A butterfly, lower center, perches upon a blown glass sculpture by noted West Coast artist Dale Chihuly. "Chihuly at the Conservatory: A Garden of Glass" brings his works to Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in May.

By Mary Thomas
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Glass 2007" aims to set our fair city asparkle this year with displays of colorful, glittering glass spread from Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens to the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center.

This circa 1896 vase is among 120 objects in "Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages" which continues through Jan. 15 at Carnegie Museum of Art. Click photo for larger image. Previous story: Gilded glass: Carnegie exhibition sheds light on the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany (10/12/06)

Affiliated events will include a glowing selection of presentations by national and international glass art figures at the 37th Annual Conference of the Glass Art Society, which will be held here in June.

Richard Piacentini, Phipps executive director, said it all began in the summer of 2002 when he and his staff heard about a "fabulous" Dale Chihuly glass exhibit at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory.

They went to see it and, he said, were "totally amazed with how beautiful the exhibit was." The merging of the glass and the vegetation was "just phenomenal -- absolutely gorgeous."

The Phipps staff decided that they had to bring Chihuly to Pittsburgh, but that they would have to do more than a conservatory exhibit because he has shown at several conservatories in recent years.

Piacentini approached nearby Carnegie Museum of Art about collaborating. Not only was the museum interested but also it suggested that Phipps contact the Pittsburgh Glass Center in Friendship, which has established an international reputation since it opened in 2001.

These three organizations formed a planning "nucleus," Piacentini said. "Now, 70 different organizations related to glass are involved."

The overall effect within the greenhouses should be of a wonderland. Each sculpture will be made up of from one to hundreds of pieces of glass, placed among the plants, suspended, hung and floating throughout Phipps, including in the new Tropical Forest.

Washington-based Chihuly staff members have visited the conservatory several times and preliminary designs have been drawn up.

William Morris' "Suspended Artifact," of 1995, combines glass and metal. It, and the two works below, will be featured among 100 pieces in "Translations and Transformations: Glass in Venice and America, 1950-2006" at Carnegie Museum of Art beginning in May. Click photo for larger image.
"Zanfirico Pear" of 1994, by Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, is patterned using the Venetian zanfirico cane method. Click photo for larger image.
The ornate Venetian style "Lampadario" was created in 2005 by Emilio Santini for a chandelier exhibition at the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Click photo for larger image.

Asked whether this particular show has offered special challenges, Piacentini said only in that they have to make sure that everything is stable. Some of the pieces weigh several thousand pounds. A tower of glass that will be installed, for example, will require a special foundation to support it.

But he's not worried. "We are a glass house, so we have some experience with glass."

Tiffany prelude

In a way, "Glass 2007" has already begun, prefaced by the elegant "Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages" at Carnegie Museum of Art (continuing through Jan. 15), a traveling exhibition that drew crowds in Seattle and Dallas.

Also at the Carnegie is "Distinctive Desk Sets: Useful Ornament from Tiffany Studios," organized by the museum to complement the national show and installed in the Treasure Room (mostly bronze, but with some glass; through April 29).

Pittsburgh Glass Center began hosting officers of the Glass Art Society last year as they traveled here to finalize conference plans, and it has also been coordinating local participants. Its gallery installation, "Nebula," created in-residence by artists Hilary Harp and Suzie Silver, continues through Friday.

Highlights

"Glass 2007" will include the following special exhibitions:

May 4-Oct. 21 -- "Allure of Japanese Glass," Pittsburgh Glass Center. Established and emerging contemporary Japanese glass artists, many of whom haven't exhibited in the United States, although they are well-known in Japan.

May 12-Dec. 31 -- "Chihuly at the Conservatory: A Garden of Glass," Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.

This glass "Spiral Gold Teapot" by Jose Chardiet appears with works by 25 other artists in the first invitational "teapots!" show at Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery, Shadyside, through Jan. 13. Click photo for larger image.
This 20th-century interpretation of a classical "Cypriote Vase," made of glass and on a metal stand, is in the exhibition "Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages" at Carnegie Museum of Art. Click photo for larger image.
Paul Nelson's glass sculpture, "Grinder," is part of an exhibition of "Gallery Artists" opening January 19 at Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery, Shadyside. Click photo for larger image.

May 12-Sept. 16 -- "Translations and Transformations: Glass in Venice and America, 1950-2006," Carnegie Museum of Art. The exhibition examines the links between Venice and America through 100 works, ranging from the mid-1950s, when Robert Willson was inspired by visiting Murano, to contemporary artists such as Lino Tagliapietra and Josiah McElheny.

June 1-Aug. 20 -- Glass work at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts by artists Judi Charlson, Chris Clarke, Kaley Finegan, Brian Frus and Lindsay O'Leary.

June 1-July 10 -- "Metamorphosis: A Celebration of the Bead," at the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center. The show, co-sponsored by Heinz and the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, will showcase work by some of the most noted glass beadmakers.

Sept. 7-Jan. 12, 2008 -- "Transformation: Contemporary Works in Glass," at the Society for Contemporary Craft. The exhibition results from the biennial Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder's Prize international competition, which this year spotlights glass.

GAS Conference

"Transformational Matter" is the theme of the Glass Art Society Conference, June 7-9.

"[Pittsburgh] has a history that is rich in its steel, iron and glass manufacturing, but the steel mills have gone and Pittsburgh is reinventing itself," GAS President Shane Fero wrote to his membership concerning the upcoming conference. "The theme Transformational Matter is an apt moniker for the transition that has taken place there."

Expanding upon the theme, conference co-chairs Randi Dauler, Ron Desmett, Karen Johnese and Kathleen Mulcahy add, "Just as glass entails the transformation of matter from one physical state to another, GAS '07 ... will link individual and collective imaginations within an exciting medium."

Programs will be conducted by an international array of artists, curators and educators from countries including Italy, Israel, Japan, Germany and the U.S.

The conference will be based at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown. Demonstrations will be held at the Pittsburgh Glass Center and at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where the Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Roadshow will be set up. Lectures will be held at the Omni and the Byham Theater.

Special events include a pre-conference reception June 6 at Phipps, a Gallery Hop, an International Student Exhibition and a "White Dove Release" by the National Aviary.

Conference attendees must be members of GAS, but individuals may join when registering. To register or for information visit www.glassart.org or call 1-206-382-1305.

For a calendar of events with links to participating organizations, go to www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=p3m2b674nqahl4oabpimvueu3k%40group.calendar.google.com.

Among objects made by the Tiffany Studios in the early 20th century were desk sets. This handsome example, designed circa 1902, is made of glass and etched and patinated copper. It appears in the exhibition "Distinctive Desk Sets: Useful Ornament from Tiffany Studios," at Carnegie Museum of Art through April 29.