BRATTLEBORO-Professional glass artists from across New England have selected 23 children's drawings of imaginary creatures to be transformed into sparkling glass sculptures for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC)'s biennial "Glasstastic" exhibition opening Saturday, March 22.
The artists made their selections from among more than 1,000 drawings submitted by children in grades K–6 from throughout the U.S. Although not every drawing will be rendered in glass, each one will be included in the exhibition - either displayed on the walls or in binders at the museum.
The exhibition is the seventh iteration of "Glasstastic" since it was launched at BMAC in 2011. It will feature such creatures as the colorful "Fefe," who is part cat, part dragon, and part unicorn; "Larry," an unusual avocado who moved to New York City seeking fame and fortune; and a magical critter named "Red Cat" who eats only strawberries.
"A gallery filled with wonderful, quirky, bizarre, hilarious creatures is such a joyful reprieve from the stresses of daily life," said BMAC Director of Exhibitions Sarah Freeman in a news release.
"My fellow glass artists and I love participating in Glasstastic," said Robert DuGrenier of Townshend. "It's always a joy to see what the kids come up with, and figuring out how to faithfully render their drawings in glass gets us out of our comfort zones, allowing us to experiment with new techniques and forms."
Children from Windham and Cheshire Counties whose imaginary creatures will be transformed into glass sculptures are Desiree Lake, Joel Escobar, Layla Arnold, Isaac Toll, Calvin Westover, Israel Hicks, Elliott Williams-Quinn, Clara Lumenello, Iry Dupuis, and Gavin Oparowski. Their drawings can be viewed at brattleboromuseum.org.
The participating glass artists are Josh Bernbaum, Marta Bernbaum, Jocelyn Brown, Robert Burch, Dominique Caissie, Genevieve Cole, David Colton, Robert DuGrenier, Wesley Fleming, Marie Formichelli, Zak Grace, Claire Kelly, Jordana Korsen, Peter Muller, Sally Prasch, Bryan Randa, Chris Sherwin, Randi Solin, Jen Violette, and Andrew Weill.
Glass artists Nick Kekic and Chris Sherwin will also turn imaginary creatures by Charli Berger and Jayden Bolduc, into glass at a live event, "Breathing Life Into Imaginary Creatures: A Glasstastic Demonstration," on Saturday, April 26, 1 to 4 p.m., at the artists' studios in Bellows Falls. Details are available at brattleboromuseum.org.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.