An evening scene of GAS attendees looking through the window of the Zephyr Gallery on Louisville's East Market Street, just one of the many exhibitions that filled the city with glass art.
The 2010 Glass Art Society conference wound down Saturday night with a closing bash at the Muhammad Ali Center overlooking the downtown Louisville riverfront. With a live salsa band and a large balcony with views over the Ohio River, the approximately 840 conference attendees celebrated the completion of the organization’s 40th annual conference without the promised announcement of where the biggest event for artists working with glass will be taking place in 2011.
Observing GAS tradition, incoming president Jeremy Lepisto (at left) is "knighted" by a Twizzler-wielding outgoing president Shane Fero, and handed the official copy of Robert's Rules of Order.
According to Jeremy Lepisto, who, as of this morning, has taken over for the outgoing Shane Fero as Glass Art Society president, a “Battle Royale” between potential cities vying to host the 2011 conferences delayed the official announcement of where the event will take place in 2011. “Further financial details need to be hashed out before an official selection can be made,” Lepisto told the Hot Sheet in an exclusive interview. The announcement a few weeks ago of the cancellation of the planned 2011 conference in Tucson stated a decision on 2011 would be made official during the Louisville event, which officially ended on Saturday, June 12th. His advice for those anxiously awaiting the news about 2011: “Stay tuned.”
GAS executive director Pam Koss told the Hot Sheet that there are several proposals that require further information from the cities vying to host the 2011 conference. “We made the decision about 2011 to ensure the future financial health of the organization,” Koss said. “Until a proposal comes to the table that does that as well, we won’t have an answer.” Koss did say that four or five cities have put forward serious proposals, and the decision will be made as soon as city officials provide additional information that GAS has requested.
Attendance at the 2010 Louisville conference was down sharply from the 2009 conference in Corning, New York, which had over 1,400 attendees. Koss said that the 820 fewer attendees this year than in 2009 can be partly attributed to the location of Louisville, with its lack of direct connections for international travelers as well as the misperception that Louisville is not a major glass city. That has likely changed for those who made it to Louisville, where demonstrations were taking place throughout the conference at three separate state-of-the-art hotshops around the city as well as dozens of venues where glass art was on display. Both public institutions and private galleries as well as the area’s three glass facilities played host to high-quality glass exhibitions, perhaps the best of the lot the Mark Peiser retrospective on the second-floor of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.
Koss reflected on the many high points of the conference, which included 100 collectors who signed up for this year’s event, many of whom were drawn by the chance to meet major collectors Adele and Leonard Leight, whose collection was celebrated in an exhibition at the Speed Museum in Louisville. The Leights personally attended and bid on work during the GAS live auction on Saturday evening, helping achieve strong results for this GAS fund-raising event.
Asked to comment on incoming GAS president Lepisto, Koss said she was looking forward to working together in the years ahead. “Jeremy is a great person, the fact he’s in Australia now is a bit of a challenge but we love using Skype to stay in touch.” Koss called Lepisto ”one of the smartest people I know” and said that he brings “calm, thoughtful analysis to everything he does.” Citing his clear dedication to helping GAS to thrive as a board member, Koss said it would be “a pleasure for me to work with him, as it has been to work with [outgoing GAS president] Shane. They are two very different personalities, but both committed to the community.”
For Koss, who has seen a year’s worth of preparations for the Tucson conference thrown out the window with the decision to change the venue for 2011, the 2010 conference has been especially challenging, though she seemed to be holding up well. Already her busiest time of the year, she and the GAS board had the added responsibility to work on selecting the location for 2011, a task that will have to continue in earnest for the next few weeks until a decision is made. Despite the tough road ahead, Koss focused on the conference that had just wrapped up, which she considers a success in light of the tough economy.
“Attendance was lower than we had hoped,” she said. “But it created an intimate experience that artists and collectors enjoyed. And it was a wonderful surprise for many of those who attended to discover Louisville, many of whom told me that they hadn’t expected this city would have given us three great demonstration venues in a 18-block radius. People also loved having the hotel in one big central place where they connected. Our feedback from it has been wonderful. Not only for the conference but for the city. Many have discovered Louisville, how deep their commitment to art is, which speaks through the number of venues that offered glass-related events and exhibitions. There is a true Southern hospitality in Louisville. The people here have a soft-spoken way about it, but they want to share. It’s been a very welcoming city. “
Now the task for Koss, Lepisto, and the entire GAS board will be to find a comparable venue for 2011. Check back with the Hot Sheet for the latest developments.