I’m excited to announce a new program I’m participating in with support from the Nebraska Arts Council. The Creative Aging through the Arts Program provides grants to bring teaching artists into organizations serving older adults in order foster social engagement while learning new skills. A culminating event allows participants to showcase their work with peers, community and family.
If you’re interested, see the pdf attached below or view the full grant guidelines here.
A mosaic mural that was the largest of its kind when it was installed in the 1950s is facing demolition this summer in Lincoln, NE. A group of mosaic artists are doing their part to help raise a portion of the $1 million needed to remove the mosaic mural before the wrecking ball hits.
Lincoln artist Carrie Strope, in cooperation with Architectural Glassarts, is assembling mosaic kits that can be purchased by area residents to learn about and create small mosaics while saving a piece of Lincoln history for future generations.
The mosaic mural that resides on the side of the soon to be demolished and outdated event center in downtown Lincoln tells the story of small midwestern town entertainment in the mid 50s with a nod to the activities that took place in Pershing Auditorium. It was designed by Nebraska artists Leonard Thiessen and Bill Hammond and fabricated by the Cambridge Tile Company.
To save this piece of Americana and preserve a bit of our local history, the Committee to Save Pershing’s Mural and the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation are raising funds spearheaded by Liz Shea-McCoy, a local artist and arts advocate.
Most of the funds for safely removing the mural from the front of the building have been raised, but more funds need to be raised to store and re-install the mural in its new home. To help with fundraising and to introduce area residents to the art of mosaics, Lincoln artist Carrie Strope and Heather Swartz have donated their time to assemble kits using glass and mirror donated by Architectural Glassarts.
To contribute, area residents can purchase mosaic kits that upcycle jar lids to make sparkling mosaic ornaments. To purchase kits, contact Carrie through her website, https://calyxglass.com/contact/.
Have you heard of the Glass Art Symposium?
It’s hosted by Curious Mondo and it’s 8 days of glass classes in fused glass, mosaic and stained glass that are held online and available for FREE!!!
You can register in advance of the event so you’re ready to take part right here.
No Days Instructor Carrie Strope will be teaching how to make Basketweave Groutless Mosaic Mirrors on day two and will be available for live chat at 12pm EST on October 23.
If you’d like to purchase access to all the classes to view after they are live and to get bonus materials, there’s an early bird special that is $77 for all of the classes!
Again, during the conference classes will air for FREE for 20 hours each. So, you don’t have to pay a dime to enjoy access to all of the wonderful knowledge that will be shared.
Register today so you don’t miss any of the action!!!
The CoExist in Kindness Mosaic Mural Project in Steelton, PA has come to a close! Lead artists Carrie Strope and Natasha Moraga teamed up with the community and many volunteers who learned how to make mosaics. Here are some of the finished mural photos. If you look closely you can see the submissions sent by members of the global glass and mosaic community.
For Season three of the 100 Moment in Mosaics project, I decided to explore the strip technique that I used for the background of the flower pattern from last year’s submission. It is a slow and very tedious process involving first cutting the strips to the correct size with the mosaic nippers, and then grinding down each piece to get just the right angle for a proper fit. It’s definitely a technique I’d like to explore more.
I first remember being wow-ed by this way of laying stained glass strips while in Murano for the Glass Art Society conference. The lovely textile inspired and pillowy pieces beckoned to me from the walls of Berengo Gallery. I was so entranced, I must have missed the artist’s name. (I’m still searching and will update here when I discover the talented person behind these wonderful mosaics! UPDATE: With help from a friend on the island, I can credit the artist, Dusciana Bravura.)
The One Hundred Moments in Mosaic project is a non-juried collection of work representing the full spectrum of SAMA’s diverse and richly creative membership. For a third season, an open call was issued to members to create a 6” x 6” mosaic, using materials of their choice and original design.
The work of seasoned professionals is displayed alongside enthusiastic newcomers to the mosaic making process, culminating in 100+ moments of life rendered in mosaic by artists from all over the world.
This collection was presented on October 31 – November 3, 2019, at the Sculpture Objects Functional Art & Design Expo in Chicago, Illinois at the famed Navy Pier.
The collection will be on view here on the SAMA Website with select works available for sale beginning December 1, 2019.
The collection will also travel to Tucson, Arizona for installation in conjunction with the American Mosaic Summit, May 12 – 17, 2020.
My first season participating in the 100 Moments in Mosaic project was Season 2, which was on display at SOFA Chicago and the Parthenon Museum in Nashville, TN for the SOFA conference. “Applique Mosaic” is pictured below.
During my last visit to Flowing Stone Art Gallery in Beatrice, Nebraska, I was able to slip into the public library to see my piece installed. The remodeling of the library has taken a bit longer than planned, so the piece has been waiting to go up for awhile. It looks so great on the wall, all lit up in it’s own framed light box. I heard that the family who commissioned it was all really excited to see it and happy with how it turned out. It’s a memorial piece for their father, and they all agreed that he would have been very happy with it.
The window is a combination of techniques in glass. The whole thing is leaded together in the traditional leaded glass technique. The cloud and the church are painted on with stained glass paints that are fired in the kiln to be permanent. The flowers are glass on glass (GOG) mosaics, glued and grouted, then leaded into the panel. The landscape glass is all fused glass, with several bits of glass tacked together to make it layered and textured.
To view the window in person, visit the newly remodeled Beatrice Public Library.
This year’s projects were a bit of a departure from the norm, as I wanted to experiment with a few different techniques to see how the girls interpreted them. I was not left disappointed!
The Daisy and Brownies made fused glass flowers to be incorporated into fused glass sun catcher / windchime pieces, while the Juniors worked together to make glass on glass mosaics with the theme and title of their choosing. Below, the finished pieces are: “Love,” “Hope,” “Fire,” and “Fish.” Very elemental and encouraging!
Calyx Glass 
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