Over 100 pieces of glass art were donated for this year’s auction. 22 of those pieces were curated into the Live Auction by Executive Director Heather McElwee. The staff was asked to pick a favorite piece from the live auction, assuming cost, size and any other limiting factors were eliminated. The work here is stellar and to choose a favorite was a tough task but several staff members rose to that challenge!
Heather McElwee, Executive Director
Jeremy Lepisto- Central Symmetry
“I love the simplicity in his work and the reference to architectural elements, plus this piece in particular reminds me of Pittsburgh’s bridges.”
Jason Forck, Youth Education Coordinator
Benjamin Moore- Cobalt Interior Fold
“I like the way Ben combines classic technical skills with a modern sense of design to create these interior fold vessels.”
Brian Engel, Studio Coordinator
Benjamin Moore- Cobalt Interior Fold
“I’ve been eyeballing this piece from the time it came out of the box and dreaming about how wonderful it would be to have it as a part of my collection. For me this piece is a constant reminder of the bridge built by Mr. Moore between Venetian technique and contemporary American design. We as glass artists are forever in debt to Ben Moore for his contributions to the Studio Glass Movement and Venetian connection, and this piece stands as a constant reminder.”
It’s no wonder this Benjamin Moore piece was a favorite—it has already sold at the Buy It Now price.
Billy Guilford, Studio Technician
Janusz Pozniak- Reticello Veronese
“Aesthetically the Veronese is perfect - the proportions are dead on, and as a glass artist I appreciate that kind of thing.
Paige Ilkhanipour, Marketing Director
Rik Allen & Shelley Muzylowski-Allen- Super Mouse Saves the Day!
“It would go perfectly with my Zoot Zipper by Rik Allen.”
Sam Laffey, Marketing Associate
Lyla Nelson, Botanicals
“I love that this piece is nature inspired—most of the artwork I own is nature inspired and organic so it just fits well. I also love the juxtaposition of muted and bright colors and the deep and detailed texture.”
Becky Smith, Instructor
Jeff Mack- Guggenheim Goblet
“This piece has so much history wrapped up in all it’s detail and difficulty. I love that I got to see Jeff make it at PGC when he was here last summer.”
So, now we ask you, if cost, size, etc was no issue, what is your favorite? What would you most like to have in your home?
All photos by Nathan J. Shaulis.
Did Summer go fast for you? It went really fast here at PGC! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not really the end of summer yet—I mean, we have summer hours through September 4, right? But yesterday signified the end of our summer session of classes which for us is a big deal. The summer session of classes is the only time of year where the whole building operates in a different way and at a different pace. We see students and instructors come from all over the world to work here in our studios and really creative wonderful things happen.
Check out some more of the amazing photos captured during these classes this summer!
But, now official PGC Fall doesn’t start until mid September. What are we up to until then? This is down time for our studios and equipment when ovens are cool and our technicians can get in and do routine maintenance as well as complete seriously needed repairs so that everything is ready to go for the aforementioned fall class season. You might be surprised to see what goes into cleaning and maintaining of our thousand pound hot glass furnaces—someone has to actually crawl inside to do the work!
Meanwhile, our office staff fields calls and emails to answer questions for people planning to sign up for fall classes, as well as plans the event of the year, our annual fundraiser Art on Fire Celebration & Auction! This year our theme is super heroes as we celebrate the artists and supporters that have helped PGC thrive for its first 10 years and help us to prepare for the next decade! If you’ve never attended this party in the past, it’s really a treat with tasty food and drinks and up close views of incredible glass art. Plus all the money raised supports PGC’s education and exhibition programs!
And of course, even though the building is quiet during this hiatus between summer and fall, we’re still open to the public during our normal summer hours (M 10-4, T-Th 10-7, Fr-Sat 10-4, closed Sunday) so visitors can see the amazing 10x10x10 exhibition in our gallery. It’s been lauded as one of the best shows in PGC’s history so you really can’t miss it—it’s up through September 17th!
If the current weather holds out, the name of this event will certainly prove to be very apropos, and really we weren’t taking a huge gamble on that scheduling this event in late July in Pittsburgh, were we?
So far our 10th anniversary celebrations have been amazing. We kicked it off with the 10th fundraiser Art on Fire Celebration & Auction in October of 2010 raising over $100,000 in one night to support the artistic and educational programs that we offer throughout the year. Then, we followed up with some Xtreme class offerings, and number “10” themed exhibitions. If you haven’t yet seen the current 10x10x10 exhibition featuring 220 artists, it’s really not to be missed. If you can’t make it in to see it in person, there is a digital catalog showcasing all the work thanks to our favorite local photographer Nathan J. Shaulis.
It’s all been building up to this big birthday BBQ on July 23 called Hot & Sticky!
Some of the exciting elements of this killer party are:
Tasty Treats
Corn lollipops, bourbon shrimp, finger lickin’ ribs, pulled pork and more from 2 Brothers BBQ
Sweet treats from Dave & Andy’s Homemade Ice Cream
Sticky s’mores made with Pittsburgh Marshmallow Factory’s custom creations- look at that! mmmmm….
Cool Refreshments
Your favorite microbrews and mine from East End Brewing
Tasty twisted cocktails from Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka and FUZE
Caffeine to keep you going all night long from Voluto Coffee
Xciting Entertainment
Burnt Asphalt Family invites you to eat food from spinning towers of fire, poured glass grills, and hot glass sculpture!
Fiery feats by Andrew the Impaled
Rhythm and beats to dance the night away from The Allegheny Rhythm Rangers
And well, that’s just not all!
Don’t forget with a VIP ticket (limited to 100) you get private access to the Verde Lounge a cool space overlooking the party where you’ll get to be the first to sample the creations from our soon to be neighbor Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina and their exciting chef, as well as private demos, and a special Hot & Sticky gift!
We can’t even begin to thank all of our supporters over our first 10 years or express how excited we are to be able to commemorate this occasion with such a unique and fun party. The best anniversary present ever would be for you all to come have a great time helping us celebrate and looking forward to the next years!
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There is an amazing number of people who go into creating and executing an event like this. While many are mentioned above, the complete (so far) list follows. Please remember the people and businesses and support them as they have supported us!
Dollar Bank, Sampson Morris Group, Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina, Karen & Daniel Johnese, Lea Simonds, Violet Soffer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Songwhale, FUZE Beverage, WYEP, Boyd & Blair Potato Vodka, East End Brewing Company, Whole Foods, Nerds Behind the Lens, La Dorita Dulce de Leche, KNOTdance, Pittsburgh Marshmallow Factory, Voluto Coffee, The Yoga Hive, Richard Parsakian, Laurie Moser, Brian Supler
It’s shameful that there hasn’t been any posting here on this blog since November—we’re so sorry! We’ve had so much going on that blogging about those things fell by the way side.
Good things that have happened:
A record number of you signed up for Winter and Spring classes and workshops- go you!
A record number of you applied for Summer Scholarships and we gave out a record number of Summer Scholarship Awards- go you and go us!
The TENacity show was a huge hit!
Good things yet to come:
Gardens of Glass Spring Sale is THIS WEEKEND!
Summer classes haven’t started yet. We’re consistently told it’s one of our best instructor line-ups yet. Many classes still have space. Check them out! Oh, and we’re offering payment plans which we’ve never done before, email saml@pittsburghglasscenter.org for details.
10x10x10 is coming soon. (May 6 to be exact) The Hodge Gallery will be filled with artwork by over 200 artists from around the world. The tech staff has built over 150 new pedestals for this show. It’s the 30th show we’ve had in the gallery over 10 years and it’s the most ambitious to date as we celebrate our 10th anniversary. Not to be missed!
Hot & Sticky is going to be a great community party at PGC on July 23 with special demos, music and entertainment. Learn more about this exciting celebration of PGC’s 10 years and it’s supporters in an upcoming blog post!
Pittsburgh is Art Day of Giving is just like last fall’s Day of Giving, but only for arts organizations. All donations (at least $15) made through the Pittsburgh Gives website on May 11, 2011 will be matched with a portion of a $500,000 pool. Don’t miss this opportunity to make a big impact with a small donation!
We promise to do better about sharing this info with you in a timely manner. Don’t hesitate to give us ideas on what you’d like to hear about in this forum!
Is anyone else annoyed that I just titled this post with that phrase? I am. Where on earth has this year gone?
It seems that every time I turn around, something amazing that I was looking forward to has already happened. Sometimes I missed it and sometimes I didn’t. With less than 2 months left of 2010, there’s so much happening here at PGC that I know I’m going to feel like I missed when I come back to work after the New Year. Let me tell you about them so maybe you won’t miss them!
There are still tons of 2 hour workshops available! Blown Glass Ornaments has proven to be one of our most popular classes once again and almost every section is full, but Flamecicles, and Fused Glass Ornaments, as well as the less seasonal options of Paperweights, Fused Tiles, Wine Stoppers and more all have ample availability. These provide such an incredible opportunity to make a unique handmade gift for someone you love! I personally have a hard time giving away my creations and prefer to keep them for myself, which is a valid option for you as well ;)
Our annual holiday sale which hosts nearly 2 dozen local artists selling their creations has been extended an additional day! At the same time our friends over at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts will have their annual expanded holiday shop open so there’s a multitude of options for local, handmade, creative gifts this year!
And of course the Holiday Make-It-Now on Dec 4 as well!
On Dec 17, our High School Students will hold their end of session exhibition to display all their creations from this Fall. It’s always really exciting to see what the students at different levels learn over the course of their 10 week course.
In addition to all that’s left in 2010, we’re busily working away at what’s to come for 2011!
We kicked off our 10th anniversary in October and 2011 will be filled with exciting exhibitions, events, and classes to continue the momentous celebration. We would have never made it to 10 years old without the support of our artists, students, and donors so we hope you’ll enjoy all the programming we’ve come up with to celebrate our success!
For our final class of the session, we were given full reign of our three hours, open to work on whatever projects we desired.
With all the freedom, I wanted to be sure and work on techniques I had only tried once or twice - so cups were out of the running. My first piece was a small vase that I used jacks to pull the neck on (as opposed to newspaper) which I added a small blue body wrap to. I was happy with the general shape of the vase but less satisfied with the size.
I seem to suffer from teeny tiny gather syndrome. Although my gathers are usually fairly even, they are always wicked small (I am reminded each week that I’m probably not turning fast enough in the glass). So for my final piece I had one goal – Make it big. Remember a few weeks ago we practiced working with three gathers? Same drill, except I ended up taking four gathers just to get about the same amount of glass. I worked that glass into a simple vase with a body wrap – I know, another class, another body wrap.
Even with four gathers, my “big” vase is only about seven inches tall. Still, it’s the largest piece I’ve made during my glassblowing time so I am pleased with it. It will be a while before I can take another glassblowing class (PGC does one week intensive courses during the summer – check it out). Until then, I’ll try to catch some practice time with my glassblowing buddies and work on lip wraps, improved facility with newspaper and try to find a cure for my teeny tiny gather syndrome.
Much thanks to all the folks at PGC (especially all my fabulous instructors and TAs) for another spectacular glass class!
With only two classes left in the session, Everett gave us two more techniques to add to our glassblowing repertoire. Bowls and wraps that go both ways.
Funny enough, each of these new skills at some point entailed, “Hey, remember that thing you’ve been learning to do? Ok, now do the opposite.”
Up until now, we’ve been using gravity to elongate the glass into a cylinder for our cups and vases. To make a bowl instead, we cap the end of the pipe with our thumb (to keep air trapped inside) and hold the pipe up, using gravity to squat out the shape. Then after transferring to a punty, the shape is opened up wide to create the bowl.
When applying body wraps to our glass, we’ve been using extreme care to maintain consistent thickness and spacing of the wrap, all while rolling the pipe away from us. For this new, crazy wrap, we apply it while spinning both ways and paying no attention to thickness or spacing. This ends up adding a pantload of glass to your piece. How much is a pantload exactly? An awful lot. Once the wrap is on, you take a super reheat and marver the wrap into the rest of the glass. Since you marver the piece, this wrap is applied sooner than a traditional body wrap and results in a more subtle addition. Think of a stripe instead of a trail.
In practicing these new tricks, I created a bowl with a light purple stripe and a cup with an orange lip wrap. Although my lip wrap skills are still a work in progress, I am pleased to say that my mistakes are coming fewer and farther between!
I just spent about an hour and a half watching John Miller making an enormous cheeseburger up in the hot shop.
The cheeseburger is part of Miller’s “Blue Plate Special” series. Super-sized fast food sculptures from French fries to burgers are reminiscent of a certain Swedish pop artist. Miller is at the PGC all this week creating new work for hisupcoming show at the PGC’s Hodge Gallery.
How many glass blowers does it take to create a ≈ two-foot-wide cheeseburger? Well, Miller is working with four assistants upstairs. I watched as they crafted four cheese triangles and the lower half of the bun.
The collaborative dance created while attaching the cheese to the bun was pretty impressive, but watching the entire group smack the bun using the ends of tweezers was probably the most fun / silly moment.
The John Miller show opens on July 2nd, but if you can’t wait until then (I know my stomach is already growling), stop by PGC this week to watch the glass in action!
All photos in this blog are from Miller’s “Donut Demo” and courtesy of Nathan J Shaulis - thank you!
This week wasn’t focused as much on shapes as it was on details and making our vessels pretty. Really, who doesn’t want to adorn their cup in a body wrap? Why take a simple vase when you could have one with a lip wrap? You’d rather have the best of both worlds? Well, okay then, you can have both.
We learned wraps in Hot I and also practiced them a few weeks ago, but this week we were able to spend a little more time and start adding color. Just a reminder, lip wraps and body wraps are the addition of a trail of glass from a small, tapered gather. Lip wraps are laid on the top of the lip, body wraps go around, well, the body. After a quick refresher, we were given the bulk of our class time to work on projects of our own design.
I had intended to do a body wrap on my first piece but changed my mind halfway through and decided to do a lip wrap instead. The proper order for a lip wrap is to transfer your piece, trim the lip and then add the lip wrap BEFORE opening the form. In a beginner glassblower moment (I’m too young for senior moments) I forgot and opened my form without the lip wrap. So my first cup of the day actually came out naked. Learning from my mistake (and sticking with my original goal), my next cup was slightly lopsided, but with a light blue body wrap.
I know that for more experienced glassblowers, wraps are probably a dime a dozen. But I am still getting big thrills out of these simple tricks. I brought my blue body wrap cup home to meet some of my other cups; I could tell that my plain cups were jealous of this fancy newcomer.
Have a look for yourself, here is blue body wrap cup hanging out in the kitchen with my other cups (yes, they are in fact recycled jars).
Even slightly tipsy, blue body wrap cup looks like he’s having more fun – don’t you think?
A deep sigh of relief…things in the hot shop are looking up!
I’m not sure if it was the full eight hours of sleep I got the night before or the enormous coffee I had at the start of class. One way or the other, blowing glass was actually making sense on Saturday. Not only did I manage not to break anything, I also managed to make (and keep) both a cup and a very tiny vessel with a neck. These are the first two pieces I’ve kept from Hot II.
My partner and I took turns making vessels and pulling necks. Instead of using newspaper to begin the neck (like we did last week), we used our jacks to put in a line for the start of the neck and then pulled the neck out (still with the jacks). Although you get pretty much the same result with either jacks or newspaper – I think I like the jacks better. Maybe I should try the newspaper again before making any serious commitment to jacks.
After finishing one piece each, we had a little time left over to play (practice). I used my time to crank out a cup – although I’m still not able to do it in 15 minutes!
Although success was enjoyed by all, it took us an awfully long time. We each spent about 45 minutes on our necks. Also, even though Everett keeps showing us how to use a soffietta to blow up shapes after they’ve been transferred to puntys, I’ve yet to do it. Two new goals for the last three classes: speed up my steps and try out a soffietta.
