Ann Wahlstrom has been working in glass studios in Sweden, Switzerland and the United States since 1982.  She was a designer for Kosta Boda from 1986 until 2005.  Besides glass, Wahlstrom also works with ceramic, metal and textiles.

                                Charlie Parriott has been working with glass in a variety of capacities since 1972.  After 12 years as a designer and colorist for Chihuly Studio, he moved on to direct construction and program development of the MOG Hot Shop. He was the founding manager from 2001-2003.

                         MOG welcomes Martin Blank back to the Hot Shop for a special one-day residency. Blank is one of America's most significant figurative sculptors and the artist who created Fluent Steps, the monumental glass sculpture installed in the Museum's Main Plaza reflecting pool.  

                                

                                Corky Clairmont is a celebrated contemporary mixed-media artist who combines his experiences as a native person and tribal member with a post-modernist view of the realities of life as indigenous people struggle to retain their identities and sovereignty in the 21st century. A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Corky has been the art director at Salish Kootenai College since 1984.    

                                Conversation with the Artist:  Sunday, December 20, 2 - 3 p.m.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 1, 2009 Media Contacts: Susan Newsom, Communications Manager, 253.284.4732, snewsom@museumofglass.org Julie Pisto, Director of Marketing & Communications, 253.284.2129, jpisto@museumofglass.org Museum of Glass Calendar Highlights for December, 2009 All events are included with admission to the Museum unless otherwise noted. Calendar listings are subject to change. For updated information, please visit our website at www.museumofglass.org or call the information line at 253.284.4750 or 1.866.4MUSEUM. FALL-WINTER-SPRING HOURS Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Third Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day Museum Store also open Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. HOLIDAY HOURS: Open Christmas Eve 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Christmas Day Open Monday and Tuesday, December 29 and 29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open New Year's Eve 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed New Year's Day Events Paul Twedt Holiday Musicale December 12 and 13 1 - 4 p.m. Enjoy sounds of the season provided by the piano students of Paul Twedt Book Signing with Martin Blank Saturday, December 12 1 p.m. Meet Martin Blank at this book signing session for the release of his new photo book about Fluent Steps. Books are available for purchase in the Museum Store. Christmas around the World Saturday, December 19 1 - 4 p.m. Grab you passports and join the Museum in celebrating its 3rd Annual Christmas Around the World celebration. Visitors will be issued a 'suitcase' to visit four countries-France, Poland, Ukraine and Germany-and make traditional Christmas crafts. Synergy Dance Company will perform selections from the Nutcracker at 1 and 3 p.m. Public Programs Family Day: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows Saturday, December 12 1 - 4 p.m. Sponsored by City of Tacoma Arts Commission Create a shadow with fire! Artist Jennifer Adams will lead visitors in an activity to create a winter votive candle holder with electric candles. Music by Paul Twedt's Holiday Musicale will add the festive ambiance. Third Thursday ArtWalk Thursday, November 15 Free admission 5 - 8 p.m. sponsored by City of Tacoma Arts Commission and Columbia Bank Hot Shop Feel the heat as you watch art come alive! Every day, artists demonstrate the intriguing process of creating works of art from molten glass on the amphitheater stage, giving visitors a birds-eye view of their activities. Expert commentary and a state-of-the-art audiovisual system enhance the experience by providing insight into the glassblowing process as well as the science, culture and historical aspects of glass. Hot Shop Visiting Artist Program Sponsored by Courtyard by Marriott / Tacoma Downtown and City Arts Magazine The Museum's Visiting Artist Program hosts internationally known and emerging artists in our world-class Hot Shop to create new works in glass with our professional team of artists <http://www.museumofglass.org/live-glassmaking/about-the-team/> . We invite artists whose work is exhibited (or will be exhibited) in the Museum galleries or whose work is thematically or technically linked to the exhibition program. One piece created during the residency is selected by the artist and Museum staff to be added to the Museum's permanent collection. December 2 - 6 Ann Wahlstrom, Stockholm, Sweden Ann Wahlstrom has been working in glass studios in Sweden, Switzerland and the United States since 1982. She was a designer for Kosta Boda from 1986 until 2005. Besides glass, Wahlstrom also works with ceramic, metal and textiles. December 11 Charlie Parriott, Seattle, WA Charlie Parriott has been working with glass in a variety of capacities since 1972. After 12 years as a designer and colorist for Chihuly Studio, he moved on to direct construction and program development of the MOG Hot Shop. He was the founding manager from 2001-2003. December 12 Martin Blank, Seattle, WA MOG welcomes Martin Blank back to the Hot Shop for a special one-day residency. Blank is one of America's most significant figurative sculptors and the artist who created Fluent Steps, the monumental glass sculpture installed in the Museum's Main Plaza reflecting pool. December 16 - 20 Corky Clairmont, Ronan, MT Corky Clairmont is a celebrated contemporary mixed-media artist who combines his experiences as a native person and tribal member with a post-modernist view of the realities of life as indigenous people struggle to retain their identities and sovereignty in the 21st century. A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Corky has been the art director at Salish Kootenai College since 1984. Conversation with the Artist: Sunday, December 20, 2 - 3 p.m. Hot Lunch Fridays, 12 - 1 p.m. Celebrate Friday at the Museum of Glass! Enjoy a box lunch from Gallucci's Glass Café while watching a featured or visiting artist at work in the Hot Shop. Cost: $10 per person plus Museum admission. Please call 253.572.9593 or email museumcafe@galluccis.com to order your lunch by 3 p.m. Thursday prior to arrival. For more information, visit www.museumofglass.org <http://www.museumofglass.org/> . Studio Weekdays 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Saturdays 12 - 4 p.m.; Sundays 1 - 4 p.m. The Studio is an interactive, experiential learning space that provides visitors with creative opportunities for hands-on engagement with the ideas behind the glass. Activities are designed to engage all visitors, from toddlers to senior citizens. Each month a new hands-on art activity is presented that relates to a particular exhibition or Hot Shop application. New Year's Eve Cone Head Workshop Thursday, December 31 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Ring in the New Year by making your own Cone Head party hat. Kids Design Glass Sponsored by Key Foundation, a foundation funded by KeyBank, and the Muckleshoot Charity Fund Ongoing Children under the age of 12 Our Kids Design Glass program invites children 12 and under who visit the Museum or are patients at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital to design a glass sculpture. Each month, one entry is selected by the MOG Hot Shop team. Two sculptures are created-one for the child designer and one for the Museum's Permanent Collection. A selection of Kids Design Glass creatures is currently on display in Art Alley. The selected design will be created in the Hot Shop Sunday, December 27. Theater Documentaries Every day, visitors can view original documentary films to expand their understanding of the artwork in the galleries, gain insight into the artistic process of a particular artist, or review the techniques and history of glassmaking. Films repeat throughout the day. Ongoing Exhibitions Kids Design Glass Organized by Museum of Glass Sponsored by Russell Investments, Key Bank/Key Foundation, Muckleshoot Charity Fund, Dale Chihuly and Leslie Jackson Chihuly, Carl and Jan Fisher, Janet and Mike Halvorson, Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation, Randall and Joyce Lert, Mr. and Mrs. George H. Weyerhaeuser, Sr., The News Tribune and Click! Cable TV October 31, 2009 - February, 2011 Kids Design Glass is a new exhibition that celebrates the imagination of children with 52 glass sculptures designed by kids and crafted by professional artists in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop. The Kids Design Glass education program, from which these creations originated, illustrates the symbiotic relationship between designer and glassblower. A child draws a design-generally a fantastical creature-names it, and writes a brief explanation or story. The Museum's Hot Shop Team selects one design each month and transforms the two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional sculpture. As the designer, the child directs the artists as they make two sculptures-one for the child to take home and one for the Museum's Permanent Collection. The original drawings, artist statements and photographs from the Hot Shop will be displayed alongside each piece in this exhibition. Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows Organized by Museum of Glass Presented by Alaska Airlines Sponsored by Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation, Windgate Foundation, JoAnn McGrath, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, The Seattle Times, City Arts Magazine, KUOW Public Radio and Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund Through September 19, 2010 Echoes, Fire, and Shadows is a mid-career survey of Preston Singletary's work which combines two of the Northwest's most prominent artistic influences-traditional Native American designs and the medium of glass. For nearly two decades, Singletary has melded the symbols, patterns and legends of his Tlingit heritage with the dynamism of the Studio Glass movement, creating a distinctive and powerful body of work. The exhibition comprises 54 works including icons of Singletary's oeuvre and examples of his significant collaborative experiences. The signature piece of the exhibition is Clan House, a 16 x 10 foot cast-glass triptych commissioned for the Museum's Permanent Collection. Incoming! Selections from the Permanent Collection Sponsored by the Guendolen Carkeek Pletstcheeff Fund for Decorative and Design Arts and ArtsFund Through June 27, 2010 Incoming! is the first in a series of exhibitions devoted to documenting the continuing evolution of the Museum of Glass Permanent Collection. It showcases twelve signature works-superlative in form, execution and concept-by both emerging and established artists. The objects are organized into categories of landscape and portraiture and reference how humankind and nature endure as powerful, universal sources of inspiration. Made at the Museum: The Visiting Artist Collection Organized by Museum of Glass Ongoing The Visiting Artist Program brings artists from the region and around the world to the Museum of Glass to work with the Hot Shop team to explore, invent and create with glass. After each residency the Museum and the artist select one work of art to be included in the permanent collection. These objects are rotated on and off display throughout the year as new works are created. Joseph Gregory Rossano (American, born 1962) Mirrored Murrelets, 2008 Mirrored hot-sculpted glass, steel, mold-formed fiberglass Through April, 2010 Mezzanine Plaza Reflecting Pool Joseph Rossano's Mirrored Murrelets highlights the impact of a changing environment on the Marbled Murrelet, a small sea bird that nests primarily in the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. The installation comprises 275 mirrored glass birds, created in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop in January, 2008, that "float" just above the surface of the Museum's mid-level reflecting pool. The mirrored surfaces of the birds reflect the viewer's image, symbolically suggesting the impact of humans on the natural world. As visitors experience the installation, Rossano hopes they will "reflect on the plight of the bird as well as the beauty of its existence." Martin Blank (American, born 1962) Fluent Steps, 2009 Hot-sculpted glass, steel Collection of Museum of Glass (2009.19) Main Plaza Reflecting Pool Martin Blank's Fluent Steps captures the essence of water. Fluent Steps spans the entire length of the 210-foot-long Main Plaza reflecting pool and rises from water level to fifteen feet in height. It consists of 754 individually hand-sculpted pieces of glass, most created in the Museum's Hot Shop during Blank's 45-day Visiting Artist residency in 2008. These forms are arranged into several islands that capture the fluidity, light, motion and transparency of water in clear glass. The Museum of Glass provides a dynamic learning environment to appreciate the medium of glass through creative experiences, collections and exhibitions. In addition to the Hot Shop Amphitheater where visitors can watch artists work, the facilities include galleries, outdoor exhibition areas, a theater, hands-on art studio, grand hall, café and store. The Museum of Glass is sponsored in part by ArtsFund, the City of Tacoma Arts Commission and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Hours and Admission Open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Third Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Store is also open Tuesdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Summer hours (Memorial Day through Labor Day): also open Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed September 12, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free for members, $12 general, $10 seniors, military and students (13+ with ID), $10 groups of 10 or more, $5 children (6-12) years old. Children under 6 are admitted free. Admission is free every third Thursday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Info Line 253-284-4750/ 1-866-4MUSEUM Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock Street Tacoma, WA 98402 www.museumofglass.org <http://www.museumofglass.org/> For more information about the Museum of Glass: Susan Newsom, Communications Manager, 253.284.4732, snewsom@museumofglass.org <mailto:jpisto@museumofglass.org> Julie Pisto, Director of Marketing & Communications, 253.284.2129, jpisto@museumofglass.org ###