Wednesday July 19, 2017 | by Sarah Thaw

Broken glass knits a community as artist Amanda Patenaude facilitates a public mosaic project

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Architecture, Artist Interviews, News, Opening, Public Art

Brooklyn-based artist Amanda Patenaude has proved that one person’s trash can literally become another person's treasure, as she facilitated a community project to recast dangerous shards of broken glass into works of art. It all began in 2014, when a public park association known as the Fort Greene Park Conservancy (FGPC) turned to nearby arts nonprofit UrbanGlass in search of an artist to make use out of all the broken glass swept up in their efforts to beautify this urban green space. Patenaude, who describes her practice as “a nice blend of working with garbage and the things we throw away, as they relate back to our habits and the environments we inhabit,” was a perfect fit.The Brooklyn-based artist presented the FGPC with a list of what could be accomplished with the waste glass and from there, the work began. After six months of clean-up, the discarded glass that was accumulated was re-melted and blown into an ornament that was presented at a 2015 tree-lighting ceremony organized by FGPC and the community organization known as the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project.

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Wednesday July 19, 2017 | by Malcolm Morano

A mile of neon tubes illuminates Tate Britain’s sculpture galleries in monumental work

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, Museums, New Work, News

When Tate Britain unveiled a monumental neon installation by Welsh sculptor and filmmaker Cerith Wyn Evans in Spring 2017, the project was certain to have a massive impact on the field of light art for its sheer scale alone. Forms in Space...by Light (in Time) was produced for the 2017 Tate Britain Commission, which invites contemporary British artists to respond to the museum’s Duveen Galleries, the oldest galleries in England specifically designed to show sculpture. Made from over a mile of glass tubing, Wyn Evans’ bright white neon installation hangs just over museum-goers' heads, arranged to invite viewing from multiple angles, all the while redefining the space and activating the museum's high-ceilinged airy architecture. It remains on view through August 20, 2017.

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Monday July 17, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

A notable Corning lecture by the two Czech glass art stars named Martin: Janecky and Rosol

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Education, Events, Museums

The Corning Museum of Glass will be hosting a lecture from Martin Janecky and Martin Rosol on the evening of Tuesday, January 18th, as a part of an ongoing lecture series by Corning Studio faculty in an effort to bring some of the most well-known names in glass to the public, free of charge. While the talk is open to the public, the Studio aims these weekly lectures at the students taking their intensive classes during the summer.

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Monday July 17, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass expands on historic focus with bold contemporary acquisition

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, Museums

Think of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass and what might come to mind is the Neenah, Wisconsin, institution's wide array of historic glass paperweights and Germanic glass that make up the bulk of its permanent collection. That's why the museum's recently acquisition of Quantum, a contemporary installation by Angus Powers, Jon Clark and Jesse Daniels that incorporates glass with light, sound and video, was so significant. The installation, a gift of the artists to the museum, is currently on view through August 20, 2017, after which it will be stored and kept in the museum’s rotation dependent upon available space. The new work joining the mostly historic permanent collection signals the museum's expanded embrace of contemporary glass art, which is also reflected in its recent acquisition of a 2003 work by Alex Bernstein.

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Sunday July 16, 2017 | by Stella Porter

Seattle glass community unites to fund alternative cancer treatments for Joe BenVenuto

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Auction, News

Friends and colleagues of Joe BenVenuto are uniting to help the glass artist as he explores alternative treatments for anaplastic astrocytoma, a brain cancer with which he was diagnosed last year. BenVenuto has undergone a round of radiation and chemotherapy treatment, but he must now seek non-traditional treatments to mitigate the growth of the tumor for as long as possible.BenVenuto is looking into alternative treatments such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and other holistic treatments in the U.S. and abroad. But some of the costs of radiation and chemotherapy as well as alternative treatments are not covered by his insurance, leaving him to shoulder the cost on his own. Hoping to give Joe a chance to recover without being limited financially, his friends at Preston Singletary Studio decided to help. The studio will host a benefit open to the public with a silent auction at Traver Gallery in July. His friends are also raising money through an online donation page.

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Saturday July 15, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

CONVERSATION: Featured in museum retrospective, Sidney Hutter reflects on a world of change in glass

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, Museums, Opening

Sidney Hutter, who has witnessed both the beginnings of Studio Glass, its growth, and current transitional moment, is highly tuned to the advancing technology, economic highs and lows, and the ever-shifting interests of collectors and galleries. The arc of his 40-year career can be observed in a retrospective exhibition now on view at the Sandwich Glass Museum through October 29, 2017. The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet recently took the opportunity of this career-spanning exhibition to talk with Hutter about his signature explorations of glass vessels that subvert function, as well as his observations of how the glass art world has changed since he began building vessel forms out of plate glass while still a graduate student at MassArt.

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Friday July 14, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

HELP WANTED: Bergstrom-Mahler Museum seeks a full-time glass studio manager

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Help Wanted, Museums, News

The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is seeking a full-time glass studio manager to program, oversee and teach classes for all ages; oversee studio equipment use; and engage in community relations by organizing events and outreach. Additionally, candidates may have to fire and assemble glass work, purchase studio supplies, recruit volunteers and instructors to teach and assist programs, and assist in developing a budget. Though this is a full-time position, the hours will be heavily based on the hours of program offerings.

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Thursday July 13, 2017 | by Sarah Thaw

Museum exhibit explores context of René Lalique’s groundbreaking designs in jewelry and glassware

FILED UNDER: Exhibition, Museums

French artist and designer René Lalique mastered jewelry, he mastered glass; but at the core of it all, Lalique mastered the ability to innovate and evolve in response to the rapidly changing cultural landscape of fin de siècle France, as the 19th century gave way to the 20th. To provide a glimpse into the inner workings of Lalique’s mind— presenting the audience with a new point of view on the sources of inspiration behind his highly designed creations— Musée Lalique in Wingen-sur-Moder, France is displaying “Back to the sources: The world that inspired Lalique,” an exhibition that will remain on view until November 5, 2017

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Wednesday July 12, 2017 | by Sarah Thaw

Taking a page from Corning’s successful GlassFest, the Northwest glass museum launches public event

FILED UNDER: Announcements, Events, Museums

GlassFest is the massive four-day glass art celebration that has taken the Gaffer District in Corning, New York, by storm. Although the event is sponsored and supported by the world-renowned Corning Museum of Glass, it is the business association known as the Corning Gaffer District itself which throws the event — closing its Historic Market Street off to car traffic to instead fill the space with art, food and entertainment vendors. Having completed its 8th celebration in May 2017, GlassFest has become a cherished community event celebrating glass artistry in and around the town of Corning, proving that glass can thrive outside the walls of the famed museum and setting a precedent for other cities to follow. Taking a page (and the name) from the New York event, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma will be co-hosting its first ever glass festival, Glass Fest Northwest, a free event to showcase Pacific Northwest glasswork. Taking place on Sunday, July 23rd from 12 noon to 5 PM, the event will feature over two dozen local artists and artisans who will join together with area art institutions to celebrate, display and sell artwork made from glass. There will also be live glassmaking demonstrations, food, beer and wine, music and family-oriented activities for the community to partake in.

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Wednesday July 12, 2017 | by Lindsay Hargrave

OPENING: Alison Kinnaird marries tradition and innovation for exhibit at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

FILED UNDER: Artist Interviews, Exhibition, Image Gallery

In a former church in the Scottish countryside just 12 miles south of Edinburgh, Alison Kinnaird works at her copper engraving wheel and plucks away on her harp. Her large-scale, figurative panel pieces as well as her traditional harp music are the artist's pursuits of forms of expression that are universal, something that can be found in the recesses of tradition as well as the cutting-edge. An upcoming exhibition in her studio will feature multiple smaller scale works as well as two installations, one of which has been touring Scotland since 2014. The exhibit, entitled "Art in Glass" will open on August 4, 2017, as a part of Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe.

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