30 or 40 or 50, I forget

Tom Philabaum is a glass artist in Tucson, Arizona. His studio has a long and interesting history. This month he is hosting a show celebrating the studio glass movement in America. He calls it 30, 40, 50 because his gallery is 30, most of the artists he's showing have been making their glass for 40 years and the studio glass movement itself began about 50 years ago.

His special guest artist and speaker is Henry Halem, who will speak on March 3rd at the nearby Tucson Museum of Art  about his role in the history of glass making in America. Knowing Henry he'll speak very little about himself and mostly about the artists he admires. When I googled Henry Halem to get his picture, it was everything else about glass but not him!

Henry Halem was the first president of the G.A.S. (Glass Artist's Society) and founded the glass program at Ohio State.

The Philabaum Glass Gallery is open weekdays and Saturdays. Check out the site at www.philabaumglass.com http://www.philabaumglass.com

You can reserve a seat at the glass making demo by calling the studio.

You can read about the show here.

Philabaum Dinner A'la Arte

Tom and Dabny Philabaum hosted a charity dinner in the blow room of their glass works and gallery February 20, 2010.
Here Tom blows a self annealer for the guests. He also donated a big work of his to the Tucson Art Museum.
The Board of Trustees of the Museum hosted the dinner, and Ron Wassell of Blue House Catering provided the great food.
Look for Nourot to be doing some hosting of this sort later in the year. The idea is to invite certain "guests" to try their hand at making glass or pehaps just hang out and eat with the artists. The Benicia Main Street Program with the other two glass works in Benicia, Smyers and Lindsay are in talks to make this happen.
It won't be for our local Glass Museum because we do not have one in Benicia but, hey, that would be kind of cool if we did. From the collections the glass makers have grown over the years it could be quite comprehensive.
To inquire about reserving a spot as a "blower" or just to buy tickets for the dinner (October 3rd.) you can call us at 707-745-1463. Thanks for your interest.