One week left to apply to exhibit at first GlassFest in Corning, New York’s Gaffer District

This Memorial Day weekend, Market Street in Corning, New York, will be lined with exhibitor tents, while restaurants and cafes will set up outdoor tables as part of GlassFest 2010, which may become an annual event.

Inspired by the healthy turnout for the Glass Art Society conference in 2009, the town of Corning, New York, is trying to make a celebration of glass into an annual summer event. The organizers of the first GlassFest FireArts Show, set to take place on May 29th and 30th, are inviting artists working with glass, metal, jewelry and ceramics to exhibit their work along Market Street in Corning’s Gaffer’s District, named to honor the town’s history as the longtime home of the Corning Glass Works. Artists have until April 1st to send in their applications for consideration by the GlassFest jury.

The Memorial Day weekend event “will feature artists who use fire, or intense heat, in creating or forming the fundamental material of their work: glass, ceramic and metal are all born in fire,” according to an official announcement on the show’s website. Exhibitors will be required to bring tents to set up to protect their work from the elements. A jury will review all applications. Artists working with glass, ceramics, metal, or jewelry can apply.

The organizers are stressing handmade work and are not accepting “decorated commercially produced glass and ceramic, and objects made from commercial kits or commercially available plans.” The fees to exhibit at this event are low compared to other more-established art fairs. The application fee is $20, liability insurance costs $60, and exhibitor space is $90. More information is available from the application which can be downloaded here.

While the vendors will set up for two days, there will be a total of four days of events. One of the highlights will be the Friday night “Neon On the Bridge” exhibition from 8 PM to 10 PM on Friday, May 28th. A collaboration with Alfred University’s glass program, the event will feature neon sculptures displayed on the pedestrian bridge connecting the town center with the pathway to the Corning Museum of Glass. This event will reprise a highlight of the 2009 GAS Conference when the neon exhibition was curated by Angus Powers at Alfred.

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