Opening: 14th Annual Art Palm Beach kicks off tonight

Art Palm Beach, Contemporary Art Fair

Art Palm Beach, an event that has changed hands and names a couple of times over the past 14 years, will be kicking off this evening with an opening-night exclusive preview party open by special invitation only from 6 – 7:30 PM, and then open to a wider audience until 10 PM. Seventy-five gallery exhibitors, including several glass galleries, will be displaying contemporary photography, art, and design objects at the Palm Beach County Convention Center tonight, and then continuing through January 24th. Over the course of five days, visitors to the fair will see work from galleries hailing from as near as Miami to as far away as Tel Aviv. Founded in 1998 by David and Lee Ann Lester, Art Palm Beach features a unique mix of work in glass, painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation, and also offers a schedule of lectures and panel discussions related to contemporary art. In 2001, the Lesters sold the fair to dmg World Media, which rebranded the event Palm Beach3, but the name was restored when the Lesters bought the event back in 2009.

Fair spokesperson Ashlea Heck told the Hot Sheet that, for 2010, the Lester’s first year back, the fair broke all previous attendance records with approximately 20,000 visitors. Among the highlights for glass collectors at the 2011 fair will be Habatat Gallery’s exhibition of work from over 60 glass artists both at the fair and on-site at their West Palm Beach gallery as part of their ongoing exhibit, “Palm Beach International Glass Exhibition,” which includes pieces by Jon Kuhn, Dan Dailey, and Dale Chihuly.

Chicago contemporary glass gallery PRISM, will have a booth at the convention center featuring work from kiln-formed glass by Jeff Wallin, cast glass by Brian Usher, and mold melted, cut glass by Chad Holliday. Some of the other galleries exhibiting glass work are St. Louis contemporary glass, painting, sculpture and fiber art gallery Duane Reade, New York fine-art gallery Barry Friedman Ltd., Carole Barbieri’s fine art and glass gallery Encore, contemporary glass studio Berengo, and more.

A lecture entitled “The New Glass Studio: A Plethora of Potential for Artists and Collectors Alike” will take place on opening day. It will be hosted by curator and glass scholar Davira Taragin, who will be accompanied by a discussion panel including Marilyn Glick Center for Glass professor Brent Cole, Chrysler Museum of Art glass curator Kelly Conway, and Corning Museum of Glass hot glass program manager Steve T. Gibbs.

—Alica Forneret