Visual Arts Center, Chrysler Museum partner for glass exhibit

The exhibition “Breaking Barriers: Glass Work by TCC Grads and Chrysler Assistants” will open at Tidewater Community College’s Visual Arts Center (VAC) on May 6.

Joint festivities, including an artists’ brunch, will take place on June 4 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the VAC and the adjacent Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center.

Events are free and open to the public. The exhibition continues through June 21.

“Breaking Barriers” features a diverse and cutting-edge collection of art glass created by 24 TCC graduates and assistants in the Chrysler’s Perry Glass Studio.

“Uniting this generation of artists is not only timely and exciting, but it also depicts significant discoveries within this popular medium,” said Shelley Brooks, coordinator of exhibitions and arts programming at the VAC.

A complete range of work from small to large, colorful to monochromatic, and geometric to organic are represented. Methods and styles are equally abundant. Examples include life-sized vegetables by C. Douglas Aurand, mixed media weaponry by Laura McFie and William Sprueill, and a pink weight room by Jennifer Detlefsen. The variety and execution of the work will provide the viewer with a true survey of contemporary art glass.

The VAC is one of several venues participating in regional glass celebrations during the Glass Art Society’s 46th annual international glass conference, being hosted June 1-3 by the Chrysler Museum and the Perry Glass Studio.

For information, call Brooks at 757-822-1878.

Pictured above, from left:

Joshua Solomon
Songlines | blown glass | 2017 | 38 x 18 x 18 in.

Phillip King
Visual Rhythm #3 | sculpted glass | 2016 | 7 x 7 x 8 in.

Colin McKinnon
Brushstrokes | blown glass | 2015 | 17 x 8 x 8 in.