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Welcome to PIttsburgh!

From the Co-Chairs: Randi Dauler, Ron Desmett, Karen Johnese and Kathleen Mulcahy
 
Pittsburgh is full of surprises. Its cityscape is more dramatic and architecturally interesting than most could imagine. The compact downtown, framed by rivers and hills, makes cultural venues close together, an easy walk.

Steel mills and glass factories, long gone from the river banks, have left an imprint on this city that goes to the heart of every person, native or newcomer. This is a city of grit and bootstraps, proud of its great American immigrant story. Creative and inventive people have made their mark here, including Mary Cassatt, August Wilson, Gertrude Stein, Billy Strayhorn, Andy Warhol, Rachel Carson, Annie Dillard and Dr. Jonas Salk.
 
Today, a vibrant new generation of artists and innovators makes Pittsburgh one of the most exciting cultural cities in the country. GAS 07 will offer a taste of this new Pittsburgh. At the Pittsburgh Glass Center, you will watch GAS demonstrations and see an exquisite exhibit titled The Allure of Japanese Glass. Admire the state-of-the-art studios and nurturing environment that have made PGC the catalyst for a growing community of glass artists.
 
Nearby, the Carnegie Museum of Art presents Translation and Transformation: Glass in Venice and America 1950-2006. Next door, see Phipps Conservatory's Gardens of Glass installation and at CMU the Miller Gallery's Artists Crossing Lines glass exhibition. Across town, don't miss The Andy Warhol Museum, the Mattress Factory and the National Aviary.

Just as glass entails the transformation of matter from one physical state to another, GAS 07, Transformational Matter, will link individual and collective imaginations within an exciting medium. Recharge yourself among artists and arts professionals exploring new practices, ideas, materials and techniques. Together in Pittsburgh  -- where the arts have had a strong hand in changing the face of the region -- let's find what lies at the heart of this transformational matter.
 

Letter from Shane Fero, GAS President:

Pittsburgh is the site of our 37th Annual Glass Art Society conference. The city of bridges (900+, second to Venice) is beautiful, centered on the convergence of the "Three Rivers" among rolling hills. It has a history that is rich in its steel, iron and glass manufacturing, but the steel mills have gone and Pittsburgh has been reinventing itself.

The theme Transformational Matter is an apt moniker for the transition that has taken place there. I think that we are naturally attuned to transformation in our skills, problem solving, creativity and in our environment. The investigation of these issues is an alchemical journey from the base nature of physicality to the process of making our work and adapting to our environment and workplace, but also in transforming ourselves in the pursuit of excellence.

Our programs will take place at world-class facilities, such as the Pittsburgh Glass Center, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and the Omni William Penn, our beautiful host hotel. We will also be able to attend events at or visit the Phipps Conservatory, the Carnegie Museums of Art, Natural History, the Science Center, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Byham Theater, all spectacular spaces. The demonstrations will be held at both PGS and the convention center where the CMOG unit will be housed. Most of the lectures will be held at the Omni Hotel and the Byham Theater. We have an exciting program of international artists from Italy, Israel, Japan, Germany, the United States and elsewhere.

We are pleased to present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Jiri Harcuba, the master engraver from Prague who we know as a warm, caring teacher and artist. The Lifetime Membership Award will be presented to Michael Rogers, an intriguing artist, past President of GAS, and a professor at RIT.

I hope that your interest is piqued and you will plan to join us in Pittsburgh in June of 2007!

Shane Fero

  


 

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