Pathfinders: Paving the Glass Revolution in the U.S.
APRIL 11th – JULY 14th
Produced in partnership with the Sandwich Glass Museum and in consultation with the New Bedford Museum of Glass, Pathfinders: Paving the Glass Revolution in the U.S. chronicles the impact of Dale Chihuly’s influence in the studio glass movement.
Chihuly’s founding of the Pilchuck School – a place that has nurtured and schooled a community of artists in glass art techniques for more than 50 years – along with his visionary deployment of glass in the creation of monumental environmental sculpture, cemented a new legitimacy for the medium as a vehicle for fine art. The exhibition includes leaders in the world of glass sculpture from the 1960s up to contemporary glass artists.
See the full collection in person at the Art Museum.
KéKé Cribbs
Artist Statement
I have worked in and in glass since 1980. My desire has always been to investigate the possibilities of adding imagery and color to the surface of the glass. Techniques I have explored include sand carving, engraving and etching, gold leaf and fired vitreous enamels.
The work in this exhibition is all made by reverse painting on window glass using vitreous enamels fired in a kiln. Large sheets of glass are painted with both transparent and opaque enamels, fired at least three times, often gold leafed, and then cut into smaller mosaic pieces. Larger works, such as the sail of the boats where I develop narrative imagery, are left in tact.
I have always used other materials to enhance my works in glass, especially when using flat glass to make sculptural works. The boats are built over hump molds using thin set mortar and fiberglass mesh. The paintings include torn painted linen.
Nick Leonoff
Nick Leonoff was born in 1978 in Santa Clara, California. Leonoff began working with glass as an apprentice to Alan Masaoka, a stained glass artist in 1998. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University in 2002. Leonoff returned to glass in 2004 when Alan Masaoka introduced him to glass blowing. He has studied at numerous Craft Schools around the country including Pilchuck Glass School, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Pittsburgh Glass Center, and the Studio at Corning.
He has studied with many notable artists including Davide Salvedore, Martin Janecky, Jack Wax and Jiri Harcuba, to learn his craft and develop his skills. Leonoff also considers himself self-taught with the considerable amount of time he has spent refining his techniques. In 2011, Leonoff moved his studio to Brooklyn, NY to further pursue his artistic endeavors. After a very creative and developmental time in NYC, Leonoff returned to his hometown of Carmel Valley, CA.
In 2017, he opened Leonoff Studios & Gallery where he creates his blown glass and shows his midrange works. He expanded in 2019 by opening a new showroom, Nick Leonoff Contemporary Glass Gallery to exhibit his blown and carved sculptures in Carmel Valley Village. Leonoff also continues to travel and exhibit his work at selected art fairs nationally.
Nancy Callan
Nancy Callan grew up near Boston, MA, working as a pizza-maker, band roadie and graphic designer before attending the Massachusetts College of Art (BFA 1996). A chance peek into the hot glass studio changed the trajectory of her life; she was entranced by the fluid, glowing material and the demanding choreography of working at the furnace. In 1996 she relocated to Seattle, WA to join maestro Lino Tagliapietra’s glassblowing team, rising to a key position as his assistant and travelling internationally to teach and demonstrate the craft. Through this nineteen-year apprenticeship, Callan mastered the traditional Venetian glassblowing techniques that are the foundation of her innovative work with line, pattern and color.
Nancy Callan has blazed a trail as an LGBTQ woman, helping to inspire, teach and mentor the next generation of diverse artists in glass. Residencies, workshops and collaborations continue to feed her practice and create space for experimentation. Callan’s work brings a contemporary sensibility to the material and processes of hot glass working.
Nancy Callan is represented by galleries throughout North America and her work is in the collections of the Museum of Glass (WA), Microsoft Collection, Chrysler Museum (VA), The Mint Museum (NC), Peabody-Essex Museum (MA), Barry Museum (VA), Corning Museum of Glass (NY) and the Shanghai Museum of Glass (China). A major solo exhibition, “Nancy Callan: Forces At Play”, opens at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA in October 2024.