The 1 9 6 0 s were a tim e o f p o litica l a n d cultural upheaval, ripe fo r artistic experimentation.
Dominick Labino
Footed Tumbler,
1965
3.7 x 2.9 in. dia.
the other media, who tend to
isolate themselves and guard
their secrets. W e were tickled
pink if other artists wanted to
watch us do our tricks.”
Openness and boldness,
generosity and showmanship -
those were also hallmarks of
Dreisbach’s seminal teacher,
Harvey K. Littleton, the move-
ment’s prime mover, practitioner,
proselytizer, and pied piper.
Other artists explored ways
to work directly with hot glass,
Left: Scientist and
artist Dominick Labino
blowing glass during
the first Toledo Museum
of Art glass workshop
in March 1962.
but it is Littleton who is credited
with launching American studio
glass. The 50th anniversary
will be commemorated this year
by more than 150 exhibitions
and events nationwide. (Visit
americancraftmag.org for a
selection of events.)
Evidence of the movement’s
pervasive power can be seen
today in the proliferation of
glassmaking programs and in
the deluge of handmade glass
objects that fill the shelves of
galleries, museums, and private
homes, and are displayed in
theaters, convention centers,
and other public spaces.
Dale Chihuly’s aquatic-
inspired installations may be the
most visible examples of the rise
of American studio glass. But
the demise last year of Steuben
Glass Works is more evidence:
Collectors and even casual buy-
ers have come to prefer one-of-
a-kind pieces to anonymous
production works of glass.
The Crucible and the Crusader
“There are very few movements
where you can pinpoint a birth
date,” says Tina Oldknow, cura-
tor of modern glass at the Corn-
ing Museum of Glass. “Here,
you can: It started in March and
June 1962.”
That’s when two glass work-
shops were held in a storage shed
on the grounds of the Toledo
As a material, glass perfectly
suited the free-spirited time.
It’s been categorized as a “super-
cooled liquid” (subject to some
debate) or an “amorphous solid,”
because even when formed, its
molecules remain in a state of
dynamic unrest. For artists such
as Dreisbach, it was the ideal
medium for self-expression.
Glass is not an easy material
to master, of course, but prog-
ress was possible because
knowledge, especially in those
early days, was communal.
“It was this pioneering spirit,”
Dreisbach says. “Like the pio-
neers in those wagon trains, we
banded together. That doesn’t
happen with artists in many of
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046 american craft feb/mari2
T u m b ler
photo: Courtesy of Corning Museum o f Glass / Labino photo: Courtesy of the
Toledo B la d e
