Viva el Vidrio

The Tucson Glass Art Festival, bursting with vitreous exuberance, seems bent on emulating the success of the Gem and Mineral Show, aiming to channel and duplicate the city-wide energy generated by that particular influx of rocks and visitors.

With 19 different venues, a huge roster of artists and an impressive array of activities, connoisseurs of glassblowing expertise and novice appreciators alike will be able to satisfy all of their yearnings the weekend of April 8-10.

The International Glass Art Society canceled their 2011 conference in Tucson due to the passing of Arizona SB 1070, but, replacing it, this cross-cultural event, Viva el Vidrio, features artists from around the region and nation, as well as Latino glass artists from Mexico, Central and South America.

“We are reaching out to our brothers and sisters in the glass arts world because we speak the same language,” said renowned glass artist Tom Philabaum.

Overwhelmed by the support his idea received, he enthused, “This is actually turning out to be a much more interesting and fun event that will benefit and include our community. It presents an ideal opportunity to showcase the work of some of the best glass artists in Tucson and around the state and the outstanding programs at the Sonoran Glass Art Academy.”

In addition to the dozen sponsors who responded wholeheartedly to an unexpected opportunity to participate, the Tucson Glass Art Festival is hosted by Sonoran Art Foundation, Philabaum Glass Gallery and 17 other galleries and museums that recognize glass artistry as taking its place alongside the entire panoply of the expressive arts. The educational component consists of “hot shops” (glass blowing), “warm shops” (glass fusing) and “flame shops” (lampworking, also referred to as flameworking or torch working) courtesy of Sonoran Glass Art Academy, 633 W. 18th St., Philabaum Glass Gallery, 711 S. 6th Ave., and Fire Ranch Glass Works, 4280 E. Hawser St.

Over 30 artists will be showing off their techniques at various locales, sprinkled like glittering shards all over the city. Highlights include: Flagstaff’s George Averbeck’s hot shop demos in goblets and other blown forms at Philabaum Glass Gallery; Mexico’s Einar and Jamex de la Torre, whose Tucson Museum of Art Borderlandia extravaganza has mesmerized museum patrons, also doing a hot shop demo in sculptural bit work.

Prescott’s Bandhu Dunham provides a flame shop demo of kinetic glass sculpture; Justin Daniels, Rob Taylor and David Vogt from Circle 6 Studio in Phoenix perform hot shop demos of large scale vessels. Other demonstrations feature a range of techniques and expressions from flowers to beads to roll ups to stained glass to enamel and everything in between.

The weekend includes lunches, a Saturday night party, shuttle buses, a VIP Tour of several downtown galleries and homes and a talk by Mexican artist Ana Thiel, who has a current show at the UA Art Museum, Layers of Being – A Thirty-Year Retrospective.

The goals of the 2011 Tucson Glass Festival are to raise funds to support SGAA’s youth outreach programs, advocate glass art through exhibitions at Tucson art facilities and act as a broker for the exchange of ideas between Southwestern U.S. and Latin American glass artists. The event’s demonstrations, talks, and classes by world renowned glass artists aim to further broader understanding of what glass artistry really entails and how it can take its place in the larger art world.

Costs for the festival run: $10/person for 3 Day Pass, $25/person for special events, $125/person for Fire & Feast, $10/person for SGAA Saturday night party (no host bar). More details and an online guide are available at SonoranGlass.org/events/tucsonglassfestival.html, or call the Sonoran Glass Art Academy at 884-7814.