GASNews October/ November 2011 Volume 22 ... - Glass Art Society

Pilchuck at 40:
Still Introducing
Artists to Glass
By Diane C. Wright
Judy Chicago, Albert Paley and Isabel
and Reuben Toledo are not exactly names
you associate with the glass world. If
you were interested in these and other
contemporary artists, you would likely
be searching through publications on
metals or fashion design. But Chicago,
Paley, the Toledos and a long list of other
well-established, high-profile artists have
made what people working primarily in
glass view as one of the most important
pilgrimages there is – a voyage to Pilchuck
as an artist in residence.
Much has been written about the
40th anniversary of Pilchuck Glass
School in the past months, but there has
been little mentioned about one of the
more important programs they offer: the
Professional Artist in Residence (AiRs).
Although officially started in 1980, there
have been professional artists in residence
at Pilchuck since 1972, the second year
of its existence. Founder Dale Chihuly
believed strongly that glass students
should be exposed to professional artists
in a working environment. The AiRs studios
were built in 1982-83 so that the artists
would have a defined studio space in the
core of the campus that allowed student
interaction with the visiting artists. Chihuly
had contacts with many mainstream artists
from his travels and exhibitions, and in
the early years he was heavily involved in
the decision making of who was invited to
participate in the AiRs program.
While the Studio Glass Movement was
well underway in the early 1980s, at that
time there were few programs like this
that gave artists unfettered use of studio
spaces, a wide range of materials and
equipment and a place where emerging
Jim Butler’s City of Your Dreams, as realized at Middlebury College
artists could interact with seasoned professionals.
The residency program at Wheaton-
Arts also began in the early 1980s, but the
program at the Corning Museum of Glass
did not get started until the 1990s.
So why does an artist working in
wood, fiber or photography want to spend
time at Pilchuck? Interviews with some of
these artists provided insights into what
inspired them to accept an invitation to
work at Pilchuck and how it influenced
their art. Through the eyes of someone
without hundreds of hours behind the
blow-pipe or the torch, the glass world
looks very different.
In 1998, Wendell Castle, a very
successful sculptor, designer and furniture
maker ventured out to Pilchuck and ended
up on the longest hiatus from his studio
that he can remember. Known as the
“father of art furniture,” he was fascinated
with the prospect of working in glass even
though he had never even done so much
as to experiment with the material. Castle’s
experience at Pilchuck was not dissimilar
to other non-glass artists confronting the
medium for the first time. It was mysterious
and yet full of potential and possibilities.
The AiRs program gives artists an
opportunity to work in a variety of glassmaking
techniques, including blowing,
casting, flameworking and printmaking.
Most artists find themselves gravitating
quickly towards a particular process. For
Castle, he realized his designs translated
well in glass sculpture and his experience
there resulted in hot-sculpted pieces that
were incorporated into his furniture. He
left wanting to do more with glass but
was unable to find the time or place to
make this happen. Today he is interested
in working with the material in a digital
capacity, using laser technology that
will solidify with heat or laser sintering a
material such as glass powder. He worked
with Jill Davis as his assistant while he
was in residence at Pilchuck.
John McQueen went out to Pilchuck
to participate in the residency program
in 2003. A fiber artist who also had
never approached any sort of glass prior
to Pilchuck, McQueen was interested in
8