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Photo Credit: ABJ Seattle Glass Online
Photo Credit: ABJ Seattle Glass Online
"Red Hall 3"
Leana Quade, Instructor of the YearBecome a part of RED HOT 2009. Are you a glass artist? Apply to become a participating artist in the exclusive RED HOT Auction.
Participating artists’ work is showcased to 300+ glass collectors and enthusiasts. An artist biography and donated work are also featured on our website, in email broadcasts to 8,000+ Museum supporters, and in the RED HOT catalog.
Download and submit our RED HOT Procurement Form to apply today!"
http://museumofglass.org/programs-and-events/red-hot-2009/
"Thank you for your interest in submitting art to be included in the National Liberty Museum’s 10th Anniversary Glass Now Auction. This annual event is a major fundraiser for the Museum’s anti-violence and character education outreach programs, drawing support from the glass art community, the primary art form featured in the Museum.
The National Liberty Museum is the only museum is the world that uses contemporary glass art for the purpose of celebrating freedom and defusing violence and hate. By incorporating glass art in exhibits on Civic Responsibility, Respect for Diversity, Peaceful Conflict Resolution and Heroism, we make the point that freedom is as fragile as glass and every citizen has the duty to protect it through his or her own actions. More than 450,000 students, families and visitors from across the country and around the world have visited the Museum since we opened our doors in 2000. We have been told that our message is changing lives, while creating a whole new generation of glass art enthusiasts.
Q: In what ways is this exhibition different than other glass exhibitions and why did you decide to break from tradition?Lynda Benglis (United States, born 1941), MI, 1984, glass, sandcast, powdered; ceramic oxides, metal inclusions, 12 1/2 x 17 x 16 in., gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, @ Lynda Benglis/VAGA, New York, Photo @ 2005 Museum Associates/LACMA, M.86.273.1
Q: Is there something, other than their choice of medium, that unifies these artists?Ivan Mareš (Czech Republic, born 1956), Haystack, 1996, kiln-cut glass, 21 x 45 x 8 in., collection of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, @ Ivan Mareš, photo courtesy of Heller Gallery, New York.
Q: What should visitors keep in mind when viewing Glass?Toots Zynsky (United States, born 1951), Chaos in Paradise, 1995, glass threads, fused, 8 x 16 x 8 in., collection of Dale and Doug Anderson, Palm Beach, FL, @ Toots Zynsky, photo @ 2005 Museum Associates/LACMA, by Peter Harholdt.
Robert Lewis
According to its Web site, Pratt’s mission is to be “an arts education and resource center dedicated to promoting creative development and artistic engagement to the local and global community.”
Pratt has four main studios; one each for glass, printmaking, sculpture, and jewelry and metals.
Two bright orange and yellow buildings house Pratt’s printmaking studios. There, several antique presses and photo exposure units are housed.
While each of Pratt’s studios is available to rent for a fee, Pratt offers Free Friday Access, when students can use studios for free on Fridays, said Karen Rudd, Pratt’s marketing and PR manager.
Today, Pratt’s hot shop — the glassblowing and glass casting studio — is full of several people working on glassblowing projects.
Artist and sculptor Jeanne Ferraro places a hot pipe on a metal platform to cool until it is comfortable enough to handle. Others are focused on their own projects, each wearing an expression of deep concentration.
“Sorry, I can’t talk,” Ferraro said. “I just need to concentrate on this.”
Pratt provides access to industrial equipment that is too expensive or impractical for most people to own.
“Something like this is really rare,” Rudd said. “This much of a facility and this being available for everyone is rare.”
Pratt offers year-round classes and workshops in a wide range of mediums, including stonecarving, woodworking, glassblowing, metal sculpture, jewelry and metalsmithing. Last year, Pratt offered 612 adult classes with prices ranging from $100 to $700.
“Our introductory-level classes in each studio are the most popular classes,” said Rudd, who started at Pratt as a student in 2001.
Pratt also offers a Master Artist Program and a Visiting Artist Program, where students can learn from nationally and internationally renowned artists.
At Pratt, advanced artists attend classes alongside beginners who may have never picked up a paintbrush. Because the classes are meant to teach technique, the difference in skill level works, said Rudd.
In a partnership with the UW, Pratt began offering UW students enrolled in Art 333: New Materials and Process the opportunity to use its facilities this past January.
From 2:30 to 5:20 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, the class is limited to 14 students.
“It is a survey class, meaning that we try to cover a number of different glass-forming methods,” said Mark Zirpel, an assistant professor at the UW. “Last quarter, we touched on plate-glass fabrications, slumping, fusing, kilncasting, moldmaking, sand casting and lampworking. As UW has no glass facilities of their own, it was thought a working relationship with Pratt would be a way to introduce UW students to glass from day one. Our plan is to begin to put together our own facilities over the next couple of years. So far, so good.”
Pratt was founded in 1976 as part of a city program, Rudd said. The goal of Seattle’s Department of Parks and Recreation was to provide visual arts training for those living in the area.
It was around this time Seward Park Clay Studio and others like it became vital elements in the visual arts community. After Seattle withdrew funding for the programs, Seward Park’s studio became self-supporting while Pratt was established as a private not-for-profit organization in 1982.
Pratt does everything but ceramics, which the Seward Park Clay Studio covers, Rudd said.
At Pratt, things are either hot or cold — literally. While the hot shop can, at times, be sweltering, the cold shop and the outdoor stonecarving area can be quite chilly, depending on Seattle’s ever-changing weather.
As expected of an art studio, numerous pieces of art are on display around Pratt’s studios. Several intricate glass pieces lay on a shelf and a nearby table, while a large bat-looking structure hangs inside Pratt’s sculpture studio.
A display of martini glasses lines a wall in the hot shop.
The glasses were made and donated by students and big-name artists for Pratt’s upcoming auction.
Now in its 27th year, Pratt’s annual Fine Art Auction will take place May 16, and the proceeds will be used to support Pratt.
“The night before the auction, we erect tents and invite people to see about 700 pieces of artwork,” said Rudd.
Pratt also offers other ways for people to get involved in the arts.
Aside from the auction, Pratt offers free lectures and exhibitions, which are held at Pratt and the Pratt Gallery at Tashiro Kaplan Studios in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.
For Rudd, Pratt is more than just an art studio.
“I’m an artist, and I believe that making art is one of the most powerful and transformational individual acts,” Rudd said. “So I believe strongly in Pratt’s mission of giving everyone the opportunity to make art.”"
Ciridon, N. "Hidden Seattle: Pratt Fine Arts Center" April 16, 2009. The Daily. University of Washington. http://dailyuw.com/2009/4/16/hidden-seattle-pratt-fine-arts-center/
