Habatat Glass Coast Weekend Shines Again

Works by Willfried Grootens 

Detroit's Habatat Galleries just wrapped its 9th Annual Glass Coast Weekend right here in Sarasota, and it was spectacular. As in years past, Ringling College's Soundstage A was converted to hold the 150+ works of fine art glass oh so carefully transported to Sarasota for the weekend. Habatat also brings the temporary walls and the pedestals and the light fixtures that perfectly highlight the glass on display. It's a labor of love -- and business. Sarasota is home to many glass collectors, and red dots could be found on the display cards for a number of the pieces.  

Established in 1971, Habatat is the oldest and largest gallery in the United States dedicated to artists whose medium is glass. So it's not surprising that the gallery has a strong relationship with a wealth of amazing glass artists. Many of those artists came to Sarasota for the weekend and generously shared their work and processes with visitors. 

"Blueberry H 69" by Willfriend Grootens (2023) 

There was quite a crowd around Willfried Grooten, the artist who created the vibrant works shown above. There were so many people, in fact, that I had a bit of trouble hearing what he was saying. (When you're in the midst of glass art, it's wise not to jostle around too much.) I did learn that he starts with sketches of what he wants to create. Once he's settled on the design, he paints thin layers of float glass that are eventually layered and fused together into a seamless creation.  His "Blueberry H 69" has 37 layers. Most of the works are encased in glass and seem to float. They have an almost hypnotic effect. To see more of Grooten's work, click here. And for a more fullsome description of his process, click here. 

By Phillip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg

Phillip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg have long been partners in art and life. Baldwin gave the keynote talk, complete with a powerpoint showing incredible installations they created for venues that include St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh and Canterbury Cathedral in, well, Canterbury. You can click here to see images from the St. Mary's installation. And click here for a video showing the creation of the Boat of Remembrance featured in the Canterbury exhibit. The work included 100 amphorae in honor of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.  

By Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg

Baldwin said he had never thought of their work as political until they created the "Under an Equal Sky" installation for Canterbury Cathedral. Then he backtracked a bit, noting that their boats overflowing with figures bring to mind issues of immigation, nomadism and refugees. It sounded as if those interpretations were unintended, though, while the driving concept behind "Under an Equal Sky" was a purposeful representation of unity at a time when our world is increasingly fractured. 

Their introduction to that exhibit read, in part:

"We all live under the same sky. We are all born 'with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms,' to use a phrase from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But for many equality stops there. Many people's lives are blighted by the injustices of war and increasing inequalities of our world...

More than twenty-two million individuals, over half of them children, were refugees at the end of 2016 as a result of conflict, violence or persecution. People are also being driven from home for other reasons: natural disasters and environmental factors are playing their part. But just at a time when we need to pull together, Europe appears to be fracturing, and a sense of community and empathy for others is in short supply." 

Obviously, the world has only gotten darker since then. Kudos to Baldwin and Guggisberg for using their exhibit as an opportunity to speak to these issues. To explore more of their work, click here. 

From Dori Setttles "Shoes: Storytellers of Our Lives" 

I'll leave you with some works by an artist who quite purposefully seeks to evoke the empathy Baldwin and Guggisberg noted is increasingly absent in our world. Dori Settles' "Shoes: Storytellers of Our Lives" project took its inspiration from the expression "walking a mile in someone else's shoes." A mile is 5200 feet, and creating an actual mile of shoes would have taken Settles four years of steady work. Instead, each of the 52 shoes in the installation represents 100 feet. Together, they become that metaphorical mile.

Once the idea for the exhibit had taken hold, Settles put out a call for both shoes and the stories behind them. Before long, her studio was filled with shoes waiting to tell their stories. Settles recreated the shoes using a form of lost wax casting (a type of mold that burns away) and pate de verre (ground glass). As each shoe was completed, its related story went into a book for viewers to peruse. 

"The Ruby Slippers" by Dori Settles

While many of the shoes drew my interest, I immediately felt a connection with the ruby slippers walking along the yellow brick road. What can I say? I'm a Kansas girl at heart. 

The shoes came from a woman who wrote that she always knew "The Wizard of Oz" told the story of life. She collected memorabilia from the movie and displayed it in a way her mother-in-law called "The Creche." 

Finally, her mother-in-law asked, "What is the deal with you and this movie?" (Insert the appropriate tone to this question.) Without thought, the woman responded, "The Wizard of Oz is the way of life. To get through life, you need a heart, a brain and lots of courage. And there is no place like home, your internal knowing self." The question was never raised again. To read the complete story behind "The Ruby Slippers," click here. And to peruse the entire collection, click here. You can access the related story by clicking on the image. 

Stay tuned for more from Habatat's Glass Coast Weekend.