Guy Fleming to Speak at the 2023 Sea Glass Festival

The International Sea Glass Festival features educational presentations about sea and beach glass, local coastal information, and more. The Festival Committee is pleased to announce the first confirmed speaker for the 2023 festival, which will be held at Mystic Seaport Museum on July 29–30, 2023.

Zen Sea Glassing

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Guy Fleming

In a lifetime, change may occur quickly and sometimes very unexpectedly. After Guy lost all his worldly possessions in the severe Superstorm Sandy of 2012, he faced  another tragedy when he divorced shortly afterward. Searching for solace and new beginning in life, he began walking beach, discovering sea glass and an improved quality of life. Guy will share personal stories, Zen techniques and important ways to become an environmental steward.

Guy Cash Fleming has been expressing himself creatively ever since he sat down with a bass guitar as a teenager. He spent 34 years working as a chemical operator and instrumentation technician for a major pharmaceutical company, and he is also a musician, photographer, and amateur sea glass jeweler. Although he thought he’d never write a book, six months into retirement he suddenly had the urge and honored it wholeheartedly, with the release of For the Love of Sea Glass. Since then he’s walked more than 10,000 miles on the beaches of New Jersey, found in excess of 200,000 pieces of sea glass, and wrote two additional books, entitled Sea Glass for Miles, (a sea glass color/rarity guide), and Sea Glass Stories from the Beautiful New Jersey Coast, a coffee table book. Guy lives in New Jersey with his wife Yolanda, also an author, and their two young adult children.

2023 Sea Glass Festival Speaker Nominations

The International Sea Glass Association’s Board of Directors and Festival Committee are currently accepting nominations for speakers for the 2023 Sea Glass Festival. The festival will be held at Mystic Seaport Museum on Saturday and Sunday, July 29–30, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more about the festival ›

We are looking for speakers to present a talk of up to 45 minutes with time for Q&A after the presentation. Talks should focus on an aspect of sea and beach glass collecting, identification, history, or other information of interest to our community of enthusiastic sea and beach glass collectors. The presentation should be educational, not promotional.

Presenters will have their photo, bio, presentation description, and contact information on the Sea Glass Festival web page and in marketing materials.

The ideal presenter:

  • Is experienced, engaging, and comfortable speaking in front of a large audience.
  • Is passionate about sharing expertise on topics that include unique and historical sea and beach glass, remarkable collections, identifying sea and beach glass finds, or other related topics.
  • Is willing to travel to Mystic, Connecticut for the weekend of July 29th and 30th.

You can nominate someone you are interested in hearing from, or nominate yourself. Thanks for your time and we’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Nominate a speaker ›

Free Genuine vs. Artificial Post Cards

We are pleased to offer brand-new Genuine versus Artificial postcards for Professional Members to distribute to customers and colleagues. 

These colorful cards have information about how to distinguish real from fake sea and beach glass, and a message to purchase from ISGA members so customers know the glass they are buying is real. Including a card with each purchase is a great way to educate collectors about authentic sea and beach glass and promote the ISGA Mission.

The two-sided card has room on the back for a short message, address, and stamp. Professional Members can order these free postcards to mail, include in your packages, or hand out in person.

Distribution of these postcards is by ISGA Professional Members only.

We welcome you to apply for membership

The International Sea Glass Association (ISGA) was founded in 2006 as a non-profit organization supporting sea and beach glass collectors and the beachcombing community through festivals, information, educational opportunities, membership, and more. 

We are currently accepting applications for Professional Memberships. ISGA is the only professional association whose mission is to support artists and collectors with festivals, programs, and educational information about sea and beach glass. ISGA Members can connect with sea and beach glass enthusiasts, collectors, experts, and other professional artisans. Your membership gives you the opportunity to apply for the annual sea glass festival hosted by ISGA in locations around the United States. And your support allows us to create educational opportunities, bring together our sea and beach glass community, and donate to causes that protect our world’s waterways.

Annual dues are $200 and include a range of benefits.

Benefits of Professional Membership:

  • The opportunity to promote your membership on ISGA’s website and use the Professional Member logo in your marketing materials, on your website, and in your online and offline shop
  • Banner ad, bio, and web link on the International Sea Glass Association Members page
  • Promotion on ISGA Instagram and Facebook pages
  • Direct connection to ISGA Community Members through the private Facebook member group, members discounts, and members-only events.
  • Opportunity to apply to participate in the International Sea Glass Association Festival
  • Invitation to members-only events and meetings
  • ISGA logo merchandise
  • Use of ISGA marketing materials, including postcards, bookmarks, educational materials, and the Genuine versus Artificial information to use at festivals and in your shop. 

We are always working to develop new initiatives, events, and programs to enhance your ISGA membership experience. Please contact us any time with your ideas for new community and networking opportunities, educational initiatives, workshops, virtual events, volunteer experiences, and other ways we can help add value to your ISGA membership.

We hope you will consider applying or re-applying for Professional Membership in 2023. 

Apply for Professional Membership ›

If you are not a part of a sea or beach glass business, consider joining as an ISGA Community Member. If you are already a member, thank you for being part of ISGA!

Happy New Year!

I am honored and proud to be leading the International Sea Glass Association as the incoming President. Thank you to the Board of Directors for trusting me in this new journey and current members for being part of this unique organization. To new members, welcome! You were all selected because of your expertise and talent, and we have no doubt you will represent ISGA’s mission professionally. We have a busy year ahead of us and I look forward to working together with everyone to achieve our goals and continue to grow our organization.

Sea glass has been part of my family for almost 25 years. At first, we would bring all these little pieces home from our walks at the beach in Puerto Rico just to fill decorative containers at home. We knew what sea glass was but did not realize there was a large community surrounding it. We started to learn more about sea glass and met other amazing collectors from the mainland who would regularly visit us for beachcombing. Little did I know this would be the beginning of an amazing ride for me.

In 2015 I started my business Silver Coquí Sea Glass. I started making jewelry, but my focus became more centered on art using genuine sea glass from the beach I grew up on. The first festival I visited was Kim Hannon’s St. Michaels Eastern Shore Sea Glass and Coastal Arts Festival. I was excited to see a large sea glass community all in one place. Not long after, I learned about the International Sea Glass Association (ISGA), (previously National Sea Glass Association, NASGA) where Kim served as president. I joined the Association in 2019 and then the Board of Directors in 2021 as the Treasurer.

Kim has been a great leader and contributor to the Sea Glass Association for nearly 10 years. She will be missed not only by the Board, but by all ISGA members and the community of sea glass enthusiasts who have appreciated her tireless work to champion education of genuine sea glass. Through her leadership, we have accomplished many things, such as an international expansion, as well as the introduction of our new Community Membership. Kim navigated us through COVID, ensuring the Association ran smoothly. I want to express a heartfelt thank you to Kim for all her support and commitment throughout the years! I will continue, together with the Board of Directors, to follow in her footsteps and expand ISGA’s mission to the fullest.

Warmest wishes to all for a joyful and productive 2023!

All my best,

César Williams-Padín, President, on behalf of the Board of Directors ISGA