VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

This winter, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) heats up with two concurrent exhibitions featuring the red-hot medium of glass: Hot Glass, Cool Collections and Environments = Form + Space.

The glass celebration concludes with a blazing lineup of closing weekend events, including live glass demonstrations, a talk by Paul Stankard, and a fiery cocktail fundraiser.

Hot Glass, Cool Collections (in the large gallery) offers a glimpse inside 12 of Houston’s best private glass collections. The exquisite works on view represent the many styles and techniques of the Studio Glass Movement—including hand-blown, kiln-worked, torch-worked and cold-worked glass.

The show includes over 60 pieces by such masters as Dale Chihuly, Harvey Littleton, Dante Marioni, Richard Marquis, William Morris, Michael Schunke, Preston Singletary, Paul Stankard, Lino Tagliapietra, Toots Zynsky and many others.

Environments = Form + Space (in the small gallery) features imaginative installations by three emerging glass artists, Matthew Eskuche, Amy Rueffert, and Pablo Soto, who present new and expansive ways to define the discipline of glass. Emphasizing the importance of form over function and the relationship between objects and the spaces they occupy, the show explores the unique environments created by nontraditional glass forms, while pushing the boundary between contemporary art and craft.

Opening Weekend Events
December 12 – 14, 2008 (Free and Open to the Public)

• Opening Reception: Friday, December 12, 5:30 – 8:00 PM

• “Collecting Craft” Panel Discussion: Saturday, December 13, 2:00 PM

• Live Hot Glass Demo: Sunday, December 14, 2:00 PM (at Houston Studio Glass, 610 Jackson Hill)

Closing Weekend Events
March 14 - 15, 2009

• Hot Glass Demonstrations: Saturday, March 14, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Watch live glass demonstrations by two of America’s most celebrated glass artists--Matthew Eskuche and Paul Stankard--as they demonstrate glass work on the torch.(Free and open to the public.)

• Red Hot! Saturday March 14, 8:00 – 11:00 PM. This fiery cocktail fundraiser includes crafty cocktails, tasty nibbles, hot glass demonstrations, and a raffle of glass art created throughout the evening. ($40 per person.)

• Talk by Paul Stankard: Sunday, March 15, 2:00 PM. Attend a lecture by Paul Stankard, the world-renowned glass artist who encases his delicate sculptures of flowers and insects in globes and cubes of clear glass. (Free and open to the public.)

Pictured: Toots Zynsky, Jealous Chaos, 1998. Fused and slumped colored-glass threads. Photo by Matt Smith.