GlassNEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL Shards AMERICAN GLASS CLUB www.glassclub.org Founded 1933 A Non-Profit Organization Spring 2021 NAGC Annual Meeting and Special Lecture Save the date of Saturday, May 1 virtual Annual Meeting and a lecture. for our virtual Annual Meeting and a The Annual Meeting will begin at special lecture. Recognizing that we 12:00 noon (EST) on May 1—our could not come together in person and East Coast members can settle in with realizing that we did not want to go a sandwich and cold drink, we hope another year without our annual meet- those of you on the West Coast will ing, the NAGC Board has planned a come in your pj’s, coffee in hand! Af- virtual program. It offers members an ter updating you on all the work the engagement and learning opportunity, Board has undertaken this past year, brings the National together, and stick around for a fabulous special gives us a chance to share the work lecture beginning at 1:00 pm (EST). that has been going on behind the Dr Christopher (Kit) Maxwell, scenes. It also allows for an orderly Curator of Early Modern Glass at The transfer of officers in the Club. Corning Museum of Glass will speak The Board discussed several options on, “In Sparkling Company: Reflec- and decided to focus on hosting a free tions on Glass in the 18th-Century British World.” Dr. Maxwell curated Dr. Christopher (Kit) Maxwell. In Sparkling Company: Glass and the Costs of Social Life in Britain during ambitions of colonization and the the 1700s which opens at CMoG on horrors of the African slave trade. May 22, 2021. He also served as con- Glass beads were traded for human tributing editor for the publication lives and elegant glass dishes, baskets which accompanies the exhibit. and bowls held sweet delicacies made This special sneak peek at this fas- with sugar produced by enslaved labor. cinating exhibit will examine Britain, Underpinning Britain’s prosperity a vibrant, commercial nation in the were aggressive foreign trade poli- 1700s. Its growing cities were hubs cies, colonization and a far-reaching of sociability, scientific advancement, economy of enslavement, the profits trade, and finance. From glittering cos- of which funded the pleasures and tume and elaborately presented con- innovations of the fashionable world. fectionery, to polished mirrors and I hope you will join us for the An- dazzling chandeliers, glass helped nual Meeting and Dr. Maxwell’s talk. define the social rituals and cultural Check out our website, your Chapter values of the period. While innova- emails, and the mail soon for infor- Pair of harlequin earrings, about 1760. Prob- ably England. Cut glass; silver. The Corning tions in glass delighted the wealthy, mation on how to access this virtual Museum of Glass (2017.2.3). the material also bore witness to the program. Glass Shards • Page 2 President’s Letter Greetings and best wishes for a As our front page indicates, the on how to register for the free Annual warm and wonderful springtime. For Board has planned a virtual Annual Meeting and lecture. Registration is those who celebrate Easter I send you Meeting and special lecture for May 1. just a formality to ensure you have thoughts of joy. For all—I hope that Please plan to attend. We have several login information. We will also post you are in line for your vaccination or members who will be rotating off the that information on the website and already lucky enough to have had Board—they have given so much to share it with chapters. your shot(s). This past year has tested sustain and grow the Club. Please join Since you can join the meeting vir- us all in ways we might never have me to celebrate their service and hear tually, we hope to see a great crowd. imagined but I have also benefited about their great work this past year. Until then I wish you sunny days and from the kindness, laughter, and sup- Ballots will also arrive soon in the chocolate bunny ears! port of family and friends. I have mail. The Nominating Committee has stored a huge backlog of hugs that I identified an excellent slate of officers. Yours in glass, look forward to delivering once it is Please be sure to return your ballot. Anne Madarasz safe again! With your ballot will be information NAGC President Remembering Jane Shadel Spillman I met Jane when I attended my first Industry,” in celebration of the nation’s secure grasp of the details of American Corning Seminar on Glass in 1966. bicentennial in 1976; she wrote the glassmaking history and shared them A graduate of the Cooperstown Pro- catalog. That was followed in 1977 by with delight, humor, and enthusiasm. gram, she had been a member of the “The Cut and Engraved Glass of Those who are interested in this field Corning staff for a year and was in Corning: 1868–1940” exhibition and owe her a debt of immense gratitude— charge of education, but she also as- catalog. They were followed in 1981 and I count myself among them. We sisted the staff in their research and by the monumental catalog of the Mu- who knew her and worked alongside display installations. When I joined seum’s American pressed glass collec- her realize that we have been in the Corning in 1973, I planned to have tion, and in the years following she presence of someone who played a curators assume responsibility for organized five more special exhibi- role immensely larger than her physi- specific collection areas. Jane became tions and wrote the catalogs. cal self. Her publications are a lasting Assistant Curator in charge of Ameri- In her 48 years at the Museum, Jane tribute to her scholarship, and we will can glass. She blossomed in her new conveyed her enthusiasm for American remember her fondly whenever we role, and her expertise and public rec- glass in hundreds of articles and books, see one. ognition grew quickly. She was pro- spoke at countless seminars (including Jane Spillman passed away on moted to Associate Curator in 1975 36 times at the annual Corning Semi- March 12, 2021 with family close by. and to full Curator in 1977. She and I nar on Glass, a record), and served as As Shards went to print, arrangements jointly developed the Museum’s first president of the National American were not yet available. special exhibition after the 1972 Glass Club and editor of its Bulletin. — Dwight P. Lanmon flood, “Glassmaking: America’s First Throughout all this, she displayed a Left: Jane examines some of the objects for the 1989 special exhibition “Dining at the White House.” Right: The Corning Museum’s president, Marie McKee (left) and executive direc- tor Karol Wight (right) celebrate Jane’s retirement from the Museum in 2013. Glass Shards • Page 3 Club and Chapter News WESTCHESTER GLASS CLUB Schaechter’s The Birth of Eve, Karen technology which invites the viewer Zoom Tour at the Smithsonian Lamont’s Reclining Dress Impression to walk around and experience. It is American Art Museum and Renwick with Drapery, Lino Tagliapietra’s col- engaging and will figure in museum Gallery orful Mandara, Andy Paiko’s Spinning interpretation in the future. Wheel, and Josh Simpson’s Susan Haller, program director for The Westchester Glass Club contin- Megaplanet, among others. the Westchester Glass Club, arranged ued its series of fascinating and engag- The tour ended with a mind-blowing for this informative visit. Westchester ing glass Zoom programs with a tour look at Ginny Ruffner’s installation ti- Glass Club Zoom meetings are open de force with Eileen Doughty, master tled Reforestation of the Imagination. to the public on the fourth Tuesday docent volunteer at the Smithsonian In this virtual reality landscape, hand- of the month at 11 am; contact James American Art Museum and Renwick blown glass sculptures of plants and Russell, WGC president, at jrussell Gallery in Washington DC. flowers are presented in augmented [email protected] for more infor- Eileen talked about John La Farge’s reality from a downloadable app, cre- mation. Peacocks and Peonies I and II, Judith ating an imaginative blend of art and Strength & Fragility: The Story of the NLM This immersive exhibition, which a magnificent 9-feet-high glass cano- opens on March 26, highlights the life py by Ulla Darni. It includes a custom of Irvin J. Borowsky and how his be- sound bath that gives visitors a chance lief in universal equality and liberty, as to reflect on the NLM’s founding well as his passion for contemporary principals. glass art, led to the founding of the National Liberty Museum. Strength & LIBERTY HALL MUSEUM Fragility pays homage to the life of 321 Chestnut St. Mr. Borowsky and the ideals of the Philadelphia, PA 19106 NLM through historical material, art- (215) 925-2800 work, and soundscapes. The center- www.libertymuseum.org piece of the exhibition is Peace Portal, Peace Portal, Ulla Darni. Counterparts: Glass + Art Elements Counterparts: Glass + Art Elements artistic-medium divisions, presenting discusses the inclusivity of art mediums all manner of glass and non-glass art- through its groupings of glass and non- works side by side. glass artworks within the seven ele- ments of art: color, form, line, shape, MUSEUM OF GLASS space, texture, and value. The exhibit 1801 Dock St. will begin in the summer, 2021. Tacoma, WA 98402 Today, glass art is countering the (253) 284.4750 implicit hierarchies of the art world. www.museumofglass.org And just as artists are open to diverse and varied techniques, often incorpo- rating methods regardless of medium, Blue Sun, Cappy Thompson, Counterparts seeks to erase ingrained about 2013.