Visual Arts: ‘Glass on the Grass’ should shine
Baubles and glass beads will sparkle this weekend across the grassy lawn near Gonzaga University’s Jundt Art Museum.
“Glass on the Grass” returns with some 40 artists’ booths showcasing a variety of glass art including blown, fused, cast, stained and lampwork objects.
Linda Nicholson of Spokane Valley returns for the sixth year with her flame-worked glass art beads.
“Each bead is unique,” says Nicholson. “They are like miniature sculptures.”
They are quite large as far as beads go, many measuring more than 2 inches square.
For each bead, Nicholson chooses colors that excite her.
“I may begin with a general idea and sometimes a sketch,” she says. “However, when the torch is lit and the glass starts to flow, I get lost in the process and the preconceived idea usually evaporates.”
Photos of Nicholson’s beads have been published in Lapidary Journal and the book “1000 Beads of Glass.”
Other artists at the event will be doing live demonstrations, including David Gover showing sugar blowing.
The family event is open to all ages. Activities include face painting, food vendors and live music, according to organizer Conrad Bagley.
Visitors can amble through the booths on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Children are welcome, as well as animals on leashes.
‘Robert Sperry’ at GU
While on the Gonzaga campus, take a few minutes to look into the Jundt Art Museum’s Arcade Gallery.
On view is an exhibition of ceramic plates by one of the Northwest’s great artists, the late Robert Sperry.
Considered a master at his craft, he was “an exceptional risk-taker in the arts and was fascinated by the interaction of materials,” says Karen Kaiser, assistant curator for education at the Jundt.
“Sperry was profoundly interested in new ways of seeing the world and new ways of understanding,” says Kaiser in a news release.
In the 1950s Sperry worked with ceramic greats Peter Voulkos and Rudy Autio at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena.
Sperry earned his master of fine arts degree from the University of Washington. He joined UW’s art faculty and eventually became head of the ceramics department.
After becoming professor emeritus in 1982, he continued to teach part-time. He died in 1998.
Although known principally as a ceramicist, Sperry was a printmaker, a painter and a filmmaker, producing documentary, narrative and experimental pieces.
He was married to renowned ceramic sculptor Patti Warashina of Seattle.
Free showings of the video “Living Treasures: Robert Sperry – A Northwest Master” will be in the Jundt Lecture Hall every Saturday at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. through Nov. 17, except holidays.
The museum will host a free public reception on Sept. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. A free public lecture, “The World of Robert Sperry,” by Terry Gieber, chair of Gonzaga’s art department, will be presented in the Jundt Lecture Hall on Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
The exhibition is sponsored by Quarry Tile Co. The free museum is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
‘Loaned Treasures’
Also on view during August at Gonzaga University is a rare collection of books printed by the Stanbrook Abbey Press, run by Benedictine nuns in England.
“Loaned Treasures from the Robert Bruna Collection: The Stanbrook Abbey Press and Margaret Adams” is in the Cowles Rare Book Reading Room in the Foley Center Library.
The display includes items created by Adams, a calligrapher and gilder who worked for the Stanbrook Abbey Press.
As a gilder, Adams worked with gold and silver to artistically cover an object, as in the gold leaf process.
Bruna graduated from Central Valley High School in 1937 and practiced dentistry in Ferndale, Wash. For more than three decades, he collected fine art objects.
“Friendships with Adams and Dame Hildelith Cumming, the Stanbrook Abbey Press head printer, helped him acquire materials that have made his collection unique and priceless,” according to Stephanie Plowman in a news release.
After Bruna passed away in 1993, his family loaned the collection to Gonzaga.
The free exhibit is open to the public on weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m.
‘Rive up’ color
Coinciding with the motorcycle rally this weekend in Rosalia, Wash., is “Rive Up the Color Wheel Rally for Art.”
The show takes place at the Budding Rose Art Gallery, a nonprofit gallery for children, 510 S. Whitman St. in Rosalia.
The one-day event is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features mixed-media works created by Rosalia School District art students.
For more information and directions call gallery owners Jim and Diane Nebel at (509) 523-4200.
Other galleries
“The River Ridge Fine Art Association is holding its nonjuried member show at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4340 W. Fort Wright Drive. The work will be up from Sunday through Sept. 14.