When travelers arrive in the Magic City, they’ll see a special exhibit, shining light on Gate D at Miami International Airport. CONTEMPORARY GLASS: From Sand to Art samples the amazing range of objects being created by modern-day artists and features highlights from the world-class collection of Miami residents Myrna B. Palley, B.Ed. '56, and Sheldon B. Palley, B.B.A. '56, J.D. '57. Works range from transparent to opaque, figurative to abstract, minute to massive.
From the collection:
Produced by humanity for nearly five millennia, glass has evolved dramatically over the course of its long history. Though originally used to create utilitarian objects, glass has, for centuries, been used—and treasured—for many other purposes; not least of which, fine art. A real turning point in this regard occurred in 1962, when a convening hosted by the Toledo Museum of Art catalyzed artists’ explorations of the medium’s creative possibility.
Since that time the field has expanded far beyond the boundaries of blown glass to include many other processes, including casting, fusing, laminating, carving, slumping, and lampworking. As the range of techniques used by Studio Glass artists broadened ever further so, too, did the aesthetic vocabulary of glass.
Other works from the collection can be enjoyed at the University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum, which features the Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts.
In honor of the Pavilion’s 10th anniversary, the Lowe has declared 2018 “The Year of Glass,” highlights of which include the reinstallation of the Pavilion, the inauguration of Dale Chihuly’s Mosaic Persian (generously gifted by Dale & Doug Anderson) in the Museum’s lobby and two temporary glass exhibitions: Building a Legacy: Studio Glass from the Florence and Robert Werner Collection. and L’Infinito: Eternity and the Art of Murano Maestro Giampaolo Seguso.
While at the Lowe, Miami’s oldest art museum and the only institution of its type with a truly encyclopedic collection, visitors can also enjoy permanent collections devoted to the arts of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Greco-Roman Antiquities as well as Modern and Contemporary Art and, of course, glass.
Article: Linda J. Boone (Habatat Galleries, West Palm Beach, Florida [founded 1971]) with Dr. Jill Deupi (Lowe Art Museum)
