OPENING: Pittsburgh Glass Center asks, Can glass be functional and decorative at the same time?

Melissa Fitzgerald, Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias), 2010. Flameworked glass.

Opening tonight, December 10th, at the Pittsburgh art space Future Tenant is an exhibition entitled “Futilitarian” organized by the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Billed as an “interactive glass exhibit,” it seeks to answer the question of whether glass can simultaneously be both useful and decorative.

Brian Engel, Conjured Destination, 2010.

Kicking off with an opening reception this evening from 6 to 9 PM, the exhibition features the work of seven Pittsburgh-area artists working in glass. The “Futilitarian” exhibit, which runs through January 5th, 2011, examines issues of the material such as “shape, form, complexity, significanc,e durability, and utilitarianism.” The exhibition includes work by Brian Engel, Melissa Fitzgerald, Jason Forck, Billy Guilford, Chris Hofmann and Jessica Somers, Heather Joy Puskarich, Travis Rohrbaugh and Becky Smith.

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