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September 19, 2003 |
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| Glass
exhibit at IU Kokomo will emphasize historical tie to
Hoosier stained glass production
By Mary Ellen Stephenson |
Glass artist Jon Wolfe
Kokomo’s glass company has been operating since 1888 and, today, is the oldest manufacturer of opalescent and cathedral stained glass in the world. |
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Six Midwestern artists, more than a century of local history
and artwork formed in red-hot heat are the intriguing
components behind IU Kokomo Art Gallery’s non-functional,
sculpturally based Glass Invitational, which opens Sunday,
Sept. 28, and runs through Nov. 9.
During the run of the exhibit, the gallery will coordinate
tours of the 115-year-old Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory
and the KOG Hot Glass Studio.
Hot Glass Studio artists Jon Wolfe and Michael Amis invited
some of their favorite regional glass artists to join
them in submitting pieces for the show. They include Arlon
Bayliss of Anderson; Fred Difrenzi of Louisville; Lori
Stolt of Noblesville; and Mike Zelenka of Bath, Ohio.
A 27-year veteran of working in glass as an art medium,
Wolfe joined Kokomo Opalescent Glass in 1998, when the
company added the KOG Hot Glass Studio. The studio produces
blown and cast functional items of colored glass, such
as vases and cocktail glasses. Major sculptural pieces,
such as those in the Glass Invitational, “don’t
fit into the compressed time frame that production (of
the studio’s wares) requires,” Wolfe said.
“Many of the works have been months or even years
in the making.”
One of Wolfe’s own pieces in the show, Unreal
Estate, took about eight months to complete. “It
consists of many different cast, cut, polished and laminated
components. It was made as part of a series that integrated
symbols of the human form as structural components in
an architectural theme,” he said.
Spotlight on sponsor Marian Blacklidge
Kokomo artist Marian Blacklidge has underwritten the Glass
Invitational to honor its connections with her husband’s
family history. William Blacklidge, the grandfather of
Marian Blacklidge’s husband, was one of the first
owners of KOG. The factory opened in 1888, powered by
free natural gas offered by the City of Kokomo to any
business that would locate there and bring jobs. The high-quality,
rolled sheet glass produced by KOG was prized for use
in Tiffany lamps and decorative windows. The supply of
natural gas ran out after 10 years, but KOG continued
operations, and, today, is the oldest manufacturer of
opalescent and cathedral stained glass in the world. The
company has the ability to manufacture sheet glass in
more than 22,000 different color/density/texture combinations.
Sculptures and a painting by Blacklidge will appear during
October in the Gallery’s Artist Spotlight window,
located at the gallery entrance. Functional glass pieces
from KOG Hot Glass Studio will be displayed in another
window and may be purchased.
http://www.iuk.edu/artgallery
http://www.kog.com
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IU Home Pages + 400 E. 7th Street. Bloomington, IN 47405 + Phone: (812) 855-6494
Publication Date: August 15, 2003 + Comments: homepgs@indiana.edu
Copyright ©2003, The Trustees of Indiana University
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