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August Issue 2003

Caldwell Arts Council in Lenoir, NC, Features Group Exhibition of Glassmakers

The Caldwell Arts Council in Lenoir, NC will present the exhibit, The Next Level, from Aug. 1 - 22, 2003. The exhibition reflects "the rising ambitions of the exhibiting glassmakers who work in a field once considered by critics and curators as a mere artisanry," says Stephen Kinzer of the New York Times.

The exhibition focuses on the work of Greg Fidler of Penland, NC, Pablo Soto of Penland, Brent Cole of Burnsville NC, Ila Sahai Prouty of Penland, Katherine Gray of Louisiana, Eric Heubsch of California, and Tom Farbanish of Pleasant Gap, PA.

"Over the last 10 years," says Josi Callan, director of the International Center for Contemporary Art, "glass has really been coming into its own as a fine-arts medium. We're where photography was 20 years ago. More museums are adding glass works to their permanent collections. It's part of this broadening view of what constitutes fine art."

"Boundaries between artist and craftsmen have melded considerably since the 1960s," says Dale Chihuly, world renound glass artist. "Now people use the materials that suite the ideas they want to express. The line separating art from craft has always been subjectively drawn. Sometimes the difference was said to be in intent, with art created solely for its own sake and crafted objects meant to be useful. At other times the medium has been considered the key difference. Oil painting, for example was automatically considered an artist's medium, and works in fabric, wood or clay consigned to lesser talents. In recent years, however, glassmakers seem to have succeeded in changing the public's perception of what they do. Those working in other mediums view the glassmakers' success with a mixture of admiration and envy."

For more information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Arts Council at 828/754-2485, e-mail at (caldart@conninc.com) or on the web at (www.conninc.com/caldart/).

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