Hot Spot

Although artists have been using glass to create objects of beauty and utility for more than 4,000 years, it was in 1962 that a group of artists devised techniques to create sculptural works of glass in a studio setting rather than with traditional factory methods. The results gave birth to the Studio Glass movement. The Studio Glass movement was introduced to California by Marvin Lipofsky, who established glass programs at UC Berkeley and California College of Arts, and by Robert Fritz, who founded the program at San Jose State University – the only glass programs on the west coast at that time. The Bay Area has been a “hot spot” for studio glass production ever since.

Hot Spot: Bay Area Studio Glass, is an original exhibition that celebrates the Bay Area’s continued prominence as a center for studio glass. With a focus on place and practice, the artwork on display will exemplify techniques such as glass blowing, fusing and casting, featuring work by Marvin Lipofsky, Mary B. White, Johnathon Turner, David Ruth, Susan Longini, and Liz Strickland, artists associated with Bay Area glass programs at California College of the Arts, San José State University and Bay Area Glass Institute (BAGI). In addition, the exhibit includes works from local glass studios: Bonny Doon Art Glass, Holy City Glass and Lundberg Studios.

Exhibition related programs include: an art:inFOCUS Lecture, Craft as an Action Word: California Art Glass, featuring a presentation by artist Mary B. White, and viewers of all ages are invited to create their own fused glass masterpiece at Family Art Day.