GLASSTASTIC: What’s A Pegamallow?
GLASSTASTIC: What’s A Pegamallow?
And, very artful ice shanties.
“ This is a pegamallow. . . He comes from a land made up of every good dream anyone has ever had.” —artist Josie Clough
I’ve been thoroughly charmed for years by everything about GLASSTASTIC, the recurring program at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center (BMAC), now back with an exhibition scheduled for 2023. It begins in the imaginations of children with fistfuls of crayons and ends with kid-inspired creations by local professional glass artists. In the past, I’ve written about the exhibition itself. This time we are at the beginning of the process. If you’ve got a kid, or know a kid, or even if you don’t, read on.
It goes something like this. Children dream up and draw a creature that fascinates them, complete with the creature’s fictional backstory. They submit their work to BMAC, where some are chosen to be passed on to professional glass artists. Working from a child’s drawing, the glass artist will bring a selected work to 3-dimensional life. These sculptures will be displayed beside the drawings that inspired them. And whether chosen or not, all submitted drawings will be incorporated into the exhibition. December 16, 2022 is the submission deadline.
Just above is then-fourth grader Josie Clough’s original drawing. The photo at the top of this post is glass artist Dominique Caissie’s corresponding sculpture.
“The Flower Cat” (just above) designed by Aliana Miller, then 1st grade, (see below) created in glass by Marta Bernbaum, was also part of GLASSTASTIC 2021. Bernbaum will be returning to participate again in this year’s GLASSTASTIC exhibition, along with other glass artists Josh Bernbaum, Jocelyn Brown, Robert Burch, Robert DuGrenier, Zak Grace, Jordana Korsen, Sally Prasch, Randi Solin, and Jen Violette.
The exhibition is scheduled at BMAC for April 22 through October 9, 2023.
For more information about submissions and the exhibition, including a link to selections from GLASSTASTIC 2021, please click here.
We’re not finished! BMAC has also issued a call for the design and construction of Artful Ice Shanties.
“Calling all artists, ice fishing enthusiasts, tiny house aficionados, and design-builders of all ages and experience levels! You and your friends, family, school, business, or team are invited to participate in Artful Ice Shanties (Feb. 18–26), presented by Brattleboro Museum & Art Center and Retreat Farm.”
Deadline to register is December 16, 2022. For further info, click here. For a previous post, in which I described the shanties as examples of “art making a break for it,” click here.
(Photos of the glass pieces by Joshua Farr from exhibit Glasstastic 2021 at Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, courtesy of BMAC.)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.