March 2018 Newsletter

Open Kiln is Back!

Art in the Shop: Closing Leads to New Beginnings

We've officially closed on our new Lowry Avenue building.

A year after first submitting our proposal to the city of Minneapolis, followed by months of design and reviews, we've finally closed on our new building at 693-695 Lowry Avenue NE.

Pictured at left is contractor Dave Strom making quick work of demolition. Over the next six months Dave and the crew will transform the former grocery store/ service station/ lighting warehouse/ silk screen shop/ macaroni factory/ storefront church/ apartment building/ super six hydraulic farm equipment manufacturer (and who knows what else) into five artist studios, galleries, and classroom space.

There is also space for a restaurant on the corner of Lowry and Monroe if we can find one to join us!

Potekglass will be located in the SE corner of the building on Lowry and Howard, where our new torch studio will be visible to passerby.

Art in the World: Therman Statom

Untitled 2001 - Mayo Clinic

Therman Statom is a contemporary glass artist who grew up in Washington, D.C. His freestanding pieces range from tabletop statues to room-sized installations, and tend to take on a structural quality. Statom provides spontaneity in line and color using a sandblasted canvas to feature hand blown and found elements.

Statom has a piece located in the waiting room of the Mayo Clinic's main Gonda Building. Constructed in Statom's signature style, the approximately 13×13 foot sculpture contains multicolored created and found pieces of plate glass as well as metal painted and glued together to form abstract rectangular shapes that project images of ladders, tables, high-rises, and houses. It is accented by twists of glass, magic genie bottles, and terra-cotta. By use of technique, medium, and style, the sculpture also challenges the age-old debate of craft vs art, and it concretely manages to bridge the gap between the genres.

Mayo Clinic's mixed media with glass piece by Statom, reminiscent of an abstract painting, catches the viewer's eye. Lively and delightful, the detailed sculpture encourages further exploration. Its colored and opaque components reflect the dance of light all around and complement the main design of the glass and chrome of the Gonda Building itself.

Text Courtesy Mayo Clinic Proceeds

Class Notes

Kids' Weeklong Summer Camp July 9-13

New this year! Two summer camp sessions split into age groups.

Looking for a fun and interesting activity to get your kid off their screen this summer? Un-plug into a hands-on introductory glass art class at Potekglass!

Join Malcom in the studio for an engaging class that offers everything a kid wants: fire, color, science, creativity, melting glass and smushing clay. Students will be working three-dimensionally and experimenting with a torch and kiln work.

Grades 3-5 10:00 am-1:00 pm; Grades 6-9 2:00 pm-5:00 pm