BRATTLEBORO — A three-eyed being named “Jeff” who loves cupcakes, a young water bottle who owns a taco business, and a glue stick whose mission is “to unlock eternal happiness.”
These are among the wild and whimsical creatures the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center will unveil March 9 at the 2019 incarnation of Glasstastic, an exhibit of 20 works of art conceived of and drawn by children in grades K through 6 and transformed into three-dimensional pieces by glass artists from across New England.
The show marks the fourth time in a decade that BMAC has connected young students with glass artists to create wild and whimsical creatures. The creations will be on display in BMAC's Center Gallery from March 9 through June 16, as will over 1,200 drawings that were submitted by school children during the open call last year.
The exhibit will open with a brunch reception on Saturday, March 9, at 11 a.m. to celebrate Glasstastic and the five other new exhibits opening on that date. The reception is free and open to the public.
This year's selected students hail from Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, including four from Brattleboro, three from Hinsdale, N.H.; and three from South Burlington.
Each student artist will receive a certificate and a photograph of the glass sculpture inspired by their drawing. The students' families and schools are given the opportunity to purchase the pieces in advance. The remaining sculptures will be on sale to the public.
“We're lucky to have so many talented glass artists in the area who have participated in this project over the years,” said BMAC Education Curator Linda Whelihan in a news release. “This year, we have invited a handful of new artists recommended by our original crew. This is a labor of love for them. Often they choose a drawing that will stretch their abilities and allow them to experiment with new techniques, but that requires hours of trial and error, since glass doesn't behave like other materials.”
“This is an amazing event that we are absolutely honored to participate in again,” said Dominique Caissie and Jocelyn Brown, both of Terrapin Glassblowing Studio in Jaffrey, N.H. “We think this museum is a gem of a place, bringing so much to the surrounding communities, and it is wonderful to get to work with such a great entity. Our favorite part, though: we love being able to encourage all those little budding artists to create and put themselves out there. We wish we could choose even more!”
Glass artist Lynn Latimer returned to the project for a second time this year. “The children's bold and free-styled drawings are a wonderful technical glass challenge and an invitation to explore and share someone's vision,” Latimer said. “The show draws a great crowd and is alive with energy. It's a lot of fun all around!”