2022 International Year of Glass

SEE IT AND DO IT IN SANTA FE

Glass is a fascinating art form that inspires, intrigues, and challenges both those who shape it and those who view it. Glass can be a liquid and a solid. It transforms light. Glass can be blown into various forms, cast from sculpted materials, and shaped in many other ways. It can be as tiny as small beads and as large as outdoor sculptures that tower over the viewer. Glass can tell stories, or inspire them to be told.

It’s ubiquitous and critically important in “sectors such as aerospace, automotive industries, health care, and architecture,” yet not wholly acknowledged and appreciated for its role. To correct the record and raise awareness about the history and future of glass, the United Nations has declared 2022 to be the International Year of Glass.

In the US, it is also the 60th anniversary of the studio glass movement—glass used as an artistic medium—said to have been started by Harvey Littleton, often called the “Father of the Studio Glass Movement.” He was the son of the head of research and development at Corning Glass Works, now a multinational technology company.

Santa Fe, with its concentration of glass artists, will be at the center of New Mexico’s celebration of the International Year of Glass. Many of The City Different’s art galleries and museums will turn the spotlight on their glass offerings and feature special presentations by artists.

Glass Alliance-New Mexico, which fosters an interest in glass art, has a number of special events planned and provides updated news about the International Year of Glass and local glass events (glassnm.org).

"Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Re-imagined in Glass” is a spectacular display of more than 100 works of glass art crafted by 33 Native artisans at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture on Museum Hill through June 16.

“Capturing the Light: Glass Art Inspired by Nature” at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden (also on Museum Hill) presents outdoor glass sculptures throughout the site that express the many relationships people have with pollinators and other aspects of our ecosystem. Through mid-June.

Visitors to Santa Fe can become “momentary glass artists” by making their own glass art under the watchful eye of professionals at:

brokenarrowglass.com

bullseyeglass.com

liquidlightglass.com

prairiedogglass.com

tlcstainedglass.com

Being in Santa Fe is your opportunity to become immersed in one of America’s great centers of glass art creation.

Visit Glass Alliance-New Mexico (glassnm.org) for more information about Santa Fe’s 2022 International Year of Glass events.

DID YOU KNOW?

Glass—in the form of fiberoptic cable—makes the internet what it is today. Glass—in the form of solar cells—is a source of energy from the sun. Glass is an artistic medium that is unique in its ability to combine light, color, shape, and size to engage with people’s emotions at many levels.