Current & Coming Exhibits | Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass

BETWEEN SEEING AND KNOWING

OCTOBER 8, 2022-FEBRUARY 5, 2023

Comprised of hundreds of objects fabricated using multiple glass processes, Between Seeing and Knowing is a large-scale, site-specific installation by artists Anna Boothe and Nancy Cohen. Created as part of a Collaborative Residency that took place at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in 2012, the artwork has been exhibited at Accola Griefen Gallery, Philadelphia Art Alliance, and Philadelphia’s International Airport. The installation will be presented at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass from October 8, 2022 – February 5, 2023.

At its core, Between Seeing and Knowing is the result of both artists’ long-standing interest in and in-depth study of Tibetan Buddhist thangka paintings and the integration of their otherwise very separate studio practices. Thangkas are ordered cosmological paintings, often scrolls, created for the purpose of meditation and composed of numerous visual elements. This installation reinterprets the symbolism in the paintings to create new work that reflects the organizational structure and palette of the paintings, as well as the sense of expansiveness and lack of hard resolution characteristic of Buddhist ideology.

Overall, through this collaboration, its subject matter, and our chosen methodology, we seek to understand, both visually and viscerally, another cultural perspective or expression unlike our own, through our dissection and re-assemblage of elements unique to that culture. Just as collaboration brings forth the opportunity for a deep exchange of ideas and the development of sympathetic approaches to doing what one does, pragmatically and metaphorically, this is our attempt at bridging gaps between cultural approaches to explain the unexplainable.

– Anna Boothe and Nancy Cohen

ANNA BOOTHE:

With degrees in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and glass from Tyler School of Art/Temple University, Anna Boothe has worked with glass since 1980. Included in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Racine Art Museum and Tacoma Museum of Art, her cast glass work has been exhibited widely, including recently at the Albuquerque Art Museum, Fuller Craft Museum, Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts and the Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace in Venice, as well as at several villas in Italy’s Veneto Region.

Boothe taught in Tyler’s glass program for 16 years, helped develop and chaired Salem Community College’s (NJ) glass art program and has exhibited and/or lectured internationally in Australia, Belgium, Israel, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan and Turkey, as well as at numerous US universities and glass-focused schools. She served on the Board and as President of the Glass Art Society from 1998-2006 and is a former Director of Glass at Philadelphia’s National Liberty Museum.

NANCY COHEN:

With an MFA in Sculpture from Columbia University and a BFA in Ceramics from Rochester Institute of Technology, Nancy Cohen has been working with glass (among other materials) since 1990. Her work examines resiliency in relation to the environment and the human body. Cohen’s work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and is represented in collections, such as The Montclair Museum, The Weatherspoon Art Gallery, and The Zimmerli Museum. She has completed large-scale, site-specific projects for The Staten Island Botanical Garden, The Noyes Museum of Art, The Katonah Museum, Howard University and others.

Recent solo exhibitions include Walking a Line at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Chelsea, NY and Nancy Cohen: Atlas of Impermanence at the Visual Arts Center in Summit, NJ. Group exhibitions include All We Can Save: Climate Conversations at the Nurture Nature Center in Easton, PA, and ReVision and Respond at The Newark Museum. Cohen is a 2022 recipient of a Mid-Atlantic Fellowship from the NJ State Council on the Arts. She currently teaches drawing and sculpture at Queens College.

Meditation Sessions

“Between Seeing and Knowing takes as a starting point the artists’ long-standing interest in and in-depth study of Tibetan Buddhist thangka paintings,” which contain numerous symbols and pictures but flow together into one whole experience – a reflection of our inter-connectedness.

In connection with the exhibit, there will be a 25-40 minute meditation period offered on Thursdays by Zen River Sangha. No experience is needed. Chairs and cushions will be provided. For those new to meditation, there will be an optional introduction to meditation at the beginning of each session.

Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Turn off cell phones. Experience the quietness of just being in the flow of art and life.

Dates:

Thursday evenings from 6-7pm

October 13, 20, 27

November 3, 10, 17

* Holiday Break *

January 5, 12, 19, 26

Schedule:

6:00-6:15 – Meditation instruction or Meditation

6:15-6:40 – Silent Meditation

6:40-6:45 – Break

6:45-7:00 – Q&A

Free for All. Donations and registration requested.

Under the Sea: Marine Life in Glass

December 23, 2022 – June 16, 2023

Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is home to many beautiful glass treasures, including paperweights, sculpture, and Germanic drinking vessels. On from December 23rd through June 16th in the Museum’s Blue Gallery, Under The Sea: Marine Life in Glass, showcases fourteen works of art in which artists have found their muse in the flora and fauna of the world’s oceans. Works featuring fish, kelp, turtles, and water-loving birds by artists including Janet Kelman, Colin Richardson, Josh Simpson, Rick Ayotte, and factories such as Caithness and Perthshire will be on exhibit.

Janet Kelman (American, b.1948), Rosy Coral Seafan, 2004 Gift of Bruce and Judy Bendoff, GL 2018.4.248

Chris Heilman (American, b.1950), Blue Runners, 2002 Gift of Rosann Baum Milius, GL 2002.7.89

Antique French Paperweights

January 31 – July 23, 2023

Did you know that the first paperweight Evangeline Bergstrom collected was an antique Baccarat from 1847? It was by chance that she found herself in an antiques show in Florida while satisfying her interest in stamp collecting. The paperweight reminded her of a weight that belonged to her grandmother more than fifty years prior. In fact, Mrs. Bergstrom didn’t start collecting paperweights until she was 63 years old! In this exhibition located in the Mabel R. McClanahan Memorial Study Gallery, take a journey into the past and examine antique French paperweights that Mrs. Bergstrom – or her contemporaries – would have collected. Learn about characteristic hallmarks of lampwork, millefiori and sulphide paperweights from the big three factories of St. Louis, Clichy and Baccarat as well as Pantin and St. Mande. Who knows what exciting discoveries you will make?

2023 Fox Valley Area High School Glass Exhibition

February 24 – April 8, 2023

As a center for extraordinary glass experiences, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass offers unique discoveries to ignite creativity, spark fun, and cultivate learning for all. We are pleased to exhibit glass art made by area high school students in this, the 2023 Fox Valley Area High School Glass Exhibition. After creating glass art in the classroom, and in the museum glass studio, students have the opportunity to share their work in this public setting. Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass strives to expose the community to the versatility of glass while encouraging the creativity of talented young artists in the area with this annual exhibit. The 2023 Fox Valley Area High School Glass Exhibition and Glass Experience Days are supported in part by Chilton Area Community Foundation Fund within the Chilton Area Community Foundation and the Lilian Noble Memorial Fund.