Powerful Sculptures in Glass by a Contemporary Master

Here’s the latest from Island Museum of Art…

For more than twenty-five years, in a career that brought him to the forefront of the modern Studio Glass movement, William Morris perfected a repertoire of techniques that virtually no other American glass artist can equal. Internationally acclaimed for his compelling work with glass, William Morris approached the demands of glassblowing and glass sculpting with an experimental eye and an innovative hand.

For Morris, glass is an endlessly intriguing material, fragile yet timeless, preserving the spontaneity of the creative moment unlike any other medium. William Morris artworks in glass are widely admired by artists, sought by collectors, and praised by critics.
(From wmorris.com)

The doors to IMA open on February 14 with Morris’ sculptural glass completed between 1998 and 2013. Morris’ beautiful work speaks of human origins, myth, ancestry, and ancient civilizations. Symbolizing a harmony between humanity and nature, the artist’s extraordinary technical skill combines with a love for cultural history to create a body of work respected worldwide.

William Morris, a teacher at the renowned Pilchuck Glass School, gathers much of his inspiration from ancient cultures – Egyptian, Asian, Native American – all peoples, he has said, who respected and admired the land they inhabited. Because of this, Morris’s artwork has an intriguing ambiguity: it is culturally distinct and yet familiar to all cultures. His pieces embody a spiritual quality that sharply contrasts old beliefs with those of the modern world.

“The William Morris exhibition is the perfect inaugural show for the opening of the new IMA building,” said Executive Director Charlie Bodenstab.

The show runs through May 12.

The front of the IMA Building – Contributed photo

Some IMA History: The Little Island With The Big Dreams

It was an improbable notion brought to life by an unflappable bunch of artists on a remote island in Puget Sound’s Salish Sea. Their harebrained idea: to build a fine arts museum that would gain the attention of artists and global audiences. They had no money. They had no building. Still, the tiny museum-without-a-home set up grand exhibitions in venues from theater lobbies to abandoned retail shops. Dedicated volunteers swept, painted, built exhibition space and wooed talent from around the country to the new San Juan Islands Museum of Art (aka IMA.)

After seven years wandering, the peripatetic museum began to pine for a real home. Enter: businessman Charlie Bodenstab, whose late wife Pam had been one of the museum’s founders. Bodenstab’s business acumen brought new energy to the group, who, while still nomadic, dreamed of a permanent landing place.

Three years later, after 10 years on the road, they found it.

San Juan Island had recently completed a shiny new hospital, leaving a former emergency medical vehicle garage standing abandoned on Spring Street, Friday Harbor’s main thoroughfare. The building was tall and sturdy, with excellent bones and personality to match. The potential, invisible to some, was obvious to Bodenstab and the crew of volunteers: this would make a great museum.

As construction began, the 5,000 square foot building took shape as a work of art itself. Architect Richard Hobbs’ slightly controversial addition of a soaring glass and steel atrium streetside gives the structure a uniquely dramatic presence in this quiet town.

The San Juan Islands – accessible only by boat or air – seem to ooze art. It’s hard to say whether art is attracted or born there by the islands’ dreamlike beauty. The San Juans rank consistently high in the Washington State Arts Commission Creative Vitality Index, an indicator of art sales per capita. Further testament to the abundance of local talent, IMA has long maintained an Artists’ Registry of more than 60 artists, giving them a venue to sell their art through annual shows.

The young benefit as well. Even while living out of crates, the IMA team insisted on supporting island school art programs, with contributions freely given to fund an art teacher’s salary at San Juan Island Elementary. With an award from the WSAC to prove it, IMA continues to reach out to ensure that local children receive a fine art education.

The goal of IMA is to keep the museum accessible to islanders, while attracting the attention of the international art scene. IMA expects that art-loving travelers who come to see the new museum will stay to relish the beauty of the islands. They will sleep at local hotels, eat at local restaurants, and discover local art studios and galleries, thus supporting the local economy in all seasons.

The architectural firm of Richard W. Hobbs, FAIA + Wagner Galloway created the new design, which incorporates a light-filled glass atrium into the existing building. This elegant combination of wood and glass in a climate controlled environment will also serve as an open reception area for special exhibitions and events.

Art is displayed in three spaces: the intimate North Gallery, the main Nichols Gallery and the Atrium Gallery. On the second floor is a state-of-the-art workshop and teaching space.

Spineless, by Susan Middleton

IMA plans many workshops throughout its first year. Susan Middleton, author of Spineless: Portraits of Marine Invertebrates, the Backbone of Life, will teach a 5-day class on wildlife photography. Middleton’s stunning photographs of invertebrates will be featured in IMA’s second exhibition of the same name, May 22 through August 21.

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