AACG is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.  The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.

“We are very honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award,” states Close. “The Museum of Glass strives to be the best contemporary glass museum in the world by providing inspiring exhibitions in our galleries, entertaining and explanatory demonstrations in our Hot Shop, and engaging educational programs for our visitors—all with the goal of making glass and art accessible to all.  To have the AACG recognize our efforts is significant.”

Each year AACG selects one organization to be honored for its contributions to the contemporary glass movement. Along with the award, the Museum received a $5,000 gift and Close was provided the opportunity to present a public lecture at SOFA Chicago. Close’s presentation, entitled “All Glass, All the Time,” outlined the major changes the Museum has undergone during his tenure. A new name, a new mission and a commitment to become a collecting institution all have focused the Museum on the medium of glass.

Previous recipients of the AACG Annual Award include The Museum of American Glass at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center (2005), Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (2003), The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass (1999) and Pilchuck Glass School (1995), among others.

For this project, Singletary will interpret into glass the Howkan Whale Monument, located directly in front of the Burke Museum.  Once completed, Singletary’s glass version will become part of the Burke Museum’s permanent collection of contemporary Northwest Coast Native art.

The original Howkan Whale Monument was carved by John Wallace around 1880 for Moses Koohl-Keet, who commissioned it as a memorial to his uncle, head of Brown Bear House, in Howkan, Alaska. A wood replica of this monument was carved by Curator Emeritus Bill Holm in 1985, based on old photographs of the Howkan Whale Monument, and on the original whale fin, which is housed in the Burke Museum’s ethnology collection. Holm’s replica still stands at the entrance to the Burke Museum. During the first three days of his Visiting Artist residency, Singletary will experiment with new designs.

Singletary’s new version of the Howkan Whale will be placed on display at the Burke Museum sometime in 2009. A solo exhibition organized by the Museum of Glass, Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire and Shadows, will open at the Museum of Glass next July before traveling to venues around the country.

About the Artist
Seattle native Preston Singletary is recognized internationally for his work, which combines two of the Northwest’s most prominent artistic influences—traditional Native American designs and glass.  For nearly two decades, he has melded the patterns, symbols and legends of his Tlingit heritage with the dynamism of the Studio Glass movement, creating a distinctive and powerful body of work.

About the Visiting Artist Program
The Museum of Glass Hot Shop Visiting Artist Program hosts internationally known artists and emerging artists from the region and around the world—some who are masters of glass and some who are experimenting with the medium for the first time.  They work with the Museum’s resident Hot Shop team to explore, invent and create with glass.  With a diverse mixture of culture, style, focus and expertise, each artist offers Museum visitors the chance to experience a distinct creative style.

The Contrasts Multi-Sensory Experience was originally designed to broaden the opportunity for visually impaired museum-goers to experience the exhibition.  “We intended to develop this program to address the needs of one audience, but we found it will provide benefits to the general public as well,” states Susan Warner, Museum of Glass Director of Public Programs. “In addition to the visually impaired audience, the applications presented in this program will enhance the experience of all visitors—including small children and families.”

Contrasts: A Glass Primer displays works in glass in pairings or small groupings that highlight differences in technique, appearance, conception or purpose.  The contrast FLUID and RIGID, for example, is represented by a curly-headed blown vessel by Dale Chihuly displayed next to an angular cast sculpture by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová.  More than fifty objects are included in the exhibition’s nineteen groupings which are arranged to emphasize both the history of glassmaking and the choices that artists make. “The very nature of the Contrasts exhibition lent itself perfectly to introducing a multi-sensory experience,” continues Warner.

To utilize the Contrasts Multi-Sensory Experience, visitors can check out a handheld audio device with easily-accessible buttons to activate audio tracks. The audio program includes three tracks.  The first track provides a detailed description of the objects’ appearance. Although it is primarily intended for the visually impaired, sighted visitors may also appreciate the carefully crafted descriptions and observe the artwork in a different way.

The second track includes commentary by Contrasts curator, Vicki Halper. Halper discusses the significance of each work of art and why it was chosen to be included in the exhibition. The third track directs visitors to the next grouping of objects included in the multi-sensory program.  The tour is designed to be self-guided, but Museum of Glass docents are also available to provide assistance to visitors.

In addition to the auditory elements, six tactile stations containing glass objects created by the MOG Hot Shop team are installed with select groupings.  Unlike most glass displayed in the Museum galleries, these objects are meant to be touched so visitors can feel the physical contrasts in the glass.  “When people see or hear about glass art, they intuitively want to touch it,” states Warner.  “Finally, we have a program that will allow them to do just that.”

The Museum of Glass consulted with Joan Rabinowitz from Jack Straw Productions and Jesse Minkert of Arts and Visually Impaired Audiences to develop the descriptive audio text. Mark Adrian, Communications and Employer consultant for the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind, also contributed to the development of the program. The Contrasts Multi-Sensory Experience is sponsored by McGavick Graves, P. S. and the Pierce County Arts Commission.

Tacoma, Wash. (October 3, 2008)— Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass, an exhibition organized by the Museum of Glass, opens at the Smithsonian Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery today, October 3, 2008.  This exhibition is the first organized by the Museum of Glass to travel to venues around the country.  It will remain on view at the Renwick until January 1, 2009 before traveling to three additional museums.

Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect debuted at the Museum of Glass from February 23 to August 24, 2008, where it received high praise from critics and visitors alike.  Curated by Susanne K. Frantz, former curator of twentieth-century glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, it is the first exhibition to look at Tagliapietra’s art and forty years of his career—from his years working in the glassmaking industry on the island of Murano, to his historical 1979 trip to Pilchuck Glass School to teach Italian glassmaking techniques to American glassmakers hungry to expand their technical knowledge and skills, to his legacy as the world’s greatest living glassblower and designer.  Now age 74, Tagliapietra’s artistic mastery and vision continue to influence Studio Glass artists around the world.

Following the Renwick, Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect will travel to the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA (April 8 – July 19, 2009); the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA (September 26 – December 27, 2009); and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (February 1 – May 31, 2010).

“To organize a traveling exhibition of this magnitude requires the collective commitment of Museum staff, the artists and the collectors,” comments Museum of Glass director Timothy Close.  “The staff of the Museum of Glass is very proud that this show has been selected for exhibition by such prestigious institutions on both the east and west coasts.  And this is just our first—we are currently preparing two additional shows for travel:  Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire and Shadows and Kids Design Glass.  Both of these exhibitions will open at the Museum of Glass in 2009 and begin traveling in 2010.”

Penttinen’s Cartoon Chicks currently include six designs, each with a distinct personality, that owe much to pop culture and cartoons.  “I took my inspiration from the hand-crafted forms found in clay animation and tropical birds,” states Penttinen.  “I’m fascinated by the colors and very graphic shape and startling nature of tropical birds like toucans.  Their strong beaks and very individual eyes provided the input for some of the most important details of my glass birds.”

Penttinen and iittala master glassblower Arto Lahtinen will work with the MOG Hot Shop team creating both Toikka and Penttinen-designed birds.  Penttinen will design and the Hot Shop team will make an exclusive bird to commemorate the fifth year anniversary of this event.  Penttinen will personally sign her birds for visitors on Friday evening and again Sunday afternoon following her lecture in the Museum Theater.

The weekend will also feature the 2008 limited-edition Ruffed Grouse, designed specifically for the Museum of Glass by acclaimed iittala glass designer Oiva Toikka.  Each year, Professor Toikka designs several new bird species for his Birds by Toikka line.  Ruffed Grouse, along with the 2008 signature Red Poll, will be introduced in the Museum Store beginning October 3.  Professor Toikka designed both birds during his October 2007 Visiting Artist residency in the Museum Hot Shop.  Previous species created for the Museum include American Goldfinch (2004), Pacific Water Fowl (2005), Spotted Towhee (2006) and Red-winged Blackbird (2007).

Additional bird lovers’ activities are scheduled throughout the weekend.  Mirrored Murrelets artist Joseph Rossano will participate in a panel discussion about the impact of environmental change on the Marbled Murrelet on Saturday afternoon.  Zookeepers from Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium will bring birds of prey to the Museum on Friday, and a special hands-on art activity is scheduled for Saturday afternoon in the Grand Hall.

About Iittala Birds:
Professor Oiva Toikka designed his first glass birds at iittala’s Nuutajarvi, Finland glassworks in 1972.  These designs laid the foundation for what has become the iittala Birds collection, known worldwide.  In 2007, iittala Birds’ flock was extended with a new line of birds designed by Giorgio Vigna.  Young Finnish designer Anu Penttinen’s Cartoon Chicks are the latest addition to the family.

5TH ANNUAL BIRD LOVERS WEEKEND
October 3 – 5
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 p.m. Sunday
Free reception Friday, 6 p.m.

iittala Birds Hatch
Ruffed Grouse, designed by Oiva Toikka and created as a limited edition, will be offered for the first time, exclusively through the Museum Store.

Anu Penttinen’s 2008 Cartoon Chicks are also available for purchase in the Museum Store.

Hands-On Art Activity:  Amazing Avians
Friday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday 12 – 5 p.m.
Bend and twist wire into a fantastical bird sculpture, create a bird stamp or hatch your own bird from clay with artist-in-residence Larry Calkins.

Friday, October 3
10 a.m. – 5 p.m., 6 – 7 p.m.
Penttinen and Toikka bird demonstrations in the Hot Shop with Anu Penttinen,  Arto Lahtinen and the MOG Hot Shop team

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.  
Pale Male, the story of a red tail hawk living in New York City, produced by the NYC Audubon Society and narrated by Joanne Woodward, on view in the Theater (film rotates throughout the day).

1 – 2 p.m.
Live bird visit from Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

6 – 8:30 p.m.
FREE reception in the Museum Store, featuring the debut of Ruffed Grouse.  Meet Anu Penttinen and see her new line of Cartoon Chicks.  Penttinen will personally sign/engrave birds purchased during the event.

Saturday, October 4
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Penttinen and Toikka bird demonstrations in the Hot Shop with Anu Penttinen, Arto Lahtinen and the MOG Hot Shop team

1 – 4 p.m.
Hands-on Art Activity:  Boxed Birds
Create three-dimensional cardboard birds with mixed media artist Jennifer Adams

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.   
Pale Male, the story of a red tail hawk living in New York City, produced by the NYC Audubon Society and narrated by Joanne Woodward, on view in the Theater (film rotates throughout the day).

1 – 2 p.m.
Panel discussion with Mirrored Murrelets artist Joseph Rossano and friends

Sunday, October 5
12 – 5 p.m.
Penttinen and Toikka bird demonstrations in the Hot Shop with Anu Penttinen, Arto Lahtinen and the MOG Hot Shop team

12 – 5 p.m.
Pale Male, the story of a red tail hawk living in New York City, produced by the NYC Audubon Society and narrated by Joanne Woodward, on view in the Theater (film rotates throughout the day).

2 – 3 p.m.
Lecture and slide presentation with Anu Penttinen

3 – 4 p.m.
Bird signing session with Anu Penttinen

Tacoma, Wash. (August 19, 2008)— The Museum of Glass presents Laguna Murano Chandelier (1996), a majestic Neo-Baroque chandelier created by Dale Chihuly in collaboration with Italian glass master Pino Signoretto.  This immense and elegant chandelier of individually blown and sculpted glass elements will be on display beginning Saturday, September 14, 2008 in the Museum’s North Gallery.

In September 1996, at the conclusion of the event known as Chihuly Over Venice, Chihuly worked with Signoretto on the glassblower’s island of Murano, in an historic, week-long collaboration.  Recognizing the significance of the occasion, collector George R. Stroemple indicated his desire to acquire the chandelier.  Uncertain as to whether his home would accommodate such a monumental chandelier, Stroemple requested Chihuly design the work with multiple components, creating flexibility in its display.

The chandelier commands approximately 1,500 square feet and includes five separate elements—two suspended from the ceiling and three which rise from the floor.  Punctuated by opalescent flames and festooned with fantastical sea creatures, foliate masses, mermaids and kings, this splendid golden-green tangle glows, evoking the Muranese lagoon.

“Laguna Murano Chandelier is significant, not only for its exquisite beauty, complexity and scale, but also because of the story associated with it,” comments Museum of Glass curator Melissa G. Post.  “To see such a magnificent creation that is the result of a collaboration of two of the world’s greatest living glass artists is both inspiring and humbling.  We are grateful to Mr. Stroemple for the opportunity to bring this masterpiece to our visitors.”

Laguna Murano Chandelier will remain on display through April 19, 2009.

Tacoma, Wash. (July 17, 2008)— White Light: Glass Compositions by Daniel Clayman, an exhibition that defies the stereotype of contemporary glass, will open at the Museum of Glass on September 13, 2008.  Seven large-scale, dense, opaque sculptures comprise the exhibition and challenge viewers’ perceptions of glass art.

Clayman began his career as a theatrical lighting designer.  Tired of the late nights and extended travel periods, he left the theater and enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) glass program in 1983.  At RISD, Clayman studied under Bruce Chao who encouraged him to pursue sculpture with a basis in critical thought.  The evolution of his work progressed from early architectonic studies, to his signature organic glass pods nested in bronze shells, to his more recent studies of light and shadow.  By the 1990s, he had moved toward the large-scale glass pieces that characterize his work today.  He simplified the designs and gradually his sculptures evolved into studies of pure form and light, creating an aesthetic defined by spare elegance within an environment of solace and grace.

“White Light: Glass Compositions by Daniel Clayman includes some of the artist’s most technically ambitious sculptures,” states Museum of Glass curator Melissa G. Post.  “The seven monumental works engage viewers on several levels, illuminating the ethereal nature of light and subtly revealing the movement in glass within highly formal structures.”

Created using the cire perdu (lost wax casting) technique, the forms appear extremely simple, yet Clayman describes his process as intensely difficult.  In them, Clayman embraces the Minimalist discipline, masterfully combining it with the dynamism of the Studio Glass movement and his own fascination with the nature of light. The result is light made manifest as a seemingly tangible object.   “The work in this exhibition is the culmination of three years of thought, rumination and fabrication,” Clayman says in this exhibition statement.  “Of utmost importance is an economy of line, a reduction of color and the behavior of light.  By paring away almost everything, I am left with objects that exist in space in the simplest manner.  While the forms themselves are of primary interest, the space surrounding the pieces and the spaces that the pieces surround carry equal weight.”

A collection of related working drawings will be displayed with the sculptures and a catalog accompanies the exhibition.  White Light will remain on view until June 14, 2009.

RELATED PROGRAMMING
A Conversation with the Artist: Daniel Clayman
Sunday, September 14, 2 p.m.
Museum of Glass Theater

Hot Shop Visiting Artist Residency
May, 2009

MOG, Portland’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and Children’s Healing Art Project (CHAP) have teamed up to bring the popular Kids Design Glass program to the Day of Glass.  During the spring, Doernbecher and CHAP staff has been encouraging patients to submit designs for the program.  One of these sketches will be selected by the MOG Hot Shop team to be interpreted into glass during the Day of Glass event on the Corning Mobile Hot Shop stage.  This sculpture will be given to the designer to take home.  A second sculpture will be created by the team on June 20 that will be included in the Museum’s permanent collection and upcoming traveling exhibition.

“This program has been a great success in Tacoma, and we are very proud to have the opportunity to bring it to the GAS Conference,” states MOG director of public programs Susan Warner.  “The designs the children submit allow our glassblowers to be innovative and try new techniques.  The process is both thrilling for the child and challenging for the artists.”

The Museum of Glass introduced the Kids Design Glass program in July, 2004 by inviting young Museum visitors to submit drawings.  In 2007, MOG initiated a partnership with Tacoma’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital to extend the reach of the program to young patients.  Each month, one design from all of the submissions is selected by the Hot Shop team.  The child and his/her family are invited to the Museum to consult with the team as they create the original sculpture.  “There is an inherent drama with this program,” comments Warner.  “Not only is it exciting for the child, the Hot Shop audience is affected by the spontaneity of the process.”

In addition to the Kids Design Glass program, MOG will send its Mobile Hot Shop to the GAS Conference.  MOG Hot Shop team members will demonstrate glass techniques from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the Day of Glass.

New this year, Museum visitors and glass enthusiasts can track all the action of the Summer Series from their computers. The Museum of Glass website now features streaming video footage live from the Hot Shop Amphitheater, allowing visitors the ability to extend their Hot Shop experience—by either taking a sneak peek at what they might see before they arrive, or seeing what happens after their visit. “The real-time action is a great tool for first-time visitors, as well as for our members who come to the Hot Shop on a regular basis,” comments Susan Warner, director of public programs. “Our Summer Series artists are here for five days, and our visitors are often curious to see what they might be making on subsequent residency dates. Now they can find out.” Viewing is available during regular Museum hours:
http://www.museumofglass.org/live-glassmaking/watch-the-hot-shop-live/.

The Visiting Artist Summer Series offers Museum visitors a unique opportunity to view the diverse creative processes of glass artists from around the world who come to the Pacific Northwest to work at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA. Each summer, MOG invites a selection of these artists to the Hot Shop for 5-day work residencies. The 2008 Summer Series marks the fifth year of collaboration between the Museum of Glass and Pilchuck.

“The Visiting Artist Summer Series is designed to provide artists with a platform for experimentation and development as well as expanding our visitors’ understanding of the creative process,” comments Museum Director Timothy Close. “This program demonstrates just how diverse the medium of glass has become in contemporary art.”

Summer Series artists work with the Museum’s own Hot Shop Team, exploring and demonstrating various glassmaking techniques and styles. Included in each residency is a Conversation with the Artist, a public lecture and slide presentation, at 2 p.m. on Sundays.

About the Artists:

Fritz Dreisbach (Tucson, AZ)
Residency: June 25 – 29
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, June 29, 2 p.m.
Fritz Dreisbach has been called the Johnny Appleseed of the American Studio Glass movement. For more than 40 years, he has acted as a crusader for glassblowing, spreading the excitement, techniques and science of the craft through demonstrations and workshops all over the world. A pioneer of American glass-forming in the 1960s and 70s, Dreisbach has shared his knowledge of glassmaking freely, encouraging countless artists and students to experiment with glass as a medium. Dreisbach was a founder and former president of the Glass Art Society and the recipient of the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. He will be an instructor at Pilchuck Glass School this summer teaching traditional and non-traditional hot and cold glass techniques.

“My glass is a balance between absolute control of the material and the spontaneity of a liquid medium. I always try to show movement and gesture in all my hot-worked glass. For my residency I plan to make large Mongo pieces. I can’t make these pieces everywhere, and the Museum equipment and skilled crew offer a great opportunity.” Dreisbach began his Mongo series in 1979 as a reaction to the tightly controlled, more symmetrical work he made in the mid-1970s.

Einar and Jamex de la Torre (Baja, Mexico and National City, CA)
Residency: July 2 – 6
Conversation with the Artists: Sunday, July 6, 2 p.m.

Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre’s art combines influences from both high and low culture. This intersection of contrasting elements reaches deep into their identities, which have been profoundly shaped by both their Mexican and American experiences. The de la Torres describe themselves as Mexican-American bicultural artists, influenced by “the morbid humor of Mexican folk art, the absurd pageantry of Catholicism, and machismo” on the one hand, and fascinated by “the American culture of excess” on the other. They do not hesitate to confront preconceived notions about artistic materials, cultural identity and political borders.

This Visiting Artist residency will be the de la Torres’ second at the Museum, following a visit in 2005 concurrent with an exhibition of their work, Einar and Jamex de la Torre: Intersecting Time and Space. They will teach a course, More Manic Mixed Media, at Pilchuck Glass School this summer.

Jiří Harcuba (Prague, Czech Republic)
Residency: July 9 – 13
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, July 13, 2 p.m.

Jiří Harcuba specializes in portraiture. A renowned engraver and teacher, he uses sculptural and optical effects to create psychological studies of major historical and contemporary figures. His engravings on glass can be seen in museum collections around the world.

Harcuba was born into a glassmaking family in the Czech Republic. He studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and later taught as assistant professor to Czech artist Stanislav Libenský. In 1971, Harcuba was forced to resign for political reasons. He worked in his own studio until 1990 when he was recognized by President Vaclav Havel and appointed director of the Academy. Harcuba lectures and demonstrates internationally. He is a frequent teacher at Pilchuck Glass School and will teach a course, Zengraving, this summer. In 2007, he received the Glass Art Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Chad Holliday (American, living in Czech Republic)
Residency: July 16 – 20
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, July 20, 2 p.m.

Chad Holliday has been working in glass for over 10 years. He earned an MFA in glass at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a BFA at Emporia State University in Kansas. Holliday was the lead hot shop technician at the Museum of Glass when it first opened in 2002 and has assisted notable artists Paul Marioni, Martin Blank, Dale Chihuly, Charles Parriott and Maya Lin.

Holliday’s residency at the Museum follows a Fulbright Fellowship in the Czech Republic where his research at the Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenicky Senov focused on glass cutting and engraving—the techniques, history, teaching style and tradition of the Czech glassmakers.

Susanne Jøker Johnsen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Residency: July 23 – 27
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, July 27, 2 p.m.

Susanne Jøker Johnsen utilizes traditional Scandinavian design techniques in her work, characterized by an exploration of color, pattern, texture and form. The bowls and vases she creates possess textured and colored surfaces that, when combined with clear crystal, make the objects appear both organic and well defined in form.

Johnsen was trained at the Kosta School in Småland, Sweden and apprenticed with Swedish master Jan-Erik Ritzman. She divides her time between making her own work and teaching at the Glass and Ceramic School in Bornholm, Denmark. Her work can be seen in galleries around Europe and the United States. She will teach ¬a course focusing on Scandinavian design techniques at Pilchuck Glass School this summer.

Susan Plum (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)
Residency: July 30 – August 3
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, August 3, 2 p.m.
Susan Plum has lived in both the United States and Mexico and considers herself an American/Mexican with a bicultural experience that has given her an appreciation of folk art that strongly influences her work. She weaves glass to create an elegant interplay of light and color which reflects her passion for life. Her Metamorphosis Series: Tejidos XIII is currently on display in the Museum’s Contrasts: A Glass Primer exhibition, representing the “light” side of the light/heavy pairing.

In 2003, Plum traveled to Patampan, Michoacan, where she saw hundreds of handcrafted clay pineapples in various shapes, sizes and complexity. “My Museum of Glass residency will give me the opportunity to create a body of work inspired by these artisans and incorporating their vision in clay into my vision in glass. I intend to use the pieces as components for installations as well as exhibit them as individual objects of beauty.”

Michiko Miyake (Kanagawa, Japan)
Residency: August 6 – 10
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, August 10, 2 p.m.
Michiko Miyake earned her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her BFA from California College of the Arts. She is a part-time faculty member at Tama University in Tokyo and will teach a course at Pilchuck Glass School in August.

Miyake has been influenced by the interplay of light and shadow in her work. Recently, she became interested in the martial arts and the idea of Ki (chi, energy) and that all things are connected. “I use my hands to create my work. I sometimes feel that my energy coming out from my hands might stay in my artwork. So, I have become interested in how people use their hands.”

During her Museum of Glass residency, Miyake plans to create a series of mold-blown glass human hands. “Instead of casting, which does not transmit Ki energy, I’ve decided to use blown glass, because glass is formed by breathing air into it.” These forms will be used in an upcoming installation of her work.

Dorothy Gill Barnes (Worthington, Ohio)
Residency: August 13 – 17
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, August 17, 2 p.m.
Dorothy Gill Barnes is a sculptor who uses wood, bark, branches and roots to weave sculptural vessels, often basketlike, that incorporate the unique characteristics in the wood. She will come to the Museum following her artist-in-residence session at Pilchuck Glass School, where she will gather plant life. Her discoveries at Pilchuck will determine the direction of her MOG residency. “I hope to relate to materials in nature in Washington State. My intent is to construct vessels or related objects using materials respectfully harvested from nature—from heavy wood to delicate moss.”

Barnes’ work has been exhibited internationally and is in the collections of the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum; the Museum of Arts & Design, New York; and Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, New Zealand. She has been selected to work as an artist-in-residence at Pilchuck Glass School in July.

Cork Marcheschi (San Francisco, CA)
Residency: August 20 – 24
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, August 24, 2 p.m.
Cork Marcheschi is a San Francisco native who has been involved in the fine arts and music scene for over 40 years, incorporating energy, light and humor into his work. He has taught sculpture, critical studies and art history at the University of California at Berkeley, the San Francisco Art Institute and the Minneapolis College of Art. He currently writes a weekly online column for Fine Art Registry (www.fineartregistry.com).

Marcheschi has had over 130 solo art exhibitions throughout the world and 50 public sculptures “littered about the American landscape.” He most recently completed work for the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore and City Hall Plaza in Reno, Nevada. He will teach ¬a course focusing on public art at Pilchuck Glass School this summer.

David Levi (Corning, New York)
Residency: August 27 – 31
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, August 31, 2 p.m.
David Levi began his study of glass at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. After graduating with a BFA, Levi traveled on scholarship to Sweden and apprenticed with master glassblower Jan-Erik Ritzman, whom he continues to consider his mentor.

In 1985, Levi was a founding partner in Ibex Glass Studio in St. Louis with the mission to make glass with clean geometric shapes and bright colors. He became sole proprietor and moved the studio to Whidbey Island, Washington in 1993. For the past two years, Levi has been working as a designer for Steuben Glass in Corning, New York.

Levi’s work departs from traditional vessels and explores more abstract forms. “The best ideas often seem utterly obvious. In my work I try to strip away the static to reveal the bones. I have a fantasy that I will make the perfect shape, the most perfectly obvious thing, and then no one will be able to resist.”

Michael Fox (Seattle, WA)
Residency: September 3 – 7
Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, September 7, 2 p.m.
Michael Fox received a BFA from the California College of Arts. He moved to Seattle in 1998 where he began his work with local, well-known artists including Dale Chihuly, Benjamin Moore, Dante Marioni, Preston Singletary and Dan Dailey. He continues to work as a glassblower and studio manager for Benjamin Moore, Inc.

Since 1999, Fox has been the owner and curator of Bubba Mavis Gallery, an independent exhibition space in Seattle. His work intertwines psychological issues and semantic absurdities derived from personal history and contemporary life. “I see glass as an inflatable sculptural medium. My work attempts to convey ideas about language and its definition of objects.” In 2007, Fox’s design was selected for the prestigious Pilchuck Glass School Annual Auction centerpieces and he will be an instructor at the school this summer.

The Visiting Artist Program is generously sponsored by Courtyard by Marriott / Tacoma
The Visiting Artist Lecture Series is sponsored by PONCHO.

IMAGES AVAILABLE

Rossano’s work focuses on the natural world and the animals who live in ecosystems threatened by human impact. Mirrored Murrelets highlights the effect of forestry on the Marbled Murrelet, a small sea bird that nests primarily in the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. The installation will comprise more than 250 mirrored glass birds that will “float” just above the surface of the Museum’s mid-level pool. The mirrored surfaces of the birds will reflect the viewer’s image, symbolically suggesting the impact of humans on the natural world. Fiberglass benches, designed to represent charred stumps that can be found in once abundant old-growth forests, will surround the pool. As visitors experience the installation, Rossano hopes they will “ponder the plight of the bird as well as the beauty of its existence.”

“Throughout my career, I have focused on the interdependence of the natural world to create haunting images of animals who, like us, rely on our primeval forests for their existence,” comments Rossano. “I choose to use glass as a medium because, like our environment, glass is transparent, fragile and reflective—transparent in that it hides nothing, fragile in that once damaged it may never be repaired, and reflective of how we have impacted it.”

About the Artist
Joseph Rossano earned a BFA in studio arts at Louisiana State University in 1987. He has worked as both the artistic director for Waterford Crystal in Ireland and the studio manager and lead gaffer for Chihuly Studio in Seattle. Rossano has been an integral team member for a number of established artists including Lino Tagliapietra, Benjamin Moore, Richard Royal, Martin Blank and William Morris. He currently lives and works in Arlington, WA. Artist website: www.josephrossano.com