Rick Beck is a studio artist who worked in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, for 30 years before relocating to Hawaii in 2020. He began his career in glass at Hastings College in Nebraska, where he earned his BA, and later received his MFA from Southern Illinois University. In 1994, Beck was awarded a Visual Arts Fellowship by the North Carolina Arts Council, followed by a National Endowment for the Arts Regional Visual Arts Fellowship from the Southern Arts Federation in 1995.

A key figure in the studio glass movement, Beck is known for his large-scale cast glass sculptures depicting industrial objects and the human figure. He has taught at the renowned Pilchuck Glass School and has been a frequent instructor at the Penland School of Craft since 1988.

“My work in glass is a synthesis of human and mechanical form, with an emphasis on formal aspects. I am interested in playing the volumes of mass against the rhythm of the lines. I enjoy the interplay of the visual (visceral) versus the verbal (descriptive/technical). The work should challenge the eye and the mind.” – Rick Beck