TACOMA, WASH.- The Museum of Glass welcomes Albert Paley (Rochester, NY) and Martin Blank (Seattle, WA) to the Hot Shop for a joint residency December 15 – 19, 2010. Together the two will translate a selection of Paley’s designs into glass. This will be the artists’ second collaboration, the first occurring in 2001 for an exhibition titled Integration and Dialogue.

“Although we don’t know exactly what the artists are planning to create, we are quite sure it will be fascinating to watch them work during this intriguing collaboration,” comments deputy director Susan Warner. “Both Albert and Martin are extremely talented sculptors who create large-scale works of art. It’s pretty safe to assume they will be pushing the limits of the hot glass while they’re here.”

A Conversation with the Artists will be held on Sunday, December 19 at 2 p.m. in the Hot Shop. They will discuss their work with Museum visitors.

Albert Paley is one of the most celebrated metal sculptors in the country and is the first to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Institute of Architects, the AIA's highest award to a non-architect. He has been active as an artist for over 30 years at his studio in Rochester , New York . He has completed more than 60 site-specific works commissioned by public and private clients, including the Portal Gates for the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, a 120-foot long entryway sculpture in Forrest Park for the St. Louis Zoological Park, the entrance rotunda gates for a state courthouse in San Francisco, and the main entrance gates for the Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL. His work can be found in the permanent collections of major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York , the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston , the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston , and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London . http://www.albertpaley.com/
Martin Blank has established himself as one of America ’s most significant figurative sculptors. He earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design before joining Chihuly Studio where he worked for 11 years. His work is on display in galleries throughout the United States and in exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston , Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Corning Museum of Glass, Millennium Museum Beijing, Shanghai Museum of Fine Art and the American Embassy in Slovakia . Fluent Steps, Blank’s 210-foot-long glass sculpture displayed in the Main Plaza Reflecting Pool at the Museum of Glass , was commissioned by and is part of the Museum’s Permanent Collection.