Clear Your Mind: Contemporary Glass Invitational
February 02, 2008-May 11, 2008
This exhibition displays the unique approaches of contemporary glass artists that combine both a respect for tradition and a cultural defiance. These artists use the material as personal expression and transcend the obvious by an in-depth study of technique, history, and knowledge of traditional art forms. The objects range from highly refined glass blowing to an almost brutal use of the medium. Artists include Hank Murta Adams, Sonja Blomdahl, Nancy Callan, William Carlson, Dante and Paul Marioni, Michael Meilahn, Jay Musler, Walt Lieberman, Michael Rogers, Dick Weiss, and Brent Kee Young.
For more information about the artists and some of the galleries who represent them, follow one of the links below!
To view an interview and glass demonstration with artist Dante Marioni, click here.
To view a video of the work by Nancy Callen, click here.
To view a video of the work by Laura Willits, click here.
To view the Marx-Saudners Gallery in Chicago, click here.
To view the William Traver Gallery in Seattle, click here.
To view the M.A. Doran Gallery in Tulsa, click here.
To view the Chappell Gallery in New York, click here.
For Directions to Liquid Fire Studios, click here.
Exhibition Programs
Tours
Feathered Friends and Glorious Glass
1:30 pm Sunday, February 10, 17, 24
Enjoy a docent led tour through the exhibitions Clear Your Mind: Contemporary Glass Invitational and Birds of America: John James Audubon.
Visiting Artist
Michael Meilahn
Michael Meihlahn has consistently been included in national and international exhibitions and collections such as the Museum of Art and Design, New York; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York; The Flint Institute of Art, Michigan; The Haggin Museum of Art, Stockton, California; International Exhibition of Glass, Kanazawa, Japan and others. He taught glass at Penland School of Crafts and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Michael's multi-media installation Corn Zone can be seen in the Figge's Orientation Gallery on Level 1. Michael lives in Pickett, Wisconsin.
The Visiting Artist Series was organized by Mark Fowler, exhibition curator and Rock Island, Illinois glass sculptor. The series is sponsored by the Beaux Arts Fund Committee, Inc.; Quad-City Times, Vicki & Shaun Graves, Mike & Sara Thoms, Thomas and Mary Ann Stoffel, Marx-Saunders Gallery, Pappas & Schnell, PC; Phil Scott and Anonymous donors.
10:30 am Saturday, February 23
Free with paid admission or membership
Michael will speak about his work at the Figge. Meet in the main lobby.
1-3 pm Saturday, February 23
Free program, see directions to studio
Michael will present a glassblowing demo at Liquid Fire Studio in Rock Island.
Reception & Artist Talk
Mark Fowler and Shaun Graves
5:30-8 pm Thursday, March 20
Free with paid admission or membership
Enjoy light complimentary refreshments and conversation with friends. A cash bar will be available from 5:30-6:45 pm. At 7pm Mark Fowler (exhibition curator and Rock Island, IL glass sculptor) and Shaun Graves (Moline, IL glass artist) will lead a tour of the exhibition.
Visiting Artist
Brent Kee Young
Glass artist and Cleveland Institute of Art Professor Brent Kee Young has been recognized by numerous museums, galleries, colleges and universities in the United States and Asia. Professor Young has conducted numerous workshops in the U.S. and Asia including The Niijima International Glass Art Festival, Niijima, Tokyo; the International Glass Society Conference, Seto, Japan; Grand Crystal, Peitou City, Taiwan, ROC; and the University of Miami, Coral Gables. In 2006, the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery aquired its second piece by Professor Young for its permanent collection.
The Visiting Artists Series was organized by Mark Fowler, exhibition curator and Rock Island Illinois glass sculptor. The series is sponsored by the Beaux Arts Fund Committee, Inc.; Quad-City Times, Vicki & Shaun Graves, Mike & Sara Thoms, Thomas & Mary Ann Stoffel, Marx-Saunders Gallery, Pappas & Schnell, PC; Phil Scott and Anonymous donors.
10:30 am Saturday, March 29
Free with paid admission or membership
Brent will speak about his work at the Figge. Meet in the main lobby.
1-3 pm Saturday, March 29
Free program, see directions to studio
Brent will present a glassblowing demo at Liquid Fire Studio in Rock Island.
Visiting Artist
Fred DiFrenzi
Fred DiFrenzi has been a significant innovator of kiln formed glass art for over 25 years. He receivd a National Endowment Artist in Residence grant which helped him foster Kentucky's first hot glass program in 1978 at the Louisville School of Art. He has taught at the University of Louisville and the Toledo Museum of Art. He has spearheaded three glass design programs for manufacturing and industry in Kentucky and Indiana where he served as art director, lead designer and studio manager. Currently DiFrenzi is Art Director for the Hoskin and Muir Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, and manufacturer of decorative kiln cast architectural glass for residential and commercial application. He lives in Loiusville.
The Visiting Artist Series was organized by Mark Fowler, exhibition curator and Rock Island, Illinois glass sculptor. The series is sponsored by the Beaux Arts Fund Committee, Inc.; Quad-City Times, Vicki & Shaun Graves, Mike & Sara Thoms, Thomas and Mary Ann Stoffel, Marx-Saunders Gallery, Pappas & Schnell, PC; Phil Scott and Anonymous donors.
10:30 am Saturday, April 12
Free with paid admission or membership
Fred will speak about his work at the Figge. Meet in the main lobby.
1-3 pm Saturday, April 12
Free program, see directions to studio
Fred will present a glassblowing demo at Liquid Fire Studio in Rock Island.
Visiting Artists
Rachel Moore and Kait Rhoads
Rachel Moore received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University in New York and is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a recipient of the GAP Award from Artist Trust, a PONCHO Special Recognition Award from Seattle Art Museum's Betty Bowen Memorial Award, the Hilgos Award and A Watson Armour III Trust Fund Grant both from the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2005, Moore was an Emerging Artist-In-Residence at Pilchuck Glass School.
Kait Rhoads received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1993 and her MFA from Alfred University in 2001. Kait has received scholarships from Pilchuck Glass School, an emerging artist residency at Pilchuck School of Glass and Pratt Fine Arts Center, a fellowship at Creative Glass center of America in Milleville, New Jersey and a Fulbright grant to study sculpture in Murano, Venice. Her collections include the Seattle Art Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art and the Corning Museum of Glass.
The Visiting Artist Series was organized by Mark Fowler, exhibition curator and Rock Island, Illinois glass sculptor. The series is sponsored by the Beaux Arts Fund Committee, Inc.; Quad-City Times, Vicki & Shaun Graves, Mike & Sara Thoms, Thomas and Mary Ann Stoffel, Marx-Saunders Gallery, Pappas & Schnell, PC; Phil Scott and Anonymous donors.
10:30 am Saturday, May 3
Free with paid admission or membership
Rachel and Kait will speak about their work at the Figge. Meet in the main lobby.
1-3 pm Saturday, May 3
Free program, see directions to studio
Rachel and Kait will present glassblowing demos at Liquid Fire Studio in Rock Island.