Viewing articles by Andrew Page

A poignant documentary film examines the life and work of Paul Stankard, who set the standard for botanical compositions encased in glass. film still courtesy: paul stankard: flower and flame

Thursday March 28, 2024 | by Andrew Page

REVIEW: An exquisitely crafted film examines Paul Stankard's elevation of the paperweight form, as well as the life and times of the man behind the torch

The film Paul J. Stankard: Flower & Flame quickly sets itself apart from many documentaries about glass artists with its opening scene. With sonorous Baroque chamber music as the soundtrack, a close-up lens tracks across the artist's softly lit studio, passing over a pair of gloves on a workbench, plates arranged with botanical components waiting for encasement in glass, a library of color rods, and an unlit torch. Then the moving camera comes to rest on a set of hands poised to light the burner. With a bright flick of the sparker, the flame comes alive as the film begins, cutting away from the jet of flame to Paul Stankard himself, facing the camera in the first of many intimate interviews about his life and work that are inter-cut with archival images, shots of process, and experts who extol what Stankard almost singlehandedly accomplished -- to bring the botanical paperweight to another level.Art dealer Doug Heller, who has shown Stankard's work for decades, recounted his first encounter with Stankard's early paperweights and being impressed even though he disliked the genre in general."He transcended the paperweight world," Heller said. "Paul takes it somewhere else completely."

A 2011 photo of Jeffrey Beers at an UrbanGlass gala celebration.

Wednesday March 20, 2024 | by Andrew Page

In Memoriam: Architect, artist, and longtime UrbanGlass board member Jeffrey Beers dies of cancer (1956 - 2024)

New York City-based architect Jeffrey Beers, founder and CEO of the successful hotel and hospitality design firm Jeffrey Beers International, died on Monday, March 18, 2024, from complications of cancer. Even as he built JBI into the global architecture firm it has become, and, with his wife, Connie, raised two sons, Beers found time to remain an active board member of UrbanGlass, which publishes the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet. As an architecture student at Rhode Island School of Design, Beers had taken courses in glass with department chair Dale Chihuly, and, when he later moved to New York City, he continued to blow glass at The New York Experimental Glass Workshop before it moved to Brooklyn and became UrbanGlass.

Tuesday March 19, 2024 | by Andrew Page

Cedric Mitchell featured in the Los Angeles TImes for his bold designs, work ethic, willingness to take chances, and successful reinvention.

El Segundo, California-based glassblower Cedric Mitchell and his Etorre Sotsass-inspired glass designs are the subjects of a feature article in the Los Angeles Times. Staff Writer Lisa Boone tracks Mitchell's evolution from his mid-20s as an up-and-coming hip-hop artist born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The article credits his discovery of glass at the Tulsa Glassblowing School, and his rapid skills acquisition to all the hard work and dedication Mitchell has devoted to mastering glassblowing. The article also notes some of the artist's fortuitous meetings, including his long friendship with Joe Carriati, which brought Mitchell to Los Angeles, and led to further connections in the design world that have allowed Mitchell to launch his own successful business, Cedric Mitchell Design.

Saturday February 24, 2024 | by Andrew Page

HOT OFF THE PRESSES: The Spring 2024 edition of Glass (#174)

The Spring 2024 edition of Glass: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly (#174) is hitting newsstands and subscriber mailboxes. On the cover is a striking collage of works by the father-and-son team of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, who, in the 19th century, were hired by universities around the world to create life-like models of plants and invertebrates for scientific study. The article considers the invertebrates drawn from the Harvard University collection, which are currently on view at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut in an exhibition that blends art, history, and science. Because the Blaschkas were not divers themselves, they had to imagine how the examples pulled from the deep would have appeared far below the surface, as the article’s author and experienced scuba diver William Warmus points out in his wide-ranging article that considers how to best understand this work in our contemporary moment.

Tuesday February 20, 2024 | by Andrew Page

CONVERSATION: Curator Davira S. Taragin on her exhibition "Look What Harvey Did" at the Chazen Museum of Art in Wisconsin

The Chazen Museum of Art, which originally opened on the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus in 1970, is home to 24,000 works in its permanent collection, ranging from ancient Greek to modern African. In 2005, the museum was renamed after a major gift from university alumni Simona and Jerome Chazen (1927 - 2002), which allowed for a significant expansion when a second museum building opened in 2011. Running through August 16, 2024, is an exhibition of 40 works from the patrons' glass works. Titled "Look What Harvey Did! Harvey K. Littleton's Legacy in the Simona and Jerome Chazen Collection of Studio Glass," the exhibition spans 60 years and includes works from Michael Aschenbrenner, Dale Chihuly, Daniel Clayman, Dan Dailey, Clifford Rainey, Ginny Ruffner, and Lino Tagliapietra, among others. The exhibition was curated by Davira S. Taragin, who spoke to the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet by telephone about how she approached the project.

Tuesday January 30, 2024 | by Andrew Page

Judith Schaechter reflects on receiving the 2024 Smithsonian Visionary Award

On its website, the Smithsonian Women's Committee prominently lists its motto as: "Harnessing the Power of Women to Make a Difference." This group of Smithsonian supporters has certainly made a difference for artists working in glass at all levels. The SWC organizes the annual high-profile Smithsonian Craft Show (as well as an autumn show of wearable crafts), and also makes direct grants to Smithsonian-affiliated institutions. Each year, the SWC also presents its Smithsonian Visionary Awards, which over the years has gone to some of the most prominent artists working in craft materials such as Dale Chihuly, David Ellsworth, Joyce J. Scott, Albert Paley, Toots Zynsky, Faith Ringgold, and Patti Warashina, among others. in 2024, the award was given to two artists who work primarily in glass -- Judith Schaechter and Dan Dailey.

Friday January 26, 2024 | by Andrew Page

IN MEMORIAM: Glass collector and major philanthropist Sheldon Palley (1933 - 2024) passes away at the age of 90

Sheldon Palley -- businessman, art collector, and philanthropist - passed away on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at the age of 90. He died less than four years after the death of Myrna, his wife of 63 years. Though Palley grew up in Detroit, Michigan, he made Miami, Florida, his home for 75 years. It was while studying for his law degree at the Univesrity of MIami that he met Myrna, who had graduated with a bachelor's degree in education and was teaching art at a junior high school at the time they met.

Thursday January 25, 2024 | by Andrew Page

Phase One of The Corning Studio renovation opens to the public with new facilities and resources for education and the general public

A week or so before Christmas, The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass reopened its doors to the public, offering visitors entering the new marquee entrance a gleaming new reception desk and facilities for the museum's popular Make Your Own Glass activities. A bank of brand-new sandblasting machines were arranged beside tall crafting tables, where visitors could apply various resists to create a custom design. Assisted glassblowing activities have been expanded thanks to the new modular areas where benches are set up, available to museumgoers or professionals depending on the time of year.

Helen Lee portrait. photo: kaleb autman

Tuesday January 23, 2024 | by Andrew Page

Helen Lee named 2024 United States Artist Fellow, recieves a $50k unrestricted award

Helen Lee, an artist, designer, and educator who heads the glass program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has just been announced as a 2024 United States Artist Fellow. Lee will join 50 other artists, who range from architects to choreographers, and who hail from 22 American states as well as Puerto Rico, as one of those "selected for their artistic vision, contributions to the field, and potential impact of the award on their practice," according to the USArtists press release announcing the 2024 United States Artist fellows.

Wednesday January 3, 2024 | by Andrew Page

As 2023 turns to 2024, join us for a look back at the Year in Glass

Join us as we take a short spin back in time to the highlights of our coverage in 2023, and thank our subscribers for their support.

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.