Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Spring 6-3-2013 Forming a New Art in the Pacific Northwest: Studio Glass in the Puget Sound Region, 1970-2003 Marianne Ryder Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Art Practice Commons, Fine Arts Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Ryder, Marianne, "Forming a New Art in the Pacific Northwest: Studio Glass in the Puget Sound Region, 1970-2003" (2013). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 1096. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.1096 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Forming a New Art in the Pacific Northwest: Studio Glass in the Puget Sound Region, 1970-2003 by Marianne Ryder A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies Dissertation Committee: Carl Abbott, Chair Karen Gibson Ethan Seltzer Sue Taylor Katrine Barber Portland State University 2013 © 2013 Marianne Ryder i Abstract The studio glass movement first arose in the United States in the early 1950s, and was characterized by practitioners who wanted to divorce glass from its industrial associations and promote it as a fine arts medium. This movement began in a few cities in the eastern part of the country, and in Los Angeles, but gradually emerged as an art form strongly associated with the city of Seattle and the Puget Sound region. This research studies the emergence and growth of the studio glass movement in the Puget Sound region from 1970 to 2003. It examines how glass artists and Seattle’s urban elites interacted and worked separately to build the support structures and “art world” that provided learning and mentoring opportunities, workspaces, artistic validation, audience development, critical and financial support, which helped make glass a signature Puget Sound art form, and the role that artist social networks, social capital, cultural capital and cultural policy played in sustaining this community. In particular, the research seeks to explore the factors that nourish a new art form and artist community in second-tier cities that do not have the substantial cultural and economic support structures found in the “arts super cities” such as Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco. This study contributes to the growing literature on artist communities, and the roles played by social capital, cultural capital, urban growth coalitions and policy at different stages of community development. Results can assist policymakers in formulating policies that incorporate the arts as a form of community development. ii Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere thanks to and acknowledge the following people who helped me throughout this process. My committee chair, Carl Abbott, along with Karen Gibson, and Charles Heying, for encouraging me to explore my interests in artists and art in the context of urban studies. The friends who supported and encouraged me wholeheartedly through this long and difficult process: Mary Ratcliff, Laura Freeman, Ellen Walkley, Christy Bailey, Leslie Young, Mi Dove, Kathy Schneller, Randy King, Jane Waddell, Ed Menze, Flora Dalglish, and Tony Daniel. The members of the writing interest group, who listened to, discussed and challenged my ideas in ways that helped me during the writing of the many drafts that went into the making of this document: Arlie Adkins, Lisa Bates, Lauren Larin, Moriah McSharry McGrath, Gretchen Luhr, and Jackie Kohon. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support I received from the Maurie Clark family, Nancy Chapman, and the PSU Laurels program, for which I am grateful. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Research Problem and Context ........................................................................................3 The Origins of the Studio Glass Movement in the United States ....................................5 The Case of Artists in the Puget Sound Region ...............................................................9 Organization of this document .......................................................................................15 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 17 Theoretical and empirical framework ............................................................................17 Cultural institutions in the urban revitalization process ................................................18 Creative producers and systems of support ...................................................................25 Geographies of creativity and cultural communities .....................................................33 Summary ........................................................................................................................39 Chapter 3: Research Design and Methods ........................................................................ 42 Introduction ....................................................................................................................42 Research questions and expectations .............................................................................42 Research Approach ........................................................................................................44 Sources and Data Collection ..........................................................................................46 Chapter 4: Building a Cultural Infrastructure ................................................................... 50 Introduction ....................................................................................................................50 Postwar Seattle: escaping the esthetic dustbin ...............................................................51 Craft in the Pacific Northwest in 1950s and 1960s .......................................................56 Anne Gould Hauberg and The Friends of Craft ............................................................58 The Boeing depression ...................................................................................................60 From the university to the studio, studio glass artists create places to work in Seattle .69 Arts funding ...................................................................................................................74 Pilchuck’s Founding ......................................................................................................76 Pilchuck’s first year .......................................................................................................83 Discussion ......................................................................................................................88 Chapter 5: International Connections ............................................................................... 95 Introduction ....................................................................................................................95 iv The Seattle connection ...................................................................................................96 Artist Exchanges – Germany, Sweden, and Italy ..........................................................98 Discussion ....................................................................................................................114 Chapter 6: Consolidation and Fragmentation: 1977 – 1985 ........................................... 122 Introduction ..................................................................................................................122 The Seattle scene: 1977 -1985 .....................................................................................123 A market emerges: galleries and glass .........................................................................126 Spaces for artistic production ......................................................................................132 The Glass Eye and Benjamin Moore Studios ..............................................................135 Pilchuck: Professionalizing the program; eliminating the “hippie elements” .............139 Pratt Fine Arts Center: A place to make art in the Central District .............................156 Glass Art Week: The 1981 Glass Art Society conference comes to Seattle ................166 Chihuly’s growing fame – The move to Seattle ..........................................................168 Discussion ....................................................................................................................169