice. After spending 8 years in the Research & Education department at Bullseye Glass Company, he founded OnGrade Studio in 2012.
His teaching takes him to studios, schools, and art centers internationally, complemented by a robust in-house and online education program. OnGrade Studio, which relocated to a larger space in Portland's Overlook neighborhood in 2024, serves as Nathan's personal studio and curriculum development hub while providing studio access to local glass artists.
Though glass is his primary medium, Nathan's installations frequently integrate wood, metal, and concrete. His work is held in private and public collections internationally.

"I take a practical-analytical approach to glassmaking. The visual patterns I create are not pre-planned but develop and evolve during the making process, as I respond to and learn from the glass itself.
I am almost always working in multiples - lining things up, arranging them in relationship to one another. This might mean a small number of objects sharing space, or hundreds of pieces of Vitrigraph cane within a single panel. I've noticed this tendency throughout my artmaking journey; even when my primary material was clay, arranging multiples was my natural inclination.
An ongoing goal is to make glass that more people can relate to and live with daily. I started making tabletops to connect glass to everyday life - their importance became vivid when I found myself with almost no possessions other than a bed. Most tables are bland and strictly functional. I want this work to be visually rich enough that people get lost in its subtle details regardless of scale.
A piece begins with an idea, but individual tasks repeat hundreds of times, mostly by hand. At a certain point the process releases me from creative decision-making and becomes something closer to manufacturing, governed by pragmatic choices rather than artistic ones"

Media: Glass

Studio Number: 17

Address: 4834 N Interstate Ave Portland OR 97217

Community: N Portland

Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible (By request I can open the back doors)

Email: ongradestudio@gmail.com

Website: nathansandberg.com

Instagram: @ongradestudio

Facebook: @ongradestudio

Nathan Sandberg

Nathan Sandberg

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