GAS members gathered in the Louisville Marriott Downtown's main ballroom to hear society president Shane Fero's opening remarks for the 40th annual Glass Art Society conference .
Two remarkable acceptance speeches were delivered on Thursday, June 10th, as the Glass Art Society‘s 40th annual conference officially got underway with its opening ceremonies, presided over by the understated outgoing president Shane Fero. Tom Philabaum was awarded the 2010 Honorary Lifetime Membership Award by his good friends, partners in tequila-fueled crime, Laura Donefer and Bob Carlson, who, in addition to a plaque, presented Philabaum with a special bottle of Reposado tequila. There was no mention in either the awards or Philabaum’s thoughtful and polished acceptance speech of the GAS conference’s recent decision to cancel the Tucson GAS conference that had been planned for 2011, and Philabaum and GAS executive director Pam Koss shared a heartfelt embrace after his talk that culminated in a standing ovation.
Honorary Lifetime Membership award winner Tom Philabaum and GAS executive director Pam Koss share a spontaneous embrace after a moving talk by Philabaum.
Philabaum, who discussed his personal history beginning with the decision to study with Harvey Littleton instead of going to law school, and his move to the Arizona in 1975 where he would set up a cooperative glassblowing studio that was one of the first in the desert Southwest. It would go on to not only survive, but thrive, now known as Sonoran Glass Art Academy. Philabaum’s refrain “against all odds” to describe the unlikely outcome of his life-altering decisions punctuated his talk, and provided a touching final three words to his presentation that brought the audience to their feet.
The recipient of the GAS Lifetime Achievement Award was Mark Peiser, whose talk was also superbly crafted. In fact, Peiser was so engrossed in putting the finishing touches on what can safely be described as a masterful work of oratory, that he was not in the room to receive the plaque when Fero first announced it. It was gracefully accepted by Peiser’s sometime collaborator Susie Silbert. The award was re-presented to Peiser shortly afterwards as the artist widely credited with founding the Glass Art Society in 1970 took the podium to deliver a highly personal and moving account of his life and career.
With a fast-moving slide presentation of personal photos as well as an extensive look at his artwork showing on two screens, Peiser set out to explain not only his career but the trajectory of his life that led him from engineering to music to making art from glass, all with a singular focus and dedication. There were no lulls in this highly personal and finely honed presentation that shared not only Peiser’s many extraordinary accomplishments but also several poignant acknowledgments of personal sadness, such as his dismay at abandoning his career in music because he didn’t have perfect pitch. The images of his artwork from all eras of his career with thematic links to the subjects he was discussing was a pitch-perfect accompaniment to Peiser’s talk, though they usually only shared mood or subject matter with the life events Peiser was discussing. His presentation was marked by several “Time Out”‘s which allowed him to collect himself when he mentioned a particularly personal and painful moment, his voice breaking at times.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner Mark Peiser's moving account of his life and career inspired a long standing ovation from the audience.
At one point, Peiser led the audience in a “Thank You, Harvey” to acknowledge every glass artists’ debt to the father of Studio Glass, and urged the younger members of the assembled audience to understand what the pioneers accomplished in their individual searches for form in glass. Peiser also thanked his ex-wife for her support of his career, remembered a fellow student at Purdue who perished in the Apollo space missions, and expressed his personal satisfaction for living independently, on his own terms, and being able to pursue purely personal expression in glass. It was one of the more moving presentations in the history of GAS, and a fitting way for its founder to be honored. As Peiser finished his talk, the audience rose to its feet immediately in a sustained standing ovation.