Wild salmon serve as the keystone species driving ecosystem function across hundreds of millions of hectares of forests and wetlands in Asia, Europe, North America, and the Arctic. These salmon watersheds are hugely important in the drive for a net zero global carbon balance. The 18 most important salmon watersheds in the North Pacific stores an estimated 6 billion tons of carbon and counting – more than three times the annual emissions of the United States. By accelerating the locally-led protection and restoration of these rivers, The Salmon School hopes to mitigate climate change and boost the salmon runs that are so important to communities around the world. Museum of Glass recently spoke with artist Joseph Rossano about the exhibition.

Museum of Glass: How did you arrive at the concept for The Salmon School?

Joseph Rossano: For much of my career, especially when working for others, I felt that my goal (and responsibility) was to make things that were beautiful. While beauty remains a very important component of what I do, it is no longer my end goal. Beauty has instead become the lead-in to a much larger message – a component that lures the viewer into a discussion of larger issues. I want my work to actually do something for those unable to speak for themselves, be they animal populations or the human disenfranchised.

With my long history in glass, and my passion as an outdoorsperson, I felt that I could merge these communities in a way that would support the things I love – among them salmon, steelhead, and the wild places on which they depend. As a result, I conceived to create a community around wild salmon and art, informed and validated by modern science. In 2018, Museum of Glass, in partnership with the Bellevue Arts Museum, was fantastic in supporting this endeavor, in essence helping will it into being.

MOG: What do you think the medium of glass lends to this project that other materials could not?

JR: Glass is a strong, uniquely durable, infinitely recyclable material. Buildings are built from and sheathed in it, it has tremendous insulating qualities, and much more. Yet its strengths are not what draw me to the material. I'm more interested in its weaknesses. Glass is by nature fragile, transparent, and reflective. These qualities are ideal metaphors for the environments on which wild salmon – and we ourselves – depend.

MOG: How was Museum of Glass involved in the creation of The Salmon School, and how has it supported the project over its lifetime?

JR: Museum of Glass was involved from the very beginning and has facilitated my career in ways for which I will be forever grateful. In the case of The Salmon School, MOG agreed to support a larger venture around wild salmon, their environment, and the creation of an artistic statement that would show the world the reality of a once seemingly endless, yet now rapidly dwindling, natural resource. The goal was to make something beautiful with the hands of many – an artwork that would draw people into this difficult dialogue.

 Museum of Glass has been instrumental in facilitating much of the fish making. The Museum team’s expertise, skill, and commitment is without parallel, and we could not have developed or realized The Salmon School concept without Ben, Nick, Sarah, and Gabe [Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team Artists] – who are, by the way, also lovers of the outdoors. Many thanks to them. They're extremely talented.

MOG: The Salmon School has been exhibited at influential locations around the world, perhaps most significantly at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). What has been the impact of these engagements and was it always the goal to be in front of these audiences?

JR: My intention with my work has always been to make meaningful statements that combine material and location, offering a relatable context for the viewer. The idea of exhibiting [at COP26] 0.1% of all the wild Atlantic salmon left in the North Atlantic over the heads of 100% of the individuals who could make a difference for wild salmon and humans was a massive undertaking. Now that it has happened, another level of importance has been added to the project, along with the potential to make real change in the world.

The fact that a collective breath and many skilled hands worked together to craft these fragile symbols – symbols echoing wild creatures and the ecosystems on which they depend – has made this artistic statement that much more powerful for me.

MOG: What has been the most significant or memorable moment for you in The Salmon School’s travels so far?

 JR: The most significant moment for me was the lead-up to COP26 in November 2021. With the partnership of so many key international organizations – The Atlantic Salmon Trust, The Wild Salmon Center, The World Salmon Forum, Trout Unlimited, Salmon Nation, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Museum of Glass, Starworks, Urban Glass, South Australia University, Devereux & Huskie, Osaka University of Arts, Benefield Spencer Glass, TrueBlue, Glass Art Society, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, Eva’s Wild, North Fork Studios, Hilltop Artists, Schack Art Center – and a truly incredible number of individuals (all to be found on our website, thesalmonschool.com), we organized an extensive creation phase, where we made the glass fish forms in studios around the globe.

From that collaboration, I saw people of all expertise trusting in my concept. I witnessed the selflessness of so many people, all willing to give what they could for something far greater than themselves. It was truly moving. When visiting The Salmon School, please also take the opportunity to appreciate the artworks from these talented partner artists, placed throughout the museum.

MOG: What do you want Museum visitors to take away from this exhibition and the experience you are creating?

JR: I hope the show offers a glimpse of the finality of a seemingly endless natural resource – not only for people in this country, but around the globe. I want visitors to know that The Salmon School does not end with this exhibit at Museum of Glass. I wish for them to understand that The Salmon School would not have been possible without the team at MOG and the community that we all have created together. Without MOG’s belief in this project, the coming together of these disparate communities would not have been possible. I'd also like them to know that this project has already seen real lasting impacts: it has already helped change the law in Scotland for the benefit of wild salmon.

MOG: What impact do you hope that The Salmon School will have on our larger community, in Tacoma and in Western Washington? What impact do you hope that this community will have on the exhibition?

JR: I hope the larger community and Tacoma can gain a sense of pride in the achievement of The Salmon School. While the project may have been initiated by me as a single artist, it took shape at Museum of Glass and Hilltop Artists – both Tacoma-based institutions. The hands of the young people of Tacoma and artists from across the Seattle-Tacoma area are all over this work. This is not to mention the community of northwest regional scientists and science and ecological organizations that have played a significant part in developing The Salmon School. We have also been honored with the presence of Upper Skagit tribal members, whose support helped make this project real. The Salmon School really is a community. Tacoma, Western Washington, and MOG have helped inspire a movement that we will carry on into the future.

 MOG: What do you envision the exhibition’s trajectory to be from here?

JR: There are so many exciting things in the works for The Salmon School. Currently, we are looking forward to working with Foss Waterway Seaport, Hilltop Artists, Tacoma Public Schools, and The eDNA Collaborative at the University of Washington to contextualize The Salmon School through projects that directly link both art and science, as well as wild fish and climate change. We'll have more to say on the subject later in the year. I look forward to another interview!

Triceratops is an intricate, fully functional glass pipe painstakingly flameworked by artist Ryan “Buck” Harris. Harris owns and operates his own studio on the central Oregon coast and has a reputation for sculpting these unexpected – and awesome – pieces. Adapting hot-glass techniques to create pipes started in the 1980s, when flameworker Bob Snodgrass began making small pipes to sell at Grateful Dead concerts. Like street artists, this community of pipe-makers developed largely underground over the next forty years, pushing the technical boundaries of this torch-based sculpting technique well beyond its traditional use to create paperweights and marbles.

Triceratops is an example of this complex, and once taboo, artform. It bridges the gap between functional and fine art and is the first example of functional glass pipes to be accepted into the Museum’s Permanent Collection, the tip of an iceberg of innovative and avant garde glassmakers.

Click here to read Buck’s bio.

If you spend much time amongst the curatorial staff at Museum of Glass, you’ll inevitably hear them paraphrase Bertil Vallien’s quote, “The glass is an invisible material that eats the light and forwards it.” This fancifully witchy mindset has managed to haunt me outside of Museum hours and follow me all the way to the West End, where I had the absolute honor of watching glass devour light – among other things – in an entirely different way from how it does in our galleries, from the second row of the Donmar Warehouse.

This past November, two of my similarly Shakespeare-smitten university pals and I found out that David Tennant was to star in the Donmar’s upcoming production of Macbeth – for which all tickets had already been sold – and so, naturally, we booked an entire trip to the United Kingdom about it. We flew to London in the first week of January with naught but our carry-on luggage and our vaulting ambition, in the hopes of maybe, possibly, perhaps getting into this fully sold-out show. Through tenacity, perseverance, delusion, and an absurd level of commitment to the bit, we lucked into a set of returned tickets to a Saturday matinee.

Truly, it was even more breathtaking than I could have anticipated. The movement direction? Stunning. The sound design? Delicious. The line delivery from every member of the cast? Lives in my bones now. I will be thinking about this production daily forevermore, so if anyone would like to have an English major-y shouting session about every detail of it, let me know.

One of those most scrumptious of details was the stark staging of the play. The set consisted of only the bright white central stage, the aisles around it, and a boxy black space behind the stage, which was separated from the stage and audience by three panes of glass. The optical properties of the glass allowed it to become a powerful storytelling element, serving almost as a character in its own right. Because of its transparency, reflectivity, and apparent impermeability, the glass acted as the boundary between the corporeal and supernatural elements of the play, and simultaneously created both an illusion of distance from and a physical record of the violence done by Macbeth in his pursuit of power.

The glass established itself as intermediary between the physical and the otherworldly from the first moment of the play. Through Gareth Fry’s binaural soundscape, the Weird Sisters’ whispered chorus of the opening lines seemed to come from every side. In fact, they came from a row of black-clad members of the cast seated behind the glass, looming in the darkness like a series of disembodied heads. Centerstage, outside of the glass, a bloodied Macbeth sat before a mirrored silver basin of water, washing his hands, face, and neck clean after battle with the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. In back of Macbeth, the glass captured his reflection, layering his translucent double over the witches behind it. By being at once reflective and transparent, the glass imposed a clear boundary between the two realms at play, but allowed the audience into both realms at once. At times throughout the play, the characters behind the glass would pound with their palms or knock against it to try to attract Macbeth’s attention as he began his descent into tyranny. At others, they would watch his every move, keeping their eyes firmly on him and embodying his paranoia. At the same time, every character who walked in front of the glass was doubled in its reflective surface, creating a ghostly version of each, which served at first as a foreshadowing of what was to come and later as a reminder of the consequences of Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s actions.

In addition, the glass acted as a means to create distance between Macbeth and the violence enacted to maintain his power after his murder of Duncan and usurpation of the kingship. Following Macbeth’s possession of the crown, as his paranoia about Banquo’s knowledge of his deeds grew, Lady Macbeth became frustrated with his withdrawnness, in spite of what she viewed as their success. She attempted to confront him about his behavior, facing the audience as Macbeth faced away, looking into the glass. In his reflection, his eyes were distant from her, focused on himself or on some otherworldly middle distance during their conversation:

LADY MACBETH: How now, my lord, why do you keep alone,
Of sorriest fancies your companions making,
using those thoughts which should indeed have died
with them they think on? Things without all remedy
Should be without regard, What’s done is done.

MACBETH: We have scorched the snake, not killed it.
She’ll close and be herself whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep
In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead,
Whom we to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy. (3.2.10-25)

To hear Macbeth’s “But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer” but not to be able to see his face directly, seeing it only in translucent reflection within the frame which acted as the border between those two worlds, added an extra layer of hauntedness to Macbeth’s already bedeviled contemplations.

When Macbeth ordered Banquo and Fleance killed, Banquo’s murder took place out of sight but a blood-soaked Fleance – Banquo’s young son – pressed close to the glass, crying, to look down on Macbeth before running away and escaping the cutthroats, putting the first crack in Macbeth’s plan to snuff out all threats to his rule.

As the story progressed, the rigidity of the glass boundary began to break down. When Macbeth returned to the witches to learn how to keep his kingship secure, the cast lined up behind the glass as they had in the beginning, speaking in the same chorus of whispers. But, when they reached the line “Open, locks, whoever knocks,” the actor playing Malcolm, having in this moment become part of the ensemble of witches, slid open the leftmost pane of glass to reveal a doorway. The witches, played by nearly every member of the cast, spilled out to surround Macbeth as they summoned the three apparitions to speak to him. Later, during the attack on Macduff’s wife and children, Macduff’s son escaped from behind the glass through the doorway, running across the stage and into Macbeth, standing at its front corner and fastidiously cleaning his fingernails. Without a flicker of change in his expression, Macbeth silently caught the child and dumped him into the arms of a cutthroat, who carried him, screaming, out of sight. The breaking open of the glass boundary by the witches was the catalyst for the first directly violent action that Macbeth took in full view of the audience, rather than out of sight or through proxy.

Our final glimpse of Lady Macbeth was as the doctor and gentlewoman stood behind the glass to observe her walking about with a candle, and talking both to herself and to an invisible child, in her sleep. First walking behind the doctor and gentlewoman in the enclosed glass space, Lady Macbeth then climbed down onto the central stage, making her candle gutter with the change in the air. From the central stage, she was again reflected from behind and in profile by the glass, so that the audience saw at once corporeal and ethereal versions of her, each with her own candle as she repeatedly attempted to clean her hands. With her final lines –

To bed, to bed. There’s knocking at the
gate. Come, come, come, come.
Give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to
bed, to bed. (5.1.69-72)

– Lady Macbeth grasped the hand of the invisible child and climbed through the glass doorway, erasing her reflected duplicate, crossing behind all three panes to make her last exit. 

Macbeth learned of his wife’s death standing in the doorway of the glass, positioning him in the midst of the two realms just as Lady Macbeth had been in her final scene. Slumped to his right, he leaned his head and shoulder against the glass frame as he spoke the lines:

She should have died hereafter.
There would have been time for such a word.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
creep in this petty pace from day to day
to the last syllable of recorded time,
and all our yesterdays have lighted fools
the way to dusty death. (5.5.20-26)

Upon reaching “Out, out, brief candle!,” he sank to a seat on the glass door’s threshold to speak the speech’s final lines while sitting directly upon the line that his ambition had led him to spend his whole story crossing:

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more. It is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing. (5.5.27-31)

(Tennant’s delivery of this monologue was shattering. It’s been playing on loop on the inside of my eyelids since I left the theater.) The glass immediately mirrored Macbeth’s words by reflecting the messenger who entered the central stage from an aisle door to tell Macbeth of Birnam Wood’s arrival at Dunsinane, creating a literal walking shadow in the moment. That Macbeth was seated between this world and another, between the physical and the supernatural, and on the glass border that had separated him, for a time, from his bloody actions, as he learned of the manifestation of a portent of his coming downfall captured a perfect snapshot of his doom by the witch-spoken narrative.

In addition to creating a tangible line to be crossed, the glass was also the only element of the staging that collected the physical evidence of violence throughout the play. Although Lady Macbeth was dressed all in white, her clothing remained clean, even when she bloodied her hands returning the daggers that Macbeth had used to kill Duncan to the dead king’s room. Similarly, Macbeth changed into new clothes or cleaned his skin whenever he was marked with blood. The glass, though, became increasingly smudged with handprints from the pounding and knocking. When Lady Macduff and her children were killed by Macbeth’s cutthroats, she was pushed up against the center pane of the glass entirely by her murderer. Her handprints and an imprint of her face remained there for the rest of the play.

(Never will I ever shut up about Noof Ousellam’s delivery of “All my pretty ones?” in front of these imprints – goodness gracious.)

At times, the movements of the characters onstage mimicked the optical properties of the glass, acting as mirrors of their earlier selves and one another. When Macbeth was received by Duncan in thanks for his success in battle against the former Thane of Cawdor, whose position he then took on, Macbeth lay flat on the ground before Duncan, arms spread wide in the position of a cross and face turned to his right, gazing blankly into the audience. Later, when Macbeth, now king and desperate to remain so, returned to the Weird Sisters to be shown the three apparitions, the company of witches shoved him to the ground on his back and then lifted him into the air, in both positions with his arms again spread in the shape of a cross.

In Macbeth’s final scene, confronted with the knowledge that Birnam Wood had in fact arrived at Dunsinane and his challenger, Macduff, was “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped,” Macbeth shed any dignity that he had left. Having disarmed Macduff in false confidence, Macbeth held two swords, one with the blade pointed up and the other pointed down, with his arms again spread crosswise. Upon learning that Macduff was not properly a “man of woman born,” though, he threw down both swords, saying “I’ll not fight with thee.” However, goaded by Macduff’s “Then yield thee, coward,” Macbeth rushed at Macduff without a weapon and began trying to provoke him into attack by slapping Macduff’s face and pounding against his chest, mirroring the way in which the other characters had slapped and pounded on the glass wall, marking it with their handprints. When Macduff did finally strike his killing blow, Macbeth sank to the ground on his back – again in the same crosslike position – and remained there in a pool of his own blood as Malcolm inherited the kingdom, as intended by Duncan, even after all of Macbeth’s scheming. Falling where he did, Macbeth ended his story in the same place on the stage where he had begun, with his blood pooling in the same place where the mirrored basin had sat as he washed himself clean of blood in the beginning – thereby mirroring that in which he had been mirrored.

After Macbeth’s fall, the lights went briefly out into a total blackout. When they came up again, the branches of Birnam Wood were pressed up against the glass, lit from behind in such a way that the light filtered through the panes so that it looked like sunbeams. Lit this way, the reflectivity of the glass was mitigated, erasing the overlay of ghostly doubles that had been present up to that point and hiding the hand and face marks that had been left on it throughout. The tree branches pressed flush with the apparently clean glass broke its power as a boundary between realms, the natural overwhelming and subsuming the supernatural. The green of the trees behind it was the first new color to appear on the stage – everything up to that point had been in grayscale, occasionally bloodied – altering the atmosphere altogether to the feeling of a new morning, post-tyrant.    

At Museum of Glass, many of the visiting and exhibiting artists talk about how the ubiquitousness of glass often means that it goes unnoticed in its everyday contexts. In this staging of Macbeth, that omnipresent everyday-ness made the characterization of the glass as the shatterable shield dividing the physical realm from the supernatural feel all the more threatening. I will be proclaiming the Donmar gospel to all and sundry for the rest of my days. All hail to Max Webster and the brilliant minds of the cast and creative team.

Structured as an exploration of W.E.B. DuBois’ theory of double consciousness, A Two-Way Mirror is an exhibition featuring contemporary Black artists who have used glass to create work which deconstructs social, cultural, gender, and racial identity concerns. In this Reflections Q&A series, exhibition curator Jabari Owens-Bailey sits down with exhibiting artists to learn more about the stories behind their work.

Renée Stout grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 1980. In 1985, she moved to Washington, DC, and began to explore the roots of her African American heritage. She looks to the belief systems of African peoples and their descendants throughout the African Diaspora, as well as to the world and her immediate environment, for the inspiration to create works that encourage self-examination, self-empowerment, and self-healing.

The lives of Stout’s imaginary characters unfold in a variety of media, including painting, mixed media sculpture, photography, and installation. The recipient of awards from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Stout has shown her work in solo and group shows throughout the United States, and in England, Russia, and the Netherlands.

Jabari Owens-Bailey: What made you want to work in glass?

Renée Stout: I have a very good friend who is a glass artist, Elizabeth Lyons, whom I met in 1992. I was always fascinated by the things she could do with glass. Around 2011, she encouraged me to apply for the Pilchuck Glass School residency and I did. That experience was so amazing that, when the opportunity to do something at Museum of Glass came up a few years later, I jumped on it and had a great experience there as well. My residency at Museum of Glass resulted in a major tableau I created that featured several glass pieces produced for me by the wonderful artist/gaffers at the museum, titled The Rootworker's Worktable. Through all of those experiences, I became fascinated by glass as a medium, and continue to be.

JOB: Hoodoo is a theme that is in a lot of your work. Why is this set of practices so important?

RS: Hoodoo is a complex spiritual belief system created by enslaved Africans. It is a hybrid of predominately ancient and varied African religions traditions, Christianity, and Native American herbal knowledge. Hoodoo was a system that helped enslaved Africans maintain hope and perseverance as they endured the most inhumane conditions. As a descendent of these people, I feel I owe it to those Ancestors to celebrate that sophisticated system that helped them survive. For me, that system serves as an inspiration and a form of resistance against the very same forces of injustice that have morphed into new forms in the twenty-first century.

JOB: What are Orrisroot and High John de Conqueror generally used for?

RS: Both "all-purpose" roots were and are used for a variety of situations. Orrisroot has traditionally been used in love spells, as well as in perfume production to this day. I like it for its soft, powdery scent because it's calming. I see it as having "feminine" energy. While High John de Conqueror root can also be used to draw love, It has a more "masculine" energy and is also used in protection spells. The whole root can be carried in one's pocket or purse as an amulet for the same reasons. "Hi John" has a very deep, pungent smell that's similar to tobacco. I keep jars of these roots that I sometimes go to and remove the top just to take a deep whiff, very sensual. I like the idea that people had this kind of faith in and connection to nature. 

JOB: What significance does being a maker play in your life?

RS: For me, being a maker is a calling. Creativity is my “religion." Going into my studio is the most spiritual place as can be as I witness the world going to hell in a hand basket, as my paternal grandmother used to say. During these strange days, making has been the thing that has continued to sustain my morale, my resistance, and my faith that, ultimately, the universe is always working to create balance for itself no matter how humans may choose to behave.

A Two-Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists is on view at Museum of Glass until October 27, 2024.

Structured as an exploration of W.E.B. DuBois’ theory of double consciousness, A Two-Way Mirror is an exhibition featuring contemporary Black artists who have used glass to create work which deconstructs social, cultural, gender, and racial identity concerns. In this Reflections Q&A series, exhibition curator Jabari Owens-Bailey sits down with exhibiting artists to learn more about the stories behind their work.

Cheryl Derricotte is a visual artist whose favorite mediums are glass and paper. Originally from Washington, DC, she lives and makes art in San Francisco, CA. Her art has been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, The San Francisco Chronicle, MerciSF, and the San Francisco Business Times. In 2021, she was awarded the commission to develop a monument to Harriet Tubman at the transit-oriented development Gateway at Millbrae Station, the first sculptural tribute to the abolitionist in glass. The monument, entitled Freedom’s Threshold, was unveiled on March 16, 2023.

Jabari Owens-Bailey: I would like to start off by just asking you about your background. Where are you from?

Cheryl Derricotte: I am originally from Washington, DC, and I have been in the Bay Area of California since 2011. I have lived in the city of San Francisco since 2016, and my art studio is also in the city, in the Bayview, one of two historically Black neighborhoods.

JOB: When and why did you start creating artwork?

CD: As a teenager and young adult, I was a singer and did a lot of musical theatre. I quickly learned in NYC that I could audition for roles or go to class, but probably not both. So, I put Broadway dreams aside, finished school and settled into a “day job” line of work that I enjoyed. (I became a project manager; I love building creative places to live well, make art, and get work done). About 10 years into my career, I had a particularly difficult manager and started taking classes at the Corcoran College of Art and Design “for fun.” I ended up getting a certificate in Ceramics and Sculpture. Once an artist, always an artist.

By the time I finished my certificate at the Corcoran, the Washington Glass School had opened, and I arrogantly thought, “If I can make a clay bowl, of course I can make a glass bowl!” What a rude awakening when everyone in my workshop had finished two bowls and I barely finished one! The second glass workshop I took was a sculptural class, and I found my artistic voice. My piece was written up twice in the Washington Post and the co-founder of the school, Tim Tate, said, “I think you have a future.” He encouraged me to immediately go to Penland School of Craft [North Carolina] and study with Therman Statom, the pioneering Black glass artist from Washington, DC.  That was in 2003. I went back to Penland the next year in 2004 to study Venetian-style glassblowing with Claire Kelly. This craft education foundation in DC and NC rooted me in glass and solidified my love for the medium.

JOB: Can you speak about the importance of glass to your work?

CD: Although I enjoyed learning glassblowing, my own practice settled into warm glass. I have a large “coffin” kiln in my studio and can fire multiple smaller pieces or large panels. I have always believed that glass is uniquely well-suited to portraiture and landscapes. I am known for bringing the portraits of formerly enslaved people to life in glass, beginning with my first solo show at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco in 2016 to earlier this year when I unveiled my first public artwork Freedom’s Threshold, the first monument to Harriet Tubman featuring glass as the primary material. Over the past couple of years, I have been playing more with light and color, which people can see in the two works from my Glass Boys series on display in A Two-Way Mirror at Museum of Glass.  

JOB: When did you start making the Glass Boys series?

CD: I was invited by Aaron Schey – AKA “Mr. Glass” and owner of Habatat Galleries Detroit – to develop work for the 2022 series Not Grandma’s Glass. His invitation was to create work that advanced the story of glass and that I would want in the finest museum.

In the days following the start of the pandemic in 2020, and the visible racism in the United States evidenced by police-involved murders, a lot of arts institutions were grappling with lack of a role by Black artists and arts leaders in their programming and administrations. I had seen a couple of the historical photos of Black boys who worked in the factories in Alexandria, VA—right across the river from my hometown of Washington, DC—and said to myself, “The Black glass artists have been hiding in plain sight for the past 100 years.”

I took the generous invitation from Aaron as an opportunity to elevate this history and advance our conversations in the broader glass community about the role of Black glass artists through the ages. My solo presentation online, Glass Boys: Portraits from America’s Factories, occurred in June 2022 for the Not Grandma’s Glass series and I can’t tell you how delighted I am that Aaron’s challenge came true. One year later: the work IS being shown in one of the finest museums—Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington!

JOB: Is it important for you as a Black artist to engage with your history and culture?

CD: It is absolutely vital. My work sits solidly in the tradition of contemporary political art utilizing text and image. There is an old saying: “Don’t know your past, don’t know your future.” Black history is American history, and I enjoy placing historical imagery into our contemporary conversations. I believe that art is the vehicle to allow us to have difficult conversations about our past and present as a society. The museum and the gallery can be the brave spaces we need to come sit a spell for real talk. A Two-Way Mirror is the vehicle and Museum of Glass is a perfect host.

Cheryl Derricotte, 10/14/23
www.CherylDerricotteStudio.com

Today is World Digital Preservation Day (WDPD), and Museum of Glass is joining individuals and institutions from across the globe to celebrate the preservation of the digital cultural record. Earlier this year, Museum of Glass received a multi-year grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to establish a digital preservation program for its extensive collection of born-digital documentation dating from its founding in 2002. These collections document essential moments in the Museum’s history, and this new initiative will establish policies and procedures to ensure that the Museum will preserve these materials effectively and make them accessible for years to come.

WDPD is organized by the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), with this year’s theme being “Digital Preservation: A Concerted Effort.” Establishing an initial assessment and plan for the Museum’s newest initiative has been a concerted, cross-departmental effort that will set the stage for effective digital stewardship over time.

What is Digital Preservation?

Digital preservation combines policies, strategies, and actions to ensure access to content that is born digital or converted to digital form, regardless of the challenges of file corruption, media failure, and technological change. The overarching goal of digital preservation is establishing effective strategies to secure the most accurate rendering of authenticated content over time.

There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for digital preservation—the correct approach is determined by the collection content, its significant properties, and the needs of an organization’s designated community. Effective strategies can include or combine bit-level preservation, migration, and emulation.

• Bit-level preservation keeps a digital file as-is in its original format and retains it with integrity by taking digital preservation actions. This strategy does not guarantee future accessibility.

• Migration takes a digital file to a more stable, preservation-grade format to ensure preservation and future access. Generally, the migrated format would be stored alongside the original format. The goal of migration is to preserve the content, functionality, and visual design.

• Emulation creates an environment to render a digital file as it would have appeared or functioned in its original computing setting. This strategy is generally effective for complex digital objects such as software, multimedia, and video games.

Museum of Glass Digital Preservation Initiative

The Museum’s new initiative will take a multi-phase approach in establishing new guidelines for digital preservation and digital access via the Museum’s website.

The Museum’s digital collections are expansive and span from the Museum’s founding in 2002 through present day. The core of these collection include born-digital materials that highlight the captivating stories generated from the Visiting Artist Residency Program. These are photographs and video documenting over 750 artists during the residencies in the Hot Shop, including edited films, documenting, and contextualizing the works of visiting artists into the larger context of art and culture.

During phase one, we are using established assessment frameworks from the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), and the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) to determine the best strategies, policies, and workflows to scale digital preservation activities at the Museum sustainably. Through conversations with staff and other stakeholders, we are establishing an initial benchmark for digital preservation maturity at the Museum.

After these conversations conclude, we will thoroughly analyze digital preservation-related activities at the Museum and create recommendations, roadmaps, and workflows to take the Museum into phase two of its initiative. Phase two will include implementing and finely honing the recommendations made in the initial assessment and starting inventorying and preserving the Museum’s digital collections. Lastly, the overarching goal is to provide digital access to these materials via the Museum’s website.

Digital preservation is a concerted effort, and this WDPD provides an exciting moment for the Museum to steward history, scholarship, and education relating to the care and collection of glass through next-level digital collections.

This summer, in partnership with Jobs 253 (Tacoma Public Schools), Museum of Glass launched Curator High, a program for students interested in learning more about the curatorial process at museums. Working closely with the Museum of Glass Education and Curatorial departments, the students designed a display for the Grand Hall with works from the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The high school curators determined the display’s topic and content, built interpretive content for the case, and worked with all departments in the Museum to realize their vision.

Together, the Curator High students developed the installation Side by Side.

The curators describe the installation as follows:

“We are interested in our relationship with the environment. The works we selected explore the delicate balance of nature, as well as its bewitching power. As a society, we take land and trees for granted. Taking too much means that nobody gets to enjoy the great things around us, creating an imbalance. We need more mutualism. Nature is forgiving if we respect it.

The pieces in Side by Side serve as a substitute for what is lost or endangered. It is meant to provoke us to change. It is no longer a choice. We love and miss the rain like it used to be. Now that it is gone, we realize that we took it for granted. Summer is brown now, and the springtimes are dry. We hope to inspire a shared appreciation for, and desire to protect, this place we call home. Artists and designers play a part in designing more sustainable cities and solutions. Side by Side represents what this world could be like again. This vitrine could be a glimpse into the future and a reminder of the past.”

We caught up with the Curator High participants to ask them about their experiences in the program.

Kennedy Frazier

“In my time at the Museum of Glass, I was introduced to a community that was otherwise behind the scenes for me. I have come to realize just how much work goes into the world of museums.  One experience that stuck with me was visiting the Tacoma Art Museum with my teammates during the program. It opened my eyes to the close relationships that curators have with one another, even if they may not be in the same workplace. By visiting other museums around the Downtown Tacoma area, I saw how tight-knit the museum community is here.  Along with being introduced to what goes into running the Museum, I saw how much work must happen to make the Museum come to life.  Everyone, from the marketing department, to the people who plan events and exhibitions, to the cleaning staff, to the docents and artists, are essential to this work. It’s so much more than what you see when you walk through the doors as a visitor. This experience has been incredible and I’m looking forward to learning so much more.”

Olivia Hart

“The program is about learning the process of curation. Along the way, we learned much more than just curation. We learned about the different types of glassmaking, saw the process, and even did some demos. We experienced what it's like to host an activity for visiting school programs and got to visit nearby museums. We learned what went into the creation of the art on display. We learned about the history and processes of so many different subjects – the topics of our classes were new and diverse every day.”  

Ximena Perez

“Working for the Museum has been an amazing experience. I was always curious to learn more about the details of how Museum of Glass works, and now I’m learning all about it. It was something new to try, and I loved it.  I have learned many new things, like how glass is made and the different types of processes glass has to go through to become a work of art. My favorite part so far is learning what a graphic designer does.” 

Dasia Phelps

“When I got the email that I got the job, I honestly didn’t know how to feel. I was so excited but extremely nervous. After the first day, though, I was excited to learn more and see where this project led. The people are just amazing. My teammates are incredible and so sweet and smart. Shannon is such a fun person and a great leader. My favorite part of this whole thing is the Hot Shop. Just sitting in there and seeing people work on beautiful pieces of art is truly amazing. My best memory from the program is when I was sitting in the Hot Shop with all my teammates, and we were watching Nancy Callan make a vessel. All of us sat in awe as she held a blowtorch in one hand and cracked open a soda with the other. All in all, this experience was amazing. I'm so glad I got to learn and see how glass is made, and all the different techniques that I wouldn't have been able to learn otherwise.” 

Taylor Sok

“My experience at MOG has been amazing. I’ve loved everything we’ve done and everything we’ve learned. I especially love the boba shop by our workplace which our Curator High team liked to visit after work. I enjoy getting to know everyone at the Museum and learning about their experiences, and that I can slowly relate to their experiences with my own. Getting closer to my peers in Curator High was very heartwarming. They’ve made every moment very entertaining and wonderful.” 

On August 16, Museum of Glass was honored to see one of our Made at the Museum twist vases, hand-blown by the Hot Shop Team, presented to the ever-inspiring Dolly Parton at Tacoma’s Pantages Theater. Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck presented the twist vase, filled with fresh flowers from Seattle’s Pike Place Public Market, to Ms. Parton as a gift to honor her visit to the city to celebrate the statewide success of the Imagination Library of Washington.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children each month from birth to age five to encourage literacy. Since Ms. Parton founded the program in 1995, more than 2 million books have been distributed to children worldwide. In Washington State, the program has expanded statewide, with the mission to foster a love of reading among young learners by ensuring equitable access to free monthly books mailed directly to their homes. 

Museum of Glass sends a big thank you to Ms. Parton for her generous work to promote a love of books, learning, and imagination for Washington children. We are grateful for the ways in which this work ignites creativity and fuels discovery to enrich the lives of future creatives worldwide, and we are thrilled to have been a small part of Ms. Parton’s visit to Tacoma.

Click here to learn more about the celebration and watch the event recording from KOUW.

Museum of Glass (MOG) has an active outgoing loans program that is an integral part of the mission that is to fuel discovery about glass and glassmaking. Lending to other museums is a great way for MOG to share our collection and our love of the art form. It allows us to place glass in the conversation of other art mediums at museums throughout the world. Since 2007, Museum of Glass has lent nearly 200 objects from the Permanent Collection to other museums and almost 100 pieces from the Kids Design Glass collection to community organizations.

Additionally, as an active borrower ourselves, it is important for Museum of Glass to have a mechanism for reciprocation.

Here’s where you can see pieces from the Museum of Glass collection out and about this year:

TOURING
Various Venues
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, organized by International Arts & Artists.

Exhibition Summary: “Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass is a first-of-its-kind, groundbreaking exhibition giving broader and overdue recognition to a wide range of contemporary Native American and Indigenous Pacific Rim artists working in glass, which will be touring through 2026.”

Museum of Glass Collection pieces included:

PIRI COWIE
Ngā Tuna Heke (Migrating Eels), 2019

JOE FEDDERSEN
Urban Vernacular: Freeway with HOV , 2008

KANSAS
Wichita Art Museum
Art of Fire: Frederick Carder and Steuben Glass

Exhibition Summary: “Revealing WAM’s rich holdings, the variety, quality, and artistry of Steuben glass will be on view. In fascinating ways, the exquisite work of the Steuben Glass Works, the world-class glass manufacturer (1903—2011), continues to beguile and inspire artists. The new installation acknowledges and examines how contemporary glass artists explore the continuing allure and legacy of Steuben. Magnificent work by such living artists as Dante Marioni and Kiki Smith will be on view.”

Museum of Glass Collection pieces included:

DANTE MARIONI
Yellow and Blue, 2002

WASHINGTON, DC
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Sharing Honors and Burden: Renwick Invitational 2023

Exhibition Summary: “Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023 focuses on fresh and nuanced visions by six Native American or Alaska Native artists who express the honors and burdens that connect people to one another. The 55 artworks in the exhibition arise from traditions of making that honor family, community or clan, and require broad community participation. Six artists — Joe Feddersen (Arrow Lakes/Okanagan), Lily Hope (Tlingit), Ursala Hudson (Tlingit), Erica Lord (Athabaskan/Iñupiat), Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy) and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) — analyze the present moment by evoking historical practices and potential futures. Their works are often culturally specific, yet they communicate across cultural boundaries.”

Museum of Glass Collection pieces included:

JOE FEDDERSEN
Social Distancing, 2021

WASHINGTON
Children’s Museum of Tacoma - Greentrike
Works from Kids Design Glass

Exhibition Summary: Children’s Museum of Tacoma is showing a selection of pieces from Museum of Glass’s collection of Kids Design Glass pieces as part of our partnership on Illuminate: Glass Art for Early Learners. Developed by Museum of Glass with the support of Greentrike, Illuminate is an exhibition for early learners and their grown ups to explore what makes glass a unique art material - its ability to capture and manipulate light. Each piece of art in the exhibition is activated by opportunities for guests to create, to move, to play, and to experience what makes glass extraordinary.

Hotel Murano
Works from Kids Design Glass

Exhibition Summary: “In celebration of the Pacific Northwest’s central role in the modern glass art movement, we’ve carefully curated an international collection of 20th-century works in glass that mixes site-specific commissioned pieces with acquisitions from artists’ studios and galleries around the world. Forty-five artists from twelve countries are represented, showcasing an incredible diversity of glass art techniques and styles.”

Kids Design Glass image credits (left to right, top row to bottom row):

• Designed by Forrest Brennan (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Pig in a blanket, 2010. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 8 1/4 x 15 x 6 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington. Photo by Duncan Price.

• Designed by Austin Winters (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Bacon Boy, 2012. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 10 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Russell Johnson.

• Designed by Christina Wentworth (age 11), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Corn dog, 2014. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 6 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 5 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo by Duncan Price.

• Designed by Oliver Bonjour (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. AFU (or) Hungry Ghost, 2015. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.

• Designed by Henry Johnson (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. The Bridge of Glass Car, 2015. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 8 7 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.

• Designed by Erin Le (age 9), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. orca whale singing sensation, 2013. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 11 1/2 x 6 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.

• Designed by Polina Povovoznyuk (age 9), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Big ears, 2015. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.

• Designed by Jacob Schauer (age 12), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Neon green one eyed cyclops Pickle, 2011. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 14 1/4 x 4 3/4 x 4 1/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.

Last month, Museum of Glass opened our newest exhibition, Illuminate: Glass Art for Early Learners. This exhibition is designed for early learners (kids ages 0-6) and their grown-ups to explore what makes glass a unique material through a mix of art, science, and play. Each piece of art in the exhibition is activated by an opportunity for kids and their families to create, to move, to play, and to experience what makes glass extraordinary in the world of art – its ability to capture and manipulate light. Out of all the elements requested for the Illuminate exhibition - to help teach visitors about color, light, reflection, and shadow - the large-scale, LiteBrite™-inspired light box was the build I wanted to execute.

As the Exhibition Designer and Lead Preparator at Museum of Glass, my job is to interpret the curators’ vision into a gallery exhibit. I’m the person who comes in at the end, once the exhibition’s art has been chosen, to design the floorplan layout, figure out whether there is a need for custom furniture builds to hold specific pieces of art, and, in this case, design and create interactive elements needed within the space. Illuminate was a special challenge, as we were trying to attract a different audience than we normally focus on.

Aside from the curator’s vision helping to guide my design decisions, I typically start my process for any show design by doing research. I research things like who the target audience is, the period during which the art was made, and the process and background of the artist(s). In my research, I look for something to spark my creative process. For this project, I wanted to see how other folks had designed and built something like this. I was able to find several videos and blog posts to compare and use to inform my own process and design (linked at the bottom of this post).

From there, I started to make my own drawing using Sketchup. Even though I have a background in building construction, as I’ve evolved in this role, I’ve found that using the computer to “build” furniture helps me to estimate for materials and to visualize how everything will fit together before I start the physical build. It does not, however, account for the way a material is going to behave when I start to work with it. There is always a certain amount of modification that happens as everything starts to come together – which, as you’ll see, held true for our light box project.

I based the size of the completed design on a piece of Plexiglas I had lying around in my woodshop. It already had countersunk holes all the way around the edges, which were perfect for my application for this design. Also, it was a perfect size proportionally to the acrylic pegs we found. Thanks to that Plexiglas, I was able to really dial in my drawing. The next part was to wrap my head around doing the physical construction. I had a lot of holes that I needed to drill, somehow, to fit the acrylic pegs. In the videos and blogs I had looked at, they hand-drilled all of the holes, which sounded agonizing to me. So, I was trying to figure out if there was a way to at least minimize the agony. I thought about using a plunge router as a drill press so I could get uniform, straight holes. I called the Sumner Woodworker Store to look for a router bit large enough to use for 660 holes, a little under an inch in diameter. The floor manager asked me what I was working on, and I told him about my project, jokingly adding “Unless you know someone with a CNC.” He connected me with Tom Watson, owner and designer at Watson’s Wooden Words, that day! Tom was instrumental in helping me complete this part of the project quickly so I could keep moving with it.

Once I had the drilled panels back on-site at MOG, I was able to start cutting down the remaining materials and layering everything together. It was critical for the end-use that all the layers lined up perfectly. In addition to making sure everything was in alignment, I had to:

• Paint the inside of the lighted space white, including the back side of the drilled-out panel.

• Paint the outside layers black, including the inner rim of each hole for the acrylic pegs.

• Frost the Plexiglas, using fine grit sandpaper on an orbital sander.

• Run string lights inside the box to illuminate the entire interior space.

• Build a cubby for the acrylic pegs that would both support the entire light box and hide the electrical components.

Once the light box unit was put together, I switched into troubleshoot mode to make some modifications:

• Switching out the rubber gauge - the original rubber was too thick and it took three of us to hammer the acrylic pegs out of the prototype!

• Adding space between a second layer of medex and Plexiglas so that the pegs didn’t back themselves out of the holes spontaneously and pop out at visitors.

• Chasing the electrical cords and hiding their evidence for a clean finished look.

• And finally, building a frame to sandwich together all of the light box’s layers.

This project was a break for me from my typical builds. I’m happy with the way it all came together, despite some minor changes and challenges. It’s always fun to see visitors interacting with my work in the galleries, and now our readers can see the steps involved in creating custom-designed furniture like this!

Resources:

Angela Rose Home: Giant DIY Lite Brite That Anyone Can Make

Chica and Jo: Make a Giant Lite Brite

Chipped Builds: Giant 4x8 Foot Lite Brite How-To

David Wade Woodworking: Giant Lite Brite with Solid Acrylic Pegs, How-To Woodworking

Illuminate: Glass Art for Early Learners is on view now through March 2024.

“By blending art and science through hands-on experiences at Museum of Glass we hope students will connect with their passions and deepen their learning.” - Superintendent Josh Garcia, Tacoma Public Schools  

Museum of Glass first launched our Science of Art program in 2003. Our goal for the program was to integrate the teaching of art and science in elementary and middle school classrooms to encourage students to build a fuller, more comprehensive understanding of the workings of our world and the interconnectedness of the sciences and the humanities. We hoped that this program would make a sustained, positive impact on young people in our community by sparking the imaginations of local students and encouraging them to explore the world with creativity and deeper understanding. In December of 2022, we took a major step forward in strengthening that impact by partnering with Tacoma Public Schools (TPS). Now, thanks to this partnership, the Science of Art program will reach every sixth grader in the school district! 

This initiative was launched thanks to Dr. Josh Garcia, Superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools, who approached myself and my colleagues on the Education Team here at the Museum to express his comprehensive philosophy of exposure to experiences for all TPS students, and his interest in incorporating the Museum’s work to enrich lives through glass and glassmaking into the students’ learning experiences. Through this new partnership, more than 2,000 sixth graders will visit Museum of Glass this year to experience the latest Science of Art curriculum, The Phenomena of Heat Transfer, Light Transmission, and the Tools That Make It Possible.   

This redesigned curriculum is a focused exploration of the phenomena revealed in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop, Galleries, and Education Studio, and was developed by our Museum’s Education Team and Jen Crump, the TPS Curriculum & Instruction Departments lead science teacher. Together, we worked to create a student-centered experience designed to align with high-yield instructional strategies and to meet the needs of all learners.  

To date, more than 10,000 learners have completed our Science of Art program. I and the entire Education Team at Museum of Glass cannot wait to see this program and partnership continue to grow as we elevate the Museum’s educational impact for years to come. We look forward to working alongside the educators in our community, and to learning alongside local students as they use tools from both scientific and artistic thinking styles to discover, innovate, and imagine new ways of problem solving. 

Read more about Science of Art at www.museumofglass.org/science-of-art 

At the end of January, I had the pleasure of attending the Creative Forces Convening in Washington, DC, with Museum of Glass Executive Director Deborah Lenk. Creative Forces is a grantmaking initiative from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to fund arts-based programming and Creative Arts Therapies as a healing modality for active-duty military personnel and veterans. The Museum’s Hot Shop Heroes program, a basic glassblowing program which creates a therapeutic environment for veterans and active-duty military who are recovering from trauma, typically post-traumatic stress, or traumatic brain injury, received the inaugural NEA Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant to help fund our classes.

The Creative Forces Convening gathered grantees from across the nation. The conference began with a dinner at The Brighton where grantees were able to meet one another. The actual Convening events were held at the Constitution Center, where the NEA headquarters are located. We started the first day listening to Creative Forces Director Bill O’Brien as he addressed the room about the important work of Creative Forces. From there, we moved into activities that revolved around planning for the year, connecting the work of Creative Arts Therapies clinicians to our communities, and strengthening evaluation tools used to assess and grow Creative Forces-funded programming.

Executive Director Lenk and I were able to create lasting connections while these events were happening. One of our Seattle-based community partners, Path with Art, was in attendance, and several organizations from around the country were able to talk to us about their successes and struggles with arts-based programming. On the second day of the conference, I presented on a panel, titled “Clinic to Community Connections,” which was led by Senior Military Medical Advisor to Creative Forces, Dr. Sara Kass. This enabled us to talk about Hot Shop Heroes’ beginnings at Museum of Glass and in the greater Tacoma community, and the ways in which we have been able to cultivate relationships with the clinicians at the Intrepid Spirit Program and the Soldier recovery Unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and with the Creative Art Therapists from the Veterans Hospital at American Lake. The Convening was a great place to connect with other grantees and clinicians to learn ways to better support our participants.    

Katie Buckingham: To start things off, I would love to hear more about Bloom and Grow: Tacoma and your residency at the Museum.

Pearl Dick: That whole experience was just so incredible. You guys are amazing. The [Hot Shop] Team is amazing. Your facility is amazing. I do a lot of work with young people here in Chicago. My crew is often just learning to blow glass, and we are usually working on their projects. To just immerse myself and be my own artist for a week was incredible. Everyone was just there to make my wildest dreams come true. 

KB: It must be so challenging to switch between your administrative-brain, mentoring-brain, and artist-brain.

PD: It truly is. I am constantly switching gears here and it can be hard to focus on my own work. Having said that, I consider the work that I do here with Firebird Community Arts and Project FIRE [Fearless Initiative for Recovery and Empowerment] a huge part of my practice. Bloom and Grow came out of the idea of community building and nurturing each other. Working with youth and running a public access studio is such a big part of what I do. It is incredible and enriching. Giving a lot to others adds so much to my life. That growth inspired Bloom and Grow.  

I'm really excited you decided to keep this piece in the Museum’s collection. To me, it embodies both being there and in-the-moment, while also representing the importance of community to my life as an artist.

KB: That is so great! There was so much energy in the Hot Shop that week.

PD: Yeah! I grabbed anybody who came through the Hot Shop and had them make a flower. So many people from our community: Brent Rogers. Nick Davis. Gabe [Feenan] really geeked out on the flowers. I even grabbed Kristin Elliot out of the Cold Shop and had her do a flower. It’s just so fun seeing everyone make their own little part of this bigger piece.

KB: I love that almost as much as I love your playlist.

PD: Yeah, my playlist is a “greatest hits” of a bunch of different playlists. Lots of different folks from Chicago. Some who I know personally and some who I just love listening to. But it’s not all-inclusive. I love classical music, but didn’t put any on there. I'll get into a mood – sometimes it's a David Bowie week or a showtunes week. This week, I am listening to all techno.

We have music almost always playing in the hot shop. You can probably hear them in the background right now. Sometimes you can even hear me singing while I work.

KB: Is the music mostly an energy thing? It can be a long day to make your work.

PD: Yes, it definitely makes the day more enjoyable. I think music is one of the most direct ways that people can appreciate art, because you can feel it without needing to understand it. It is so individual, and can really transport you, affect your mood, or reflect how you are feeling. I had so much fun putting this playlist together. It was a nice exploration of me in the moment. It very much reflects how I am feeling right now and who I am.

KB:  Other than music, where do you look for inspiration?

PD:  Mostly nature. I like to be outside and will often just go on a walk, usually with my dog, if I need to clear my head. I also read a ton, especially poetry. I’m fascinated by people who can make art from words. Mary Oliver has always been a favorite of mine. I will also read ancient Chinese poetry – there are often lots of natural references that resonate with me.

KB: Where do you turn if you are stuck and seeking inspiration?

PD: Man, I just draw. Even if it is total garbage, I'll just keep drawing and drawing, letting stream of consciousness take over. If that doesn’t work, sometimes I will switch it up and play on my guitar or practice my piano. I try to continue being creative in any way, shape, or form. Fortunately, I don't have to make my living on selling physical art pieces, so I can take a break and do other stuff. Then, when I feel inspired, I can come back and work again.

KB: Is that the same advice you'd give your students?

PD: Yes. I am always saying to them, Go get your sketchbook, sit down, and draw. Take a walk, listen to your favorite song. Think about how you're feeling and write it down, or just get into the hot shop and make a cup. Just go, get active, and see where that takes you.

KB: What's next for you and your work?

PD: I am working with the staff at Firebird and students from Project FIRE on a collaborative project for the City of Chicago. We were commissioned to make a series of glass bricks to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the 1919 Race Riot in Chicago. Each brick will have images related to the riots, and they will be placed around the city to raise awareness on this horrific, but still little-known, event that is still one of Chicago’s single most violent incidents. These riots are a part of our standard school curriculum, but we haven’t made very much progress – there is still violence going on in our communities today with redlining and police brutality.

KB: What a powerful project! When did you start working on it?

PD: I started working on this with my students over Zoom in 2020. We started reading, researching, and watching videos to prepare to start designing.

KB: Wow, 2020. What a year to start.

Totally. It was truly crazy. We could talk about this historical event and really see its echo in  what was happening in the present day. Some of my young folks were like “Wait a second, are we talking about the riots this year?” It was like “No, this happened 100 years ago, and we’re still addressing the same issues.” It’s been an incredible educational opportunity for me, and for our city.

Check out Pearl Dick’s playlist on Spotify and visit us at Museum of Glass to see more of our collection featured in Out of the Vault: Soundtracks.

You can learn more about Pearl’s studio, Firebird Community Arts, at https://www.firebirdcommunityarts.org.

Visit http://www.pearldick.com to see more updates from Project FIRE.

About the Artist

Pearl Dick is a glass artist and community builder based in Chicago, IL. She is the artistic director of Firebird Community Arts and co-founder of Project FIRE, a program designed to promote healing through glassblowing for young people who have been injured by gun violence.

Pearl has been working with glass for over 20 years and shows her work in galleries and museums around the country. She was honored to have recently been a Visiting Artist at Museum of Glass while her work was included in Transparency, a group exhibition at the museum comprised of LGBTQIA+ glass artists.

Along with creating artwork that speaks to human connection, Pearl is a dedicated teacher and activist advocating for greater access, diversity, and inclusion in the glass community.

Katie Buckingham: I have really been enjoying the playlist you shared. Do you find yourself listening to music as you work?

Susan Taylor Glawgow: I automatically turn the radio on when I go downstairs, usually to a channel that combines rock and popular music. I am not actually looking for a song I like – if it’s too good of a song, it distracts me from working, and I’m likely to start dancing instead.

KB: So, the right studio playlist is good music, but not great?

STG: That’s right. I mean, if Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” came on, I’d get no work done, I love it. So, the radio is perfect, because most of the time it’s just background music, but every so often there is a song that inspires me to take a dance break. Then I get back to work.

KB: I love that! Where do you make your work?

STG: Columbia, Missouri, which I affectionately call the middle of nowhere. The next closest glass facility to me is in St. Louis, so I can feel pretty isolated here in Columbia. For getting stuff done, it works pretty well. But for exchanging ideas and collaborating, I have to travel to do that.

KB: Where do you look for inspiration when you make your work?

STG: Often my inspiration comes from a previous project that I've been working on. I’m always thinking about how to refine a concept or perfect a technique. That’s why I like to work in a series. Making something just once is too much pressure. Also, it’s often just unattainable to infuse all the ideas that I have for something into one object. Working in series allows me to home in on a vision.

KB: I'd love to hear the story of Queen Anne's Lace Handbag. When I look at it, I want to pick it up off the pedestal and wear it.

STG: I started the Handbag series in 2001. I had just completed a two-and-a-half-month residency at Pilchuck Glass School, and I wanted to make something I could carry at their annual auction. That was my first Handbag. It was a cross-body bag with a long strap. It made me realize straight away that the strap was a sculptural problem. Do you hang it? How does it flow with the rest of the purse? Queen Anne's Lace Handbag was the moment I finally figured it out – the handle and handbag are all one form, rigid, as if it had just been set down on the table.  

KB: The longer you look at the piece, the more you appreciate how many different materials it took to make it. I know that “sewing” glass is one of your signature techniques. What inspired you to approach glass in this unique way?

STG: I started sewing glass to honor the domestic skills – sewing, cooking, housekeeping-type things, that I learned from my mother. A lot of what I make is about “women’s work,” celebrating the beauty of femininity, but also the complexity of our society’s expectations for what skills women should have and the lengths we’re expected to go to be beautiful.

KB: How do you address uncertainty while you work? Do you ever feel stuck in your creative process?

STG: For me, it is just important to be in the studio. Even if I am feeling kind of anxious or uncertain about the next step or the next concept, the key is to just get in the studio. If I feel stuck, I will start doing something mundane, like reframing a piece of art. The act of getting things done helps an idea to pop up.

KB: Yes. And what's on the horizon for you and your work?

STG: I started a new series just before COVID that has to do with the relationships, conflict, and the emotional impact of meeting the right or wrong person in your life. I’ve created about 15 pieces in the series, but I’m finding it challenging to show them in a group. Viewers are having a strong reaction, related to their own relationships. The pieces tend to bring feelings and emotions up.

KB: Oh yeah?

STG: As an artist, that’s what you hope your work does – inspire some emotion. I am working on continuing this new series. I think that showing the work as a group will result in a wide range of reactions from viewers. And isn’t that what art should be about? Helping you tap into a feeling that is hard to put into words.

Check Susan Taylor Glasgow’s playlist on Spotify and visit us at Museum of Glass to see more of our collection featured in Out of the Vault: Soundtracks.

About the Artist

A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Susan Taylor Glasgow migrated south with the geese one fall and studied Design at the University of Iowa. Now a resident of Columbia, Missouri, Glasgow’s studio is a wonderful old 1930s house in downtown Columbia that she and her husband rescued from demolition. She is a 2002 recipient of the Pilchuck Glass School Emerging Artists grant, a Wheaton Village fellow in fall of 2003, and, most recently, a resident artist at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Glasgow has been the fortunate recipient of many awards and has work included in the permanent collections of the Carnegie Museum, Chrysler Museum, Museum of American Glass, and several others.

The concert featured the unique fusion of the Northwest Sinfonietta string quartet, the jazz quartet from the Kareem Kandi World Orchestra, and coordinated glassblowing by the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team and Hilltop Artists. The concert’s original score, composed by Kareem Kandi, was written to celebrate many of Tacoma’s well-known locales, including Point Defiance Pagoda, Sixth Avenue, Ruston Way, Pacific Avenue, and more. During the musicians’ performance, the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team, assisted by students from the Hilltop Artists program, created a piece of glass art inspired by the music - a black-and-white cylindrical vessel wrapped in a music staff.

The crowd of concertgoers filled the Cone to bursting, with those who arrived too late to snag a seat spilling out into the Grand Hall to watch the performance on the Hot Shop Livestream. Museum members were invited to attend a coinciding member lounge during the event, which featured a Glass Symphony interactive station. Guests were able to compose their own music using a Playtronica device attached to a series of glass goblets hand-blown by the Hot Shop Team.

Museum of Glass looks forward to expanding our partnerships with local arts organizations to find creative and collaborative intersections in our work, and to further our joint leadership in the Tacoma community and beyond.

Thank you to Tacoma Arts Commission for their generous support of this event.

On Saturday, March 4, Museum of Glass hosted an exclusive, 200-person celebration of Lino Tagliapietra. With family, friends, and colleagues, as well as artists the maestro has inspired in attendance, Lino made his final appearance in the United States. The artist plans to retire and spend his time with his family in Italy. The highlight of the evening was the announcement that Lino has selected Museum of Glass as the place for his work and legacy. The artist will contribute art from his own archive that will fill a new permanent gallery space at Museum of Glass. 

“The planned Lino Tagliapietra exhibition at Museum of Glass is a key part of our strategic plan moving forward and represents our goal to celebrate glass artists. We are honored that maestro Lino Tagliapietra has chosen Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington as the place to tell his legacy story, and that he will generously provide art from his archive to support this endeavor,” said Museum of Glass Executive Director Debbie Lenk. 

Lino has had an immeasurable impact on the glass art movement and glass artists over his long career. He has trained and mentored many young glassblowers, passing on his knowledge and techniques to future generations. Simply put, the Studio Glass movement would not be what it is today without Lino. Museum of Glass’s goal for this new permanent gallery is to highlight Lino’s mastery and vision, with the hope that it inspires future generations of glass artists to continue to push the boundaries of the medium and galvanizes viewers to gain deeper understanding of its history and possibilities as it continues to evolve. 

“It is an honor to have worked for and alongside Lino. His contributions to the progression of the Studio Glass movement cannot be overstated, and his drive and passion for the material is nearly unmatched. To hear Lino say, over the years, that the Museum of Glass is one of his favorite places to work gives me and the entire Hot Shop staff an immense sense of pride. And to be a part of and witness Lino’s energy on the Hot Shop floor has been a highlight of my career. I cannot wait for his story to be displayed in our galleries,” said Museum of Glass Hot Shop Director Ben Cobb. 

Lino has visited Museum of Glass frequently since 2007. Since then, the artist has completed nineteen residencies and appearances in the Museum’s Hot Shop to standing-room-only audiences, delighting thousands of visitors both in-person and around the world through the Hot Shop Livestream. The Museum has held three major exhibitions of Tagliapietra’s work, the first in 2008, titled Lino Tagliapietra: In Retrospect, a Modern Rennaissance in Italian Glass. This exhibition traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Palm Springs Art Museum, and Flint Institute of Art, which helped propel the recognition of the great Italian maestro. In 2012, Museum of Glass presented Maestro: Recent Works by Lino Tagliapietra, and in 2014 Celebrating Lino Tagliapietra opened in the Museum’s galleries. 

Lino’s legacy lies in his skillful mastery of the material and his ability to imagine the possibilities of glass as an artistic medium. His unique style, characterized by intricate designs, uncommon attention to detail, and bold use of color, combines traditional Venetian glassblowing techniques with modern elements. His signature pieces, many of which will be on display in the new Museum of Glass gallery, feature complex movement and flow. 

“Museum of Glass is the recipient of The Lino Archives, collected over the years Lino spent in the Pacific Northwest and carefully assembled by his studio, dating back to the mid-nineties. The work shows the evolution of Lino as an artist and demonstrates intricate Italian techniques in addition to the artistic freedom that the United States gave him. Lino grew as an artist in the United States by pushing the techniques into new territory, exploring their revolutionary potential with a boldness entrenched in years of experience with the material. His gift to the Pacific Northwest is the document of this time,” said Museum of Glass Curator of Education Susan Warner. 

While the announcement of the planned Tagliapietra gallery at Museum of Glass began the celebration, audiences were also treated to the maestro’s final blow on a hot shop floor — a once-in-a-lifetime experience watching a master take their final bow. Sitting at the bench orchestrating his loyal team of Dave Walters, John Kiley, Dante Marioni, Jen Elek, Nancy Callan, and DH McNabb (and the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team), Lino chose to make first a Florencia, in which complex patterns made with murrine (tiny slices of cane) create an exuberant and complex pattern. For the finale, the maestro made a reticello (a crisscross cane pattern) Dinosaur, with its signature gracefully attenuated, and gestural neck. These two pieces exemplify the maestro’s ability to push the ancient Venetian techniques into uncharted territory and epitomize the daring and bold characteristics of contemporary American glass that he made possible. 

“It is very hard to explain in words what happened during these days. I would have never expected this much love and attention. It is true that this highlights the end of my journey. However, all the recognition, honors, awards, and friends that surrounded this event made my end of the journey very special and much less bitter,” said Lino.

Lino has had a profound impact on the world of glass art, and has been a cherished friend of Museum of Glass since the institution opened. Museum of Glass is honored to now be a permanent part of his unparalleled 45 years of glass in the United States. By giving this work to Museum of Glass, The Tagliapietra Family knows that his archive will always be accessible to the public. Planning for the Lino Tagliapietra gallery at Museum of Glass is underway. 

Thank you, Maestro, for this immense honor. It was a joy to celebrate you once more in our Hot Shop, and we look forward to this next journey in sharing your legacy.

ABOUT LINO TAGLIAPIETRA 

Lino Tagliapietra has worked with glass for over 70 years. The maestro is world-renowned and revered for his incredible manipulation of glass and innovative creations. Tagliapietra was born in Murano, Italy in 1934 and became an apprentice glassblower at age 11. Even at a young age, Tagliapietra exhibited an immense dexterity for glass and was appointed the title of maestro when he was just 21. In 1979, Lino visited Seattle for the first time and introduced students at the Pilchuck Glass School to the traditions of Venetian glassblowing. This cross-cultural collaboration shaped the identity of American glassblowing and offered Tagliapietra an opportunity to expand his horizons internationally. 

Greg Owen was a dear friend of Museum of Glass and a regular presence on the Hot Shop floor for many years. During his time with the Museum, he worked as the Manager of Audience Engagement & Hot Shop Heroes, answering audience questions and providing insight into the Hot Shop Team’s work as an emcee and teaching basic glassblowing techniques as an instructor for Hot Shop Heroes, the Museum’s program for veterans and active-duty military. Owen also gave generously of his time to Hilltop Artists, emceeing the Better Futures Luncheon, assisting on their hot shop floor, mentoring young artists to become emcees at Museum of Glass, and doing all that he could to share his expertise with the students. 

Owen sadly passed away from brain cancer in the fall of 2020. In their description of the award created in his honor, Hilltop Artists wrote, “[Owen] was an inspiring role model, demonstrating a zeal for life, a love of nature, and deep empathy for his fellow humans. One way we seek to keep his fire burning bright is through this award, a reflection of his legacy.” 

“Greg Owen was an incredible friend to our organization - to our students, to our staff, and to me personally,” said Dr. Kimberly Keith, Executive Director of Hilltop Artists. “Greg was serious about his craft, whether it was glass, paper, or whatever material he was experimenting with, and he was also serious about making and maintaining relationships. He was kind, a good listener, and enjoyed teaching and mentoring. He actively passed on his knowledge and skills, and he did these things selflessly. I admired and loved him very much. I see the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team carrying on his legacy with our students. They share their knowledge and skills, they’re professional, and, at the same time, they have a sense of humor and fun. They show our students what is possible, in terms of both building a career in glass and becoming caring adults and mentors. The Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team makes a positive difference in the lives of our students, and they embody the spirit of Greg Owen. That’s why we chose them to receive this award.”  

Museum of Glass Hot Shop Director Ben Cobb, who accepted the award on behalf of the Hot Shop Team, said, “Greg was so much to so many within our community. While he is fondly remembered for his dulcet tones on the microphone, he also focused his time mentoring the youth at Hilltop Artists, something we are still passionate about and continue to do here at Museum of Glass. What’s important to myself and the Hot Shop Team is the opportunity that we’ve had to mentor and teach the students in the Hilltop Artists program over the past 20 years. I like to think that we can help inspire passion and drive through this partnership, and that we have created a place where the young artists who find themselves on our doorstep can come to us for teaching, rounding out, and grounding, through both glassblowing and the building of soft skills.”   

Hilltop Artists and Museum of Glass have worked in partnership for more than 20 years, since before the Museum opened to the public in 2002, thanks in large part to the connection forged by Dale Chihuly, who co-founded both organizations. Hilltop Artists students have worked throughout the Museum from its very first internship program to the present, from the Hot Shop, to the galleries, to the Education Department, and beyond. “These relationships are important to foster the aspirations of our youth and to enhance the positive organizational cultures in both institutions.” Keith said. “Hilltop Artists’ mission is to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds with better futures. We are making glass art accessible to a wider community of young people, which diversifies the sector, which is significant when we reflect on how many centuries the glass art community has been predominantly white and male. Our programs develop the whole student - meaning we focus on building strong team members who are critical thinkers, who can communicate verbally and non-verbally, who have resilience, who appreciate and respect other team members. The Museum of Glass team demonstrates what is possible for our students if they continue to make glass art, and so did Greg Owen. As long as our partnership continues to be strong, the sky’s the limit!” 

The Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team is deeply grateful to have been chosen as the inaugural recipients of the Greg Owen Scholarship Award. “Any time you lose someone close to you, whether they are a family member or a friend, it’s painful, and it continues to be painful for many years. This award was a total surprise. My reaction in the moment was joyful tears, but there was really nothing I could say that would have been coherent and not had the whole room in tears along with me,” said Cobb. “Greg was such an important part of the Museum, the local glass community, and the greater glass community. He was one of the first artists in the Museum’s Education Studio when we opened in 2002, and he really set the bar so high for the role of Hot Shop Emcee. His voice was everywhere. It still is, in a lot of ways, which I find comforting. We are very honored that Hilltop Artists chose all of us down here at the Museum to receive the first ever award in Greg’s memory. We’re working together to decide how to use the scholarship in a way that celebrates Greg’s legacy and the things he loved. It means a lot.”

Thank you to Hilltop Artists. Catch the Hot Shop Team working with Hilltop Artists each Third Thursday at Museum of Glass.

Making art from glass is time-consuming. It is an undertaking that can unfold over hours, but more often takes place over days, weeks, or even months. A great music playlist can be essential to keeping focused and staying creative. These playlists were the starting point for our exhibition Out of the Vault: Soundtracks. MOG curator Katie Buckingham sat down with Michael Sherrill to learn more about his work and creative process.

KB: I’ve been looking forward to this conversation – your playlist is one that visitors have been listening to a lot in the gallery. Tell us about the music you like to listen to.

MS: Well, music has been a big part of my life, period. I grew up with an older brother who was always turning me on to obscure bands from Britain. He would be the first person to tell me about bands like the BeeGees (before the disco stuff), or The Zombies, or anything off beat. I was 12-13 years old when The Beatles arrived in America. I remember that Christmas, all I asked for was all The Beatles albums that had been released up to that point. (The albums then were like $3.75 a piece, so they were relatively cheap Christmas presents). I loved music from the beginning. Even when I didn't have a lot of money, I always found enough to buy music.

KB: How does music relate to your work as an artist?

MS: Music is one of those things that is so much like making sculptures. It has that ability to communicate something without being totally literal. I really appreciate that. I like everything from rock ‘n roll to alternative, old jazz, new jazz. There's nothing that I don’t enjoy.

The way that song gets stuck in your soul, that stickiness is something that I hope my artwork has. Like listening to a great song, art should take people away from the present, and towards somewhere to think, to ponder. These days, I’m into Miike Snow or Chet Baker. But, in coming of age with bands like The Beatles, their music has a similar vein. Music can be sophisticated, smart, sometimes simple, sometimes complex. I've always been drawn to that. And my art, I think, reflects that. If I have made something literal, like a platform, I want to have an underneath kind of aesthetic, like the rhythm below the melody. If you really think about it, and absorb it, the work has another dimension.

KB: Is there anything on your playlist that has the same “stickiness” as Brightly Hidden?

MS: Yeah, I would say so. Songs like, “Burial” by Miike Snow or “Farmers Trust” by Pat Metheny Group remind me of the energy in Brightly Hidden. Those are just incredible earworms for me. They take me somewhere.

KB: I'd love to hear more about your residency at MOG and making Brightly Hidden.

MS: When I came in, I had this crazy idea of doing these snakes. Ben [Cobb] and Gabe [Feenan] were incredible on figuring out how to engineer the snake slither. Conceptually, we had to figure out how it would work and what the limitations were. I love that process, I love the collaborative. I'm not a full-time glass person. I do some flameworking and have spent time at other studios like Penland. But, having the expertise of your team, who I think are some of the most versatile glass artists in the world because they work with so many people, was invaluable.

I came in with just this one simple idea: snakes. We had started to form it, and what came out - and out of the gloryhole - was unwieldy and crazy. They did it. They did an amazing job pulling that off. I mean, the Team was nothing short of amazing.

KB: As an artist who uses many materials (like porcelain and metal), how do you approach a residency like the one you had at MOG? Did you have a vision for the way the glass snake would fit into the complete sculpture?

MS: Yes, I had rough conceptual plan, of a little green snake, a bright spot on a dark metal branch. But I built the rest of the sculpture after the residency, to take advantage of the drama of the glass compared to everything around it. I wanted to capture that drama.

KB: Where do you look for inspiration?

MS: I start by being captivated. When something has an impact on me, that provokes the idea. I think I’m like a songwriter in that way, trying to capture an emotional response or story. They communicate through music, and I communicate through visual objects. To me, it's that simple. It is a natural sort of call and response, if you want to put it in old gospel ways. A call and then my response.

KB: And how to you push through your creative process when you are stuck on an idea?

MS: Well, I would say at this stage of my life, I have this problem less and less. But I wouldn’t call it a creative block, I would call it approaching a creative breakthrough. I think you need to be on the lookout fo  a point where you know you can do better, or a place that you know you should be going to next. If you look at it that way, it is not a block. It really is that step forward into something that kind of keeps you engaged and present with your work.

KB: As you look forward to new work and ideas, what is on the horizon for you?

MS: For the last two years, I’ve been working on a large-scale installation, Broken Beauty, which you can see on my website. I am also looking forward to working on new projects, now that we appear to be re-emerging from the pandemic. And with our re-emergence, I’m looking forward to more music and more live music. Music is something that will always be a part of my life, and getting to go to concerts again has been completely invigorating.

Check Michael Sherrill’s playlist on Spotify and visit us at Museum of Glass to see more of our collection featured in Out of the Vault: Soundtracks.

About the Artist:
The son of an inventor/motorcycle racer and warrior princess/homemaker, Michael Sherrill has lived in the western North Carolina mountains since 1974. He considers himself a materials-based artist experimenting primarily in the media of metal, clay, and glass. At the heart of his interest is the intersection of where humans and materials meet in both handmade objects and the natural world. Michael’s work is in several public collections including the Smithsonian’s Renwick Museum of American Craft, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Mint Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, Corning Museum of Glass, and Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA, among others. In 1993, the Year of Craft, Michael was selected for the White House collection, which traveled to venues around the United States. Most recently Michael was honored by the James Renwick Alliance as the 2019 Master of the Medium, Clay.

Neon is a master-apprentice trade; those holding the knowledge control to whom it is passed. Our newest exhibition, She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy, tells the story of this evolution playing out in real time, as custodians of the craft become more intentional with how, and to whom, they pass their torches.

Lily Reeves is originally from Birmingham, Alabama. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University in 2015 and her Masters in Fine are from Arizona State University in Phoenix, AZ, where she graduated in April 2018. She currently lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona, where she runs her art and design studio, Reeves Studios, full-time. Reeves’s aesthetic language is forever contoured by the uncanny and supernatural qualities of the American South. While her practice is multifaceted, it is always grounded in the medium of light and energy. A holistic exploration of personal, societal, and environmental healing, Reeves’s work addresses these spiritual chasms that are symptomatic of living in a capitalist society. Reeves was taught by Sarah Blood.

She Bends: Tell us about your works in the exhibition.

Lily Reeves: Room to Breathe is a multimedia installation produced in 2021-2022 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic by a collective of friends and family. Room to Breathe aims to combat the internalization of a post-capitalist and post-colonial society by encouraging viewers to participate in a guided breathing meditation set inside of a healing rainbow light installation. This meditation gives those who experience it a tool for addressing mental and physical well-being, anxiety, and stress. Breath work is an ancient practice found in every culture around the world, and it has been used for meditation and prayer for millennia. This installation is meant to build a connection within us to our own breath, which grants us access to the invisible worlds of our emotional and psychological lives. Our breath is our life force and our connection to our own power. By cultivating an inner world of equanimity, we are able to move through the world with better intentionality and mindfulness, building a collective world that begins inside of ourselves. 

SB: What motivates you? What are you trying to achieve through your work?

LR: I want to encourage introspection in my viewers in a way that facilitates real, actual change in those who experience the work. Active participation is very different from passive seeing; it is more demanding on behalf of the viewer and requires a set of instructions with an intended outcome, though the outcome does not have to be defined or finite, and the interpretation of the work is often as open-ended as any other work of art. However, this consensual action / participation is something I have found to be very powerful and profound through my performance and multimedia work, and it is always positioned with an intention of encouraging physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual well-being in those who participate in the work. 

SB: How did you begin working on this type of series or art in general?

LR: I have always been interested in the invisible worlds inside of us, which consume the majority of our lives, but which we often ignore outside of organized religious outlets. Our minds and bodies are metaphysical in nature, and this is something that has always interested me. 

SB: Who has influenced you as an artist?

LR: My mentors; contemporary light artists like Gabrielle Rico and Olafur Eliasson; light-and-space artists like Doug Wheeler, Bruce Nauman, and Larry Bell; contemporary performance and sculpture artists and arts organizations like La Pocha Nostra, Postcommodity, Roni Horn, Simone Leigh, Ernesto Pujol, and Wolfgang Laib; cultural icons like Alejandro Inurito and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Other than art, I am super interested in peripheral spiritual practices like magic, superstition, mysticism, and the occult. I also LOVEEE Mexican surrealism. 

She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy is on view now at Museum of Glass.

Neon is a master-apprentice trade; those holding the knowledge control to whom it is passed. Our newest exhibition, She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy, tells the story of this evolution playing out in real time, as custodians of the craft become more intentional with how, and to whom, they pass their torches. 

Jude Abu Zaineh is a Palestinian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist and cultural worker. She is the recipient of the 2020 William & Meredith Saunderson Prize for Emerging Artists and was one of the first selected artists to participate in a collaborative residency with the Ontario Science Centre and MOCA Toronto (Canada). She has presented her work at a number of cultural institutions. Abu Zaineh was taught by Stephanie Sara Lifshutz and Meryl Pataky.

She Bends: What motivates you? What are you trying to achieve through your work?

Jude Abu Zaineh: In my practice, I use various forms of art, food, and technology to investigate meanings of culture, displacement, diaspora, and belonging. I examine ideals of home and community while working to develop aesthetics connected to my childhood and upbringing in the Middle East. With neon, I’m interested in different forms of communication, translation, language, and even the failures of translation when thinking through the projects I like to produce in this medium. 

SB: Can you tell us a bit about your work in this exhibition?

JAZ: The watermelon is an agricultural staple and beloved summer fruit in Palestine. It also serves as a longstanding symbol of Palestinian resistance and perseverance, especially after all displays of the Palestinian flag and its colors were banned by oppressive colonial forces. The watermelon, mirroring the same colors as the Palestinian flag, became emblematic of national pride and freedom of expression. This work was produced at Meryl Pataky's studio during a She Bends artist residency in 2022. 

SB: How did you begin working on this type of series, or art in general?

JAZ: I've been working as an interdisciplinary artist for a few years, and neon made sense as another medium to adopt into my practice. Outside of my deepened interest in its technical capabilities, it’s a beautiful visual tool and effective language to communicate with viewers. I had been thinking about making so many pieces this way, but faced roadblocks – namely, that the local shops I approached in Canada weren’t interested in taking on a student of the craft. Years later, I was finally given an opportunity to work with neon in 2019, after travelling to San Francisco in pursuit of studio workshops with Meryl Pataky. 

SB: Who has influenced you as an artist?

JAZ: I have been influenced by the writings of Mahmoud Darwish, Ghassan Kanafani, Edward Said, and bell hooks. Visually and conceptually, my influences are the work of Mona Hatoum, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Jennifer Willet, Hiba Abdallah, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Anthony McCall, James Turrell, and so many others. And, of course, learning directly from Meryl Pataky and Stephanie Lifshutz has influenced the way I work with neon. 

She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy opens at Museum of Glass on February 11.