A Cuba trip co-organized by a museum in L.A. offers a front-row seat to the relighting of Havana's neon landscape

Before the Cuban Revolution in 1958, when Fidel Castro confiscated nearly all private property, Havana was a legendary playground for gangsters, American society types, and anybody who wanted to hang around to soak up the neon-lit ambiance of the city. Havana in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s was a tropical Las Vegas rival, known as much for its famous nightclubs, hotels, and restaurants festooned with radiant lit signs as its atmosphere of lawlessness.

Jessica Loughlin, Receptor Of Light V, 2018. Glass. H 18, W 21, D 7 in. Loughlin's piece won the FUSE Glass Prize in 2018.

Friday November 22, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

CALL FOR ENTRIES: JamFactory seeks Australian and New Zealand applicants for third annual FUSE Glass Prize

JamFactory has announced the dates for its third biennial FUSE Glass Prize, awarded to glass artists in Australia and New Zealand. According to the website, the prize is awarded to artists who "push themselves and their work to new limits" and display "contemporary artistic expression, the outstanding public collections in the region, and the globally connected art glass ecosystem." The prize began in 2016 as a collaboration between JamFactory and glass collectors Jim and Helen Carreker. The winner will be awarded a $20,000 non-acquisitive cash prize. Additionally, the David Henshall Prize Emerging Artist prize will be awarded to a newer artist, who will receive a $2,500 cash prize and a professional residency at JamFactory.

Tansey Contemporary Gallery, which moved from Santa Fe to Denver in 2017, is permanently closing its doors on November 23. source: facebook

Wednesday November 20, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

Tansey Contemporary in Denver to close gallery doors before the end of November

After three years in Denver, Tansey Contemporary is closing its doors. Owners Mike and Jennifer Tansey acquired the gallery in 2013 when they purchased the Jane Sauer Gallery in Santa Fe. Because the couple lived in Evergreen, Colorado, at the time, they transitioned to a second Denver location in 2016. A year later, the Santa Fe location was closed when they realized they couldn’t divide their time or attention. Just before Thanksgiving, they are planning to shut the doors of their Denver location as well, citing the challenge of managing major contemporary art fairs while also running a gallery.

Tuesday November 12, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

Cal Breed's solo exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts explores his interest in wind and water

Deeply in touch with nature and the elements, Alabama glass artist Cal Breed depicts wind and water in ways both friendly and powerful. Breed has been working in glass since the mid 1990s, when he apprenticed with renowned glass artists such as Cam Langley, Paul Cunningham, Dante Marioni and Lino Tagliapietra. He sought out those experts intentionally, determined to be trained before he started creating on his own. His work has been recognized by the likes of Martha Stewart and Oprah (His Roxy Pitcher was on the "O List" several years ago -- and continues to exhibit a simple grace).

Orange, traditional pumpkins are only one of the styles for sale at the Glass Pumpkin Patch of Carmel, but it's the style where most artists and collectors make their start. courtesy: nick leonoff

Tuesday October 29, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

The Uncanny Power of the Glass Pumpkin: A closer look at an unusual fall tradition that has proved to be a surefire fundraiser

The year was 2007. Thousands of colorful glass pumpkins -- from traditional orange to iridescent rainbow in all different sizes -- glinted in the autumn sun. Just outside the field in Palo Alto, California, a line of eager customers was jockeying for position, waiting for the official start. The pumpkins had been on display all week in advance of the kick-off of Great Glass Pumpkin Patch 2007, but this was the first day of sale. What took place next, according to glass artist Nick Leonoff, could only be described as a “frenzy.”

Sibylle Peretti, Snow Child III, 2019. Glass. H 40, W 45, D 20 in. courtesy: huntsville museum of art

Thursday October 17, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

OPENING: In joint museum exhibition, Sibylle Peretti and Stephen Paul Day seek "connections" through shared themes

The work of artists Sibylle Peretti and Stephen Paul Day share a somber beauty and haunting quality, often based on folklore and childhood memories. Featuring over 25 works from the past decade of their careers and several new pieces, the couple's aptly named joint exhibition "Connections" will go on view October 20, 2019, at the Huntsville Museum of Art.

A portrait of the artist by photographer Ele Runge. courtesy: uarts, philadelphia.

Wednesday October 16, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

AWARD: Simone Fezer wins $5,000 University of the Arts Borowsky Prize, will lecture at Philadelphia campus in November

Philadelphia's University of the Arts has announced that artist Simone Fezer is the seventh winner of its annual Irvin Borowsky International Prize in Glass Arts. The prize is awarded to an artist whose work is "conceptually daring, exemplifies technical skill and innovation, and advances the field of contemporary glass," according to the award announcement by UArts. The winner receives a $5,000 award, and gives a lecture at the UArts campus. Fezer, who is based in Germany, plans to do so in November.

John Kiley & Dante Marioni, Leaf Halo, 2019. Blown and cut glass. H 15, W 13, D 14 in. courtesy: traver gallery

Thursday October 3, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

OPENING: John Kiley and Dante Marioni's cutaway collaborations, April Surgent's haunting landscapes at Traver

Boldly experimental and technically rigorous are terms that can be applied to the collaborations between John Kiley and Dante Marioni, which are going on view this evening at Traver Gallery. Lino disciples and arguably two of the top American glassblowing masters who have known one another for almost two decades, they first connected in 1991 when Marioni stopped in at the restaurant where Kiley worked wearing a Pilchuk Glass School t-shirt after Kiley had just registered to take a class there.

Richard Marquis, Ruby Heart Teapot, 1980. Blown glass, murrine technique. H 5, W 6, D 5 in. courtesy: museum of glass

Thursday September 26, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

OPENING: Historic and contemporary work by iconic glass artist Richard Marquis on view in two Seattle-area exhibitions

A glass dog perched atop a wooden anvil. Patterned pink teapots. A golden birdcage. Watercolor postcards serving as the backdrop of whimsical found objects. All of the above -- and much more, with increasing variety -- are to be found at the Traver Gallery and Museum of Glass this month in two Marquis exhibits. At the Traver Gallery, on view through September 29th, both Richard and his painter and mixed-media artist wife, Johanna Marquis, display their work side by side in "Recent Works: New and Used." The gallery exhibition includes pieces both from their early careers and new works. And opening later this month at the glass museum in neighboring Tacoma, Washington, "Keepers" displays prized work draw straight from Richard Marquis' personal archives, spanning his decades-long career and providing insights into what the artist himself felt were among his most important and successful efforts.

Peter Bremers, Blue Elevated Space, 2019. Glass. H 39 1/4, W 22 1/2, D 6 1/4 in. courtesy: sandra ainsley gallery

Wednesday September 18, 2019 | by Jillian Cheney

OPENING: In his latest work, now on view at Toronto's Sandra Ainsley Gallery, Peter Bremers channels introspection and new beginnings

Using sculpted cast glass and earth-tones, Peter Bremers channels the outside world in making his artworks. Trips to the Antarctic and the American Southwest have advanced his premise that the beauty of natural phenomena is not a simple pursuit, but integral to the human experience. The transformation of self that can occur during these encounters is the subject of his introspective works. In his newest exhibition, which just debuted at the Ainsley Gallery outside Toronto, Bremers unveils 22 new works that encourage personal transformation through positive introspection in a show he tells the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet is "important to me as a human being and as an artist."

Glass: The UrbanGlass Quarterly, a glossy art magazine published four times a year by UrbanGlass has provided a critical context to the most important artwork being done in the medium of glass for more than 40 years.