EXHIBITION: Site of historic 1962 workshop, the Toledo Museum of Art celebrates women in glass with "Fired Up" exhibit

FILED UNDER: Exhibition

When Harvey Littleton held the first of his historic glass workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art in 1962, there were nine male participants, and only four female. Littleton would go on to start the first academic program in glass art and be heralded as the father of Studio Glass, while participant Norm Schulman would go on to found RISD's glass department. Much less recognition would go to the female participants in the workshop. Much has been written about the quest of 20th-century female artists to achieve equal recognition, but an exhibition now on view at the Toledo Museum of Art celebrates the impact and accomplishments of women glass artists since the early days of this once male-dominated field. An exhibition entitled "Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists," which was shown at the Mint Museum in North Carolina, opened at the site of the 1962 Toledo Workshops, where it will remain on view through March 18, 2018. …

Tuesday October 17, 2017 | by Joseph Modica

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Toyama Glass Art Museum seeks submissions for inaugural international competition with rich top prize

FILED UNDER: Call for Submissions

Organizers of the Toyama International Glass Exhibition 2018 set to take place from September 15th through November 25th in 2018, will mark the first time this established competition will be open to international artists. This juried exhibit rewards successful applicants with opportunities to win the ‎¥ 3 million ($26,730 US) “Grand Prize,” while the runner-up will receive a ¥ 1 million ($ 8,910 US) “Gold Prize” and five artists will receive the “Silver Prize,” each winning ¥ 200,000 ($ 1,782 US). The deadline for entries is March 20, 2018, and the winning works will be exhibited at the second floor of this museum in Toyama, Japan.…

Tuesday October 17, 2017 | by Andrew Page

GALLERY: Images from the 2017 Robert M. Minkoff Foundation Academic Symposium at UrbanGlass

The 2017 edition of the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation Academic Symposium at UrbanGlass concluded on Sunday, October 15th, with a field trip to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey, that included an exclusive advance preview of the largest retrospective to date of the glass and fiber work of MacArthur Fellow Joyce J. Scott, as well as an artist-led tour of Dan Clayman's "Radiant Landscape" exhibition. But the main events took place on Friday and Saturday, with a program of 18 lectures and panel discussions by leading glass faculty from around the world. The keynote presentation was delivered by Rachel Berwick (RISD Glass). Among the highlights were presentations by other heads of glass programs such as Helen Lee (UWisc, Madison), Justin Ginsberg (UTexas, Arlington), Kim Harty (College of Creative Studies, Detroit), Sharyn O'Mara (Tyler), and Li Wen (China Academy of Art). A panel discussion of contrasting international approaches to curriculum was moderated by UrbanGlass education director Ben Wright. Other highlights included a curator panel of Susie Silbert (Corning) and Samantha DeTillio (Museum of Arts and Design), and presentations y independent artist Dan Clayman ("Rainfield at MassArt"), writer Alexis Clements ("Myths of Success in the Arts"), and art history professor Mary Drach McInnes (Alfred). The event began with a Thursday night gallery tour on the Lower East Side that included a presentation by Betty Cunningham about Christopher Wilmarth.

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Wednesday October 11, 2017 | by Joseph Modica

The Corning Museum and Corning Incoporated name Karen LaMonte specialty-glass artist resident for 2018

The Corning Museum of Glass and Corning Inc. have announced that Karen LaMonte, the artist best known for her life-like dress sculptures made from glass, has been selected for their joint Specialty Glass Artist-in-Residency program, a much-sought-after opportunity that gives artists access to cutting-edge types of glass, scientists and technology. LaMonte, whose residency will start in early 2018, will follow artists such as Tom Patti, Anna Mlsaowsky, and Toots Zynsky, three of the artists who have been invited since the program was initiated in 2014. …

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Wednesday October 11, 2017 | by Angela Laurito

BOOK REPORT: RISD celebrates a half century of its glass art program with publication of Wonder: 50 Years RISD Glass

FILED UNDER: Book Report

As part of a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the glass department at the Rhode Island School of Design, the institution is publishing a book that both documents the history of its influential program and is also itself a work of intellectual inquiry. Titled Wonder: 50 Years RISD Glass, this book is an ambitious project authored by notable scholars and critics in the art world, many RISD alumni themselves. Their contributions not only serve as a commemoration, but stimulate inquiry and analysis in the way that the program itself encourages. The book will be released this month at a Seattle launch part at Dale Chihuly’s Boathouse on October 15th. It's a fitting location as Chihuly was RISD’s first full-time glass instructor, and has gone on to become perhaps the best-known artist working with the material. An East-Coast launch is scheduled at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City on November 13th.…

Tuesday October 10, 2017 | by Joseph Modica

CALL FOR ENTRIES: A new competition based in Milan is aimed at artists and designers under 35

A new biennial competition seeking to identify the most promising artists, designers and sculptors below the age of 35 working with glass is now accepting submissions. Organized by Milan’s Sforzesco Castle, in collaboration with the art collector Sandro Pezzoli, the juried award is named Competition-35. One artist will win a prize of € 3.500,00 (Approximately $4,200 US) as part of the “Aldo Bellini” award, named after the close associate of Pizzoli who died in 2006. That selected winner will also have their piece added to Sforzesco Castle’s collection. There is also the “Enrico Bersellini” innovation reward, which includes two stays in Murano, Italy, at the home of Murano Glassmaking. This award includes an internship for 30 to 40 days at the furnace La Cattedrale of A. Najean and a 30 to 40 day workshop on engraving, cameo manufacturing and copper-wheel engraving at Mattero Seguso. There is an additional “Inspirational Award,” and its winner will receive a 15-day stay at Silvia Levenson’s artistic studio to learn the lost wax casting technique.…

Tuesday October 3, 2017 | by Joseph Modica

LECTURE: Metropolitan Museum of Art curator to discuss the impact of glassblowing on the ancient world

Leading scholar on Roman art Dr. Christopher Lightfoot will kick off the new season of talks at the New York City-based Art Glass Forum with a lecture this evening on the revolutionary impact of glassblowing on the ancient world. Using as a basis for his talk the 130 objects currently on view at a special exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery entitled "Drink That You May Live," Dr. Lightfoot will be comparing vessels before and after the advent of glassblowing as he considers the massive impact this technological development would have on the ancient world. Curator of Roman art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dr. Lightfoot organized the landmark exhibition "Ennion: Master of Roman Glass," that brought together 22 works by the ancient glassblower whose signed wares were distributed around the Roman Empire in one of the earliest examples of branded glass production in history. …

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Thursday September 28, 2017 | by Angela Laurito

OPENING: In Berlin exhibition, Julius Weiland challenges boundaries in a new approach to glass

FILED UNDER: Exhibition

Julius Weiland will be debuting his new work in an exhibition entitled “Decoration and Deformation.” Opening on October 1st at 3 PM, it will remain on view through December 22nd. The show’s location played a role in the creation of the art; it will be held in a former country house built by Mies van der Rohe. …

Wednesday September 27, 2017 | by Joseph Modica

EXHIBITION: Clare Belfrage channels process and landscape in rich new body of work

Artists who work in the hot shop often fall into a state of intense concentration. Hours melt away over the hot glow of a lit furnace as process enthralls. Australian artist Clare Belfrage describes this state of acute focus and immersion as “falling into” one’s work and looks to capture this mindset in her new exhibition at the Tansey Contemporary Gallery in Denver, Colorado. “Falling Into” is the title of her latest exhibition of “Quiet Shifting” and “Skin Deep” series of glass sculptures that draw inspiration from her native Australia.…

Tuesday September 26, 2017 | by Joseph Modica

OPENING: Stained glass and timepieces an unlikely pairing in new Chicago-area museum

Just outside Chicago, a brand-new museum opening today will showcase early-20th-century American stained-glass alongside a collection of international timepieces. The Halim Time & Glass Museum in Evanston, Illinois, the a newest museum to spring up in the state, brings together stained glass by Tiffany and others with grandfather clocks, wrist-watches, and other time-keeping devices collected from around the world. The museum brings together twin passions of real estate investor and Egyptian immigrant Cameel Halim, who began building his collection of stained glass pieces over the last 20 years.…

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