Amber Cowan | Alchemy of Adornment
April 1 through December 31, 2023
Alchemy of Adornment invited visitors to revel in the enchanting worlds of Philadelphia-based artist and educator Amber Cowan. Using the centuries-old techniques of glassblowing and flameworking, Cowan transforms American-pressed glass into exuberantly adorned diorama-like wall installations and free-standing sculptures. Her lush assemblages lure the viewer into fanciful narratives rich with symbolism and themes of transformation, femininity, and nostalgia.
An Intimate Journey with Nature | Paul Joseph Stankard – Celebrating 80 Years
May 17 through July 30, 2023
Paul Joseph Stankard’s life has been a spiritual journey guided by poetry and an intimate relationship with nature. Hairy bees with transparent wings, ripe summer blueberries, and dirt-encrusted bulbs—all are personal memories preserved for future generations to contemplate. This special pop-up exhibit documented the first 20 years of Stankard’s career, featuring work from the artist’s personal collection and some of his chosen favorites from recent decades.
Collecting & Connecting: Recent Acquisitions
April 1 through December 31, 2022
This expansive exhibition, curated by Brooklyn artist Benjamin Wright, featured over 20 contemporary artists whose work was inspired by science. The artwork on display allowed visitors to explore the role of creativity endemic to both science and art, while showcasing glass as a medium that provides a challenge to their perceived divide. At every turn, glass materially magnifies, distorts and illuminates our transdisciplinary world of wonder.
Emanation 2019
April 2, 2019 though December 31, 2019
Emanation 2019 was the third exhibition of contemporary art featuring new works developed and created by artists invited to utilize the resources and facilities at WheatonArts for experiment based exploration. The results were displayed with an emphasis on each artist’s creative process. As the site of creation, as well as the site of exhibition and related education programs, WheatonArts facilitates collaboration and partnerships with artists in a creative sanctuary that enables new ideas to emanate forth.
Symbiotic Spheres: The Interlocking Worlds of Glass, Science and Art
April 3, 2018 through December 30, 2018
This expansive exhibition, curated by Brooklyn artist Benjamin Wright, featured over 20 contemporary artists whose work was inspired by science. The artwork on display allowed visitors to explore the role of creativity endemic to both science and art, while showcasing glass as a medium that provides a challenge to their perceived divide. At every turn, glass materially magnifies, distorts and illuminates our transdisciplinary world of wonder.
Beauty Beyond Nature: The Glass Art of Paul Stankard
April 3, 2018 through December 30, 2018
This exhibition, organized by the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation and guest curated by Andrew Page for the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation, celebrated the botanical sculptures of American master artist, Paul Stankard. Stankard’s accomplishments came to life in this remarkable exhibition drawn from the definitive collection of Robert Minkoff, showcasing Stankard’s evolution and major developments from his first attempts at a paperweight to his most complex assemblages.
Emanation 2017: An Invitational Contemporary Art Exhibit
June 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017
Emanation 2017 was a contemporary art exhibit featuring new works developed and created by artists invited to utilize the resources and facilities at WheatonArts for experiment based exploration. The results were displayed with an emphasis on each artist’s creative process. As the site of creation, as well as the site of exhibition and related education programs, WheatonArts facilitated collaboration and partnerships with the artists in a creative sanctuary that enabled new ideas to emanate forth. Exhibiting Artists: Emily Brown, Flock the Optic, Vanessa German, Michael Joo, Lorna Simpson, Therman Statom and Matthew Szösz.
The Boroff Collection: Goblets, Memories and Friendships
April 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017
The Boroff Collection: Goblets, Memories, and Friendships shared the passion of contemporary glass art goblet collectors, Barbara and Alan Boroff. Through the display of a curated selection of goblets from their collection this exhibit told the story of their journey as collectors, illustrated their style, and exemplified their connection to and respect for the artists.
“My feeling about goblets? They’re like potato chips. Seriously. I feel that if you start somebody with a goblet, it’s very easy to buy another one.” – Barbara Boroff
From the Ground Up: Archaeology | Artisans | Everyday Life
April 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016
An exhibition in partnership with AECOM-Burlington. This was the first major exhibition of artifacts recovered from excavations along I-95 in Philadelphia. Numbering nearly a million thus far, the artifacts reveal over five thousand years of history. Those who visited were able to experience the archaeologists’ excitement as they explored the exhibition and discovered evidence of early Native Americans, Dyottville Glass Works, nineteenth-century glassworkers and potters, and everyday life in their communities. Focusing on glass and pottery manufacturing— this exhibition told the story of glassworkers and potters who creatively and skillfully took advantage of the resources of the region.
Mine Moonlight: Artists Working in Philadelphia’s River Wards
April 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016
An exhibit of contemporary artworks that spook to the history beneath the feet of artists working in the Riverwards neighborhoods of northern Philadelphia. Exploring the themes of hand craft, functionality, and fragmentation, these 10 installations drew connections to the origins of the artisan community that was seeing a resurgence in Northern Liberties, Kensington-Fishtown, and Port Richmond. The exhibit was in compliment to From the Ground Up: Archaeology, Artisans, Everyday Life, an exhibition in partnership with AECOM-Burlington that explored findings from the archeological investigation being conducted along the expanding I-95 corridor. Curated by Paul Swenbeck. Participating Artists: Kate Abercrombie, Astrid Bowlby, Marley Dawson, Micah Danges, Bridget & Seth Farnack, Richard Harrod, Darla Jackson, Jake Kehs, Andrea Marquis, Paul Swenbeck & Joy Feasley.
Emanation: Art + Process
May 1, 2015 through January 3, 2016, 6300 sq ft
A groundbreaking exhibition that featured work made by contemporary artists invited to utilize the studio and museum resources at WheatonArts to create new work. In keeping with the definition of “Emanation,” an abstract but perceptible thing that issues of originates from a source, the works exhibited were interpreted with an emphasis on the artists’ creative process as well as their shared experience of working with a technical medium such as glass. Participating artists were Mark Dion, Paula Hayes, Carolyn Healy and John Phillips, Donald Lipski, Virgil Marti, Michael Oatman, Judy Pfaff, Jocelyne Prince, Rob Wynne, and Mark Zirpel.
Creativity Ascertained: The Art of the Fellowship
April 1, 2015 through January 3, 2016, 550 sq ft
The exhibit highlighted recent Creative Glass Center of America Fellows who used their time to explore their craft, the medium and personal expression in refreshing and provocative ways. Sketches, prototypes and other evidence of each featured fellow’s creative process showed how WheatonArts, Fellowship host, is a haven for experimentation. Participating artists were Megan Biddle, Deborah Czeresko, Chris Duffy, Karin Forslund, Max Grossman, Brett Swenson, Bryan McGovern Wilson, Celeste Wilson, Chris Wolston, and Ben Wright.
NJ350: Through the Lens of Glass
April 1, 2014 through January 4, 2015, 5500 sq ft
This exhibit, in honor of the state-wide celebration of the 350th anniversary of New Jersey, explored the relationship between glass and South Jersey through use of the renowned collection and archives of the Museum of American Glass, oral histories of local glassmakers, and examples of current glass craft and artistry of artists currently working in the region. The New York Times noted in their review, “Their interest in keeping such traditions alive reinforces the cultural importance of Wheaton.”
Durand: Made In New Jersey
April 1, 2014 through January 4, 2015, 550 sq ft
To celebrate the creativity and craftsmanship of this home grown company during New Jersey’s 350th anniversary, WheatonArts is exhibited over 50 pieces of Durand Art Glass. Only in operation from 1924 through 1931, the “fancy shop” at the Vineland Flint Glass Works in Vineland, NJ made an impact on the American glass world with their Durand Art Glass line. Drawing from the same decorative Art Nouveau trends as Tiffany and Quezal, Durand Art Glass had its own style, earning them a gold medal at the Sesquicentennial International Exhibition in 1926.
Wheaton Glass: The Art of the Fellowship
April 1, 2013 through January 5, 2014, 5500 sq ft
In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Creative Glass Center of America’s Fellowship Program this exhibit illustrated the wide variety of contemporary glass art created by this diverse group of international artists. The artists and work chosen for this anniversary exhibition by guest curators Diane Wright and Tina Aufiero, prompted conversations about the legacy of the Fellows, the traditions of glassmaking, and the evolution of both methods and concepts articulated in glass. The show highlighted a wide range of artists from the past decades, acknowledging early studio glassmakers while focusing on the work of more recent fellows.
Celebrating 30: The Creative Glass Center of America Collection at WheatonArts
April 1, 2013 through January 5, 2014, 550 sq ft
Recognizing the needs of emerging contemporary artists working in glass, WheatonArts established the Creative Glass Center of America (CGCA) Fellowship Program in 1983 with a goal “to provide direct support to emerging and mid-career artists who work in glass.” As of this exhibit, three hundred fifty fellowships have been provided. A requirement of accepting a fellowship is to donate a piece to WheatonArts to document the work done while in residence. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the CGCA, this exhibit was organized to showcase some of the work from the CGCA collection by artists featured in Wheaton Glass: The Art of the Fellowship.
Remembering Ginen: Haitian Vodou Bottles, Flags and Vèvè
September 20, 2013 through January 5, 2014, 885 sq ft
This exhibition aimed to inspire understanding and appreciation of Haitian creativity and artistic expressions. Vodou, an official Haitian religion, combines beliefs of African religious practice and Christianity. Vodou arts are integrated into Vodou ceremonies, but the Vodou lwa (spirits) also serve as muses inspiring Haitian artists to create vivid works that relate to universal human values and join us all in a dialogue about the meaning of the past in the present, harmony and balance, life, hope, and possible future. The exhibition’s major focus was on the artworks of the Haitian artist Kesler Pierre. Each of Kesler’s bottles is designed to incorporate the vévé, or symbol, associated with the individual lwa for whom it is intended. Kesler uses paint to present a contemporary artistic vision of the traditional beaded bottles.
2013 Wheaton Glass: The Art of the Fellowship
April through December 2013
In 2013 the Creative Glass Center of America (CGCA) at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center celebrates three decades of support for artists and craftspeople working in glass. Since 1983, over three hundred fellowship recipients have conceived and executed artistic ideas and objects at the CGCA, benefiting from the facilities, financial support and creative environment provided by WheatonArts. “Wheaton Glass: The Art of the Fellowship” provides only a glimpse into the work created through and inspired by the CGCA fellowship program.
This invitational exhibition, curated by Diane Wright and Tina Aufiero, illustrates the wide variety of glass created by this diverse group of international artists, many of whom remain linked by their fellowship experience.
Participating Artists and Their Year of Fellowship(s)
Hank Adams (USA, 2001), Megan Biddle (USA, 2005, 2009), Stine Bidstrup (Denmark, 2007), Jesse Blackmer (USA, 2012), Jennifer Blazina, USA, 2003), Lucio Bubacco (Italy, 1993), Robin Cass (USA, 1993), Vanessa Cutler (UK, 2008), Deborah Czeresko (USA, 2006, 2010), Isabel De Obaldia (Panama, 2006), Sandra DeClerk (Germany, 2010), Ron Desmett (USA, 1991), Katherine Gray (USA, 1992), Jens Gussek, Germany, 2004), Jennifer Halvorson (USA, 2010), James Harmon (USA, 1983, 1988), Eva Heyd (Czech Republic, 2006), Jessica Julius (USA, 2007, 2011), Saman Kalantari (Italy 2010), David King (USA, 2011), Karen LaMonte (USA, 1991, 2002), Beth Lipman (USA, 2001), Elizabeth McClure (New Zealand, 1997), Josiah McElheny (USA, 1992, 1995), Rick Mills (USA, 1986, 2004), Anna Mlasowsky (Germany, 2011), Gregory Nangle (USA, 2006), Andrew Newbold (USA, 2006), Edison Osorio Zapata (USA, 2008), Jackie Pancari (USA, 1997), Sibylle Peretti (USA, 1992, 1997, 2004), Charlotte Potter (USA, 2008), Jocelyne Prince (Canada, 2000), Anne-Lise Riond Sibony (France, 2009), Erica Rosenfeld (USA, 2007, 2011), David Schnuckel (USA, 2009), Mary Shaffer (USA, 1989), Anjali Srinivasan (India, 2009), Ethan Stern (USA, 2008), Brynhildur Thorgeirsdottir (Iceland, 1989), David Walters (USA, 1995, 2004), Harumi Yakutake (Japan, 1996), Hiroshi Yamano (Japan, 1989), Walter Zimmerman (USA, 1995, 2001), Mark Zirpel (USA, 2004).
“PIONEERS OF AMERICAN STUDIO GLASS: Edris Eckhardt, Maurice Heaton, Frances and Michael Higgins”
April through December 31, 2012
2012 is the 50th anniversary of the glass workshops held at the Toledo Museum of Art which led to the birth of the American Studio Glass Movement. Before the workshop, four pioneer artists were working with glass. Edris Eckhardt, Maurice Heaton and Frances and Michael Higgins began experimenting with glass techniques in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
Eckhardt, initially trained in ceramics, invented her own glass formulas to create her sculpture. She may have been the first American studio glass artist to formulate her own glass batch instead of simply melting cullet.
Heaton, a designer of stained glass, became adept at slumping flat sheets of hot glass into or over a mold to form vessel shapes. His work is characterized by detailed, linear patterns created by fusing crushed, colored enamels onto the surface of the glass.
The Higgins’ were a husband-and-wife team who produced commercial tableware for Dearborn Glass. In addition, the couple individually created unique hinged boxes, mobiles, flat panels and vessel forms that were distinguished by their delicate designs.
Once overlooked, today these artists have come to be appreciated for their dedication and creativity which fostered new interest in utilizing glass as art. The pieces on display illustrate the work of all four of these pioneer artists.
“CELEBRATING 50 YEARS: AMERICAN STUDIO GLASS”
April through December 31, 2012
Fifty years ago, a glass workshop held at the Toledo Museum of Art under the direction of Harvey Littleton and Dominic Labino, led to the founding of the American Studio Glass Movement. From this small gathering and the following second workshop, artists began experimenting with glass as an artistic medium.
After the second workshop a report was published stating the purpose of the workshop: “To introduce the basic material (glass), the molten metal, to the artists and craftsmen- to design and test the equipment which they might construct themselves- to investigate techniques for the artist working alone- to look with this knowledge at the glass of the past and present- to look at education possibilities within the secondary, college and university systems. “
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, glass programs were established at universities, and educational centers offered workshops and summer classes. In 1983, the fellowship program, the Creative Glass Center of America was founded at Wheaton Village (today the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center.) By the early 21st century, museums across the country built glass making demonstration facilities in conjunction with their glass exhibition spaces. Glass, no longer just a utilitarian product, had become a medium of fine art.
To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary, this exhibition has been organized to illuminate the enormous advances and significant changes in the Movement by the decades. Pieces from the extensive collection of the Museum of American Glass were chosen to illustrate the evolution of American Studio Glass.
“Cycles and Symbols: Nature in Glass”
April 1 through October 16, 2011
Cycles and Symbols: Nature in Glass examines some of the many ways that contemporary artists working with glass use nature as a source of their work and an inspiration for ideas they explore in relation to memory, time, transition, place, identity, origins of life, beauty, fragility, strength, and protection.
The Special Exhibition Gallery showcases work by Christine Barney, Christina Bothwell, Daniel Cutrone, Steffen Dam, Jim Harmon, Luke Jerram, Yasuko Miyazaki, Sibylle Peretti, Pike Powers, Ivana Sramkova, Paul J. Stankard, and Mark Zirpel. Work by Kathleen Mulcahy, Ron Desmett and Susan Taylor Glasgow will be on display in the museum lobby.
People, Places, Paperweight Exhibit
April through December 2010
Paperweights were made by glass workers at American glass factories as regular company production or by the glassblowers on their own time as personal items. Many of these individuals worked their entire careers at the same factory while others left or retired and opened their own small glass businesses.
In the 1850s, the New England Glass Company and the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company were the first American glass companies to produce paperweights as part of the companies’ production. The two factories hired French glassblowers to make the first examples. By the 20th century, glass companies had trained skilled glass workers who made the weights.
Other factories allowed their workers at the end of the day or when their quota was finished to use the glass to make paperweights. These weights were given as gifts or sold for extra money. The most recognized of all these types of paperweights were made by the glass workers at the Whitall Tatum Company in Millville, New Jersey in the 1880s. This practice continued into the late 20th century.
This exhibition illustrates the production of sixteen American glass companies and the paperweights made by individuals associated with the factories.
THE GLASSBOOK PROJECT
June 18 through September 12, 2010
“The GlassBook Project,” a national initiative happening state-by-state and community by community, opens in the Museum of American Glass at WheatonArts on June 18 and continues through September 12. This exhibit of 44 glass books seeks to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and raise awareness about mental health issues including the healing processes that take place after traumatic experiences.
The first collection of glass books was created in an elective Books Art class by artist/professor Nick Kline, Culture and Media Department, Rutgers University-Newark, NJ. Kline challenged college students to learn about the taboo topic of self injury (SIV) and to turn their understanding into a visual glass book. The students were given literature and research on the issue, but nothing helped them better understand the issue than talking with trauma survivors, directly and through poetry. The classroom process took only four weeks, but from this project came an exhibit that has impacted individuals around the nation. Since the campus does not have a glass facility, the books were created with the help and use of the GlassRoots facility (glassroots.org) in Newark.
People who have lived the experience share in the book’s creation and feel understood; providers and communities learn about trauma… a starting point for true social inclusion, healing and empowerment. Through that process, students began to understand trauma and how healing happens, and they created their books to tell the story. The learning and understanding started in the classroom and continues in communities around the country. Even professionals in state mental health departments have commented that the exhibit, and what the students have done, has helped them to truly understand that SIV is an expression and release of deep emotional pain.
The subsequent exposure, through exhibits and presentations, addresses stigma and discrimination and builds understanding. Healing relationships develop and communities benefit as a result. The New Jersey Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma has united with Rutgers University, Witness Justice and many other groups to support this project.
The national collection, with books from every state in the country, is intended to tour and be exhibited to continue the discussion on trauma and healing. The books are aimed for installation at the Library of Congress, among other prestigious art galleries and high-profile venues. The GlassBook Project is a program of Witness Justice and Rutgers University-Newark, Department of Arts, Media and Culture. Curriculum development is funded by the Center for Mental Health Services, DHHS/SAMHSA. For more information, visit glassbookproject.org.
