FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cindy Mackey, cmackey@chrysler.org, 757-754-4553
LEADING CONTEMPORARY GLASS ARTISTS TO KICK OFF THE
CHRYSLER MUSEUM’S VISITING ARTIST SERIES
NORFOLK, Va., - (January 2012) – To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the
American Studio Glass movement, the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Chrysler Museum
Glass Studio will present a year-long series of exhibitions and live demonstrations featuring
eight internationally known artists.
The Visiting Artist Series will include a special exhibition of selected work by each artist in the
Museum along with a week of live public demonstrations in the Glass Studio. The series will
provide a range of educational programs on the various techniques, histories, and artistic
concepts explored in glass. Audiences will enjoy exciting demonstrations and chances to meet
the artists, and the companion exhibitions will enhance visitors’ appreciation of contemporary
glass. The Visiting Artist Series exhibition and demonstrations are free.
The series is made possible by the generous support of an anonymous foundation, The
Norfolk Consortium, Delta, and the Business Exhibition Council of the Chrysler Museum of Art.
Benjamin Moore, Dante Marioni, Janusz Poźniak
Exhibition dates: January 27– March 18
Artists Studio Visit: February 29–March 4
Benjamin Moore received a bachelor of fine arts degree in ceramics from the College of Arts
and Crafts in Oakland, California, and a master in fine arts from the Rhode Island School of
Design. He has been a designer for the Venini Studio in Murano, Italy, taught as faculty of the
Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, and served as both a faculty member and Trustee
Board Member at the Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle. His work can be found in collections
in Bavaria, Denmark, Austria, and Japan, the Venini Collection in Murano, Italy, the Corning
Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, the American Craft Museum, New York, the High
Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the Chrysler Museum.
Dante Marioni studied glassblowing at both Pilchuck Glass School and Penland School of
Crafts in North Carolina. He was honored in 1995 when his work was chosen to grace the
jacket cover of The White House Collection of American Crafts. His glass can be found in
major collections and museums throughout the world, including the Chrysler Museum, the
Corning Museum of Glass, the New Zealand National Museum of Art, the Smithsonian
Institution, and the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan. Marioni often mentions glass maestro
Lino Tagliapietra, who was the inaugural artist at the opening of the Chrysler Museum Glass
Studio, as a major influence in his work.
Janusz Poźniak was born in Swindon, England. He received a bachelor of arts in glass from
the West Surrey College of Art & Design, Farnham, England. He also received a D.A.T.E.C.
diploma from Southport College of Art, Merseyside, England. From 1992 to present, Poźniak
has worked with various artists, including Dante Marioni, Sonja Blomdahl, Benjamin Moore,
Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra and Dick Marquis, and has become one of Seattle's most
distinguished young glass artists.
Debora Moore
Exhibition dates: April 25–June 10
Artist Studio Visit: April 25–29
Debora Moore has worked in glass since the late 1980s. Her awards and exhibitions include
the prestigious Rakow Commission and the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft. Debora Moore has studied at
both the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle and the Pilchuck Glass School. In 1998, she was
accepted as a member in the African American Design Archive at the Cooper-Hewitt National
Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution in New York. Her work was also included in the
prestigious Artistry of Orchids exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. In 2005,
Debora was an Artist in Residence at the Tacoma Museum of Glass and at Abate Zanetti in
Murano, Italy.
John Miller
Exhibition dates: July 5–August 26
Artist Studio Visit: July 11–15
John Miller began working with glass in 1987 as an undergraduate student at Southern
Connecticut State University. He received a master in fine art degree from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is an assistant professor of glass at Illinois State University.
He has worked on the staff and faculty of Pilchuck Glass School and in 1998 was awarded the
C.G.C.A. Fellowship at Wheaton Village in Millville N.J. His work is in the collections of the
Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, and the Museum of
Glass, Tacoma. Miller operates his own studio, Ring of Fire Hot Glass, where his focus is
blown sculpture. His large-scale recreations of diner and fast food staples are among his most
popular works of art.
Einar and Jamex de la Torre
Exhibition dates: September 12–October 28
Artist Studio Visit: September 26–October 4
Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre were born in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jamex started flameworking glass in 1977, attended California State University at Long Beach, and received a
bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture in 1983. Einar started work with glass in 1980 while
also attending California State University at Long Beach. In the 1980’s they ran a flameworked glass figure business while also developing their assemblage style of work. In the early
90s they began working collaboratively as studio artists and participated in Biennales such as
inSITE and Mercosul (Brazil). Their work is based on their Mexican-American bicultural
experiences. They have exhibited their work internationally in France, Japan, Canada,
Germany, Venezuela, and Brazil, as well as in the U.S. and Mexico. Their work is in the
collections of the Museum of Glass in Tacoma; The National Hispanic Center Museum,
Albuquerque, N.M.; Arkansas Arts Center Museum, Little Rock, Ark; Arizona State University
Art Museum; the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art; The Kanazu Museum in Kanazu,
Japan; The Fisher Gallery Museum at USC; Tucson Museum of Art; The Santa Barbara
Museum of Art; and The Mexican Fine Art Center Museum in Chicago.
April Surgent
Exhibition dates: November 14–December 30
Artist Studio Visit: November 14–18
Born in 1982, April Surgent studied glass production in Bornholm, Denmark as a teenager. In
2003, she received a scholarship to attend Pilchuck Glass School, where she learned coldworking and traditional cameo engraving techniques, studying with master Czech engraver
and mentor Jiri Harcuba. She graduated with honors from the Australian National University
School of Art, Canberra in 2004. In 2009, she was awarded the Neddy Artist Fellowship for
glass through the Behnke Foundation, and received the Urban Glass New Talent award in
2010. Her work appears in the collections of notable museums worldwide, including the
Chrysler.
The Chrysler Museum of Art is one of America’s most distinguished mid-sized art museums
with a world-class collection of more than 30,000 objects, including one of the great glass
collections in America, and a new Glass Studio. The Museum is located at 245 West Olney
Road in Norfolk and is open Wednesdays, 10 a.m. -9 p.m.; Thursdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5
p.m., and Sundays, noon-5 p.m. The Chrysler and the Glass Studio are closed on Mondays
and Tuesdays, as well as major holidays. Admission to the Museum’s collection and Studio
glassblowing demonstrations are free. For exhibitions, programming and special events, visit
chrysler.org or call 757-664-6200.
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