Top 10 for 2019: PGC's Year in Review
It's been a wild and wonderful 2019 at Pittsburgh Glass Center! Here's a peek at our 10 most notable moments from the past year.
FIRST ENDOWED DIRECTORSHIP
We received a major gift to establish our first endowed directorship, the Randi & L. Van V. Dauler, Jr. Executive Director chair. Randi Dauler and her late husband, Van, began supporting PGC in early 2001, before the facility opened. This gift represents their continuing and steadfast commitment to the Pittsburgh arts community and to Pittsburgh Glass Center in particular. This gift will free up always needed operating dollars to make sure PGC is sustainable far into the future and can continue to provide opportunities to artists and people of all ages and abilities. Read more from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
FIRST SEATTLE GLASS TOUR
We took our first glass collector’s tour to Seattle this spring. Fourteen passionate and enthusiastic glass lovers from Pittsburgh flew to Seattle for an exclusive, whirlwind tour of glass. Our adventure took us from the prestigious Tacoma Art Museum to a private tour of the Chihuly Boathouse and on to many private artist studios. See more photos from the tour.
HOT WHEELS REACHES OVER 250,000
Hot Wheels continues to roll around Pittsburgh and amaze and inspire people to come to PGC to try glass. Hot Wheels has reached over 250,000 in neighborhoods across the city and as far as Washington County and Erie, PA. Hot Wheels is made possible through support from the Emma Clyde Hodge Memorial Fund, and free and subsidized activities are also supported through the Grable Foundation and Allegheny Regional Asset District.
PENN + FAIRMOUNT BEST NEW LAUNCH BY ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
In February, Architectural Digest listed Penn + Fairmount as one of the best new product launches at NYNOW, the largest wholesale trade show in America. This year we employed 16 artists to produce the glass tableware. Shop Penn + Fairmount online.
PERCY ECHOLS II RECEIVES ADVANCING BLACK ARTS AWARD FOR NEON INNOVATION; TRAVELS TO “KINGDOM OF CRYSTAL”
Our first Ron Desmett Award recipient Percy Echols II is a leading neon innovator. He was awarded an Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant (a partnership of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments), which allowed him to travel to Sweden and also to develop a brand-new mobile plasma lab in addition to further developing his own artistic work. Echols, PGC’s resident plasma and neon expert, traveled to Sweden to an area known as “Kingdom of Crystal” because of its long history in glass production for two weeks to visit glass factories and to co-teach a workshop, and then he traveled to Boston to attend the inaugural conference of the Plasma Art Alliance. Both of these experiences allowed him to meet and share knowledge with other plasma artists from across the globe, some of whom Percy was able to meet in person for the first time. Read more about Percy's travels on our blog.
PITTSBURGH GLASS ARTISTS CONTINUE TO INNOVATE AND INSPIRE
We’re inspired by all the achievements of our local artists this year including:
- Percy Echols II Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh awardee
- Jaclyn Harris Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass Visionary Scholarship awardee
- Christopher Hofmann Contemporary Craft’s 2019/20 LEAP Award winner
- Tate Newfield One of the top 3 exhibiting artist members at the 2019 Glass Art Society conference
- Gillian Preston Featured on the cover of the Glass Art Society spring newsletter
HELLO REFUGEE FAMILIES; WELCOME TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
We partnered with Hello Neighbor, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization committed to supporting recently resettled refugee families from Syria, Myanmar, Bhutan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Algeria, Ivory Coast, and Somalia. 46 adults and 42 kids attended a glassblowing and mosaic making event at PGC. Hello Neighbor said it was one of the first events where adult refugees were equally as engaged as the children.
IMPORTANT IMMIGRATION EXHIBITION
Jaime Guerrero presented “Cuando el Río Suena” at PGC. The exhibition about immigration and the refugee crisis attracted the attention of multiple media outlets and also a visit from Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto. It encouraged and opened the doors for people to talk about immigration locally and nationally. In partnership with Casa San Jose, a community resource center which serves as a support base for Latinos who have recently arrived in Pittsburgh, PGC has raised nearly $500 for the organization. In addition, 10 children at Casa San Jose participated in a free 8-week afterschool glassblowing class. Read more about the making of exhibition on our blog.
REACHING OUT IN WASHINGTON + GREENE COUNTIES
With support from the EQT Foundation and Remake Learning through the Grable Foundation, we extended our reach to Washington and Greene counties. 735 kids (at 3 schools) were given the opportunity to make mosaics in their schools and 398 kids (from 7 schools) had the opportunity to come to PGC to make blown pumpkins, sculpted flowers, magnets, and fused sun catchers. Hot Wheels also traveled to Waynesburg during the spring Rain Festival.
UNEXPECTED ART FROM NEW VOICES OUTSIDE OF GLASS
Many new ideas and ways of working with glass have been fired up in the studios at PGC since the Idea Furnace program started in 2012. Nearly 40 artists have participated in this experimental design program that connects non-glass artists with glass artists and encourages exploration in other art forms. All were invited to show their work in the “Idea Furnace Retrospective” this summer. 17 artists of other mediums who were inspired by glass participated in this exhibition. See more images from the exhibition.
Your donation keeps us glowing and growing.
We couldn't have done all this and more without your support! Pittsburgh Glass Center is a non-profit school, gallery and studio. Although we fund approximately 50% of our operations through earned revenue, we still rely on donations from people like you to continue serving the community through exhibitions, classes and workshops, and state-of-the-art studios and equipment.
Give today and support a new year of students, artists, and art appreciators amazed and inspired by glass at PGC.