Harvey Littleton, Dan
Dailey, Paul Stankard,
Mary Schaffer and even
architect I.M. Pei.
Ferdinand Hamp-
son, president of the
glass-centered Habatat
Galleries, helped orga-
nize this exhibit.
"I chose collectors
who were involved in
the [contemporary
glass movement] quite
early and have contin-
ued, in some degree,
to collect contempo-
rary glass," said
Hampson, who
prompted the state-
ments about what

Photo by Stephen Bo udreau

been on the cover of Smithsonian and
Craft Horizon publications.
"The joy of looking at our collec-
tion has given us a great deal of plea-
sure," Mrs. Robinson commented.
"By donating it to the DIA, we hope
to share this pleasure with a larger
audience."
Jean Sosin, who is treasurer of the
three-person committee planning
Michigan Glass Month, is showing
sculptures by Mark Peiser, Jaroslava
Brychtova/Stanislav Libensky and
William Morris.
"Red Head I is the most significant
piece in my collection," Sosin said.
"The Czech artists cast, cut and pol-
ished this facial sculpture in 1959. It
reminded me of Amedeo Modigliani
paintings, which I appreciate and
enjoy."
As she built her
collection, Sosin
wanted to showcase
a series of works by
each artist she
favored, such as
Mark Peiser,
Richard Ritter and
Joel Myers.
"My priority
always has been to
acquire work which
I feel is creative and
that I enjoy seeing
in my home," said
Sosin, who finds
glass seductive,
beautiful and excit-
ing.
Sosin, who has
more than 200
pieces of glass art, is
active with the Art
Alliance for
Contemporary
Glass and Network
Glass. Through her
affiliations, she
opens her home to
other members as
they travel around
the country to view
private collections.
"I give lectures
and tell stories as they come through
my home and have made friends by
doing that," she said. "I've also devel-
oped archive catalogues about individ-
ual artists."
Sosin's work in helping glass artists
through the Creative Glass Center of
America will be recognized in New
York this fall. She will be honored for
her service to this contemporary field
side-by-side with actual artists —

motivated the collectors.
The Gersons like what they
find unique, creative, innova-
tive and beautiful, which they
show in a Joel Philip Myers
vessel, Michael Glancy vessel with
base and Kreg Kallenberger sculp-
ture.
The Ashes were attracted to the
simplicity of glass as compared to the
Art Nouveau pieces they already had.

William Carlson and
Barry Sautner.
The Covilles, caught
up with the wizardry of
glass-forming tech-
niques and the beauty
of the medium, include
a Jon Kuhn vessel,
Mark Peiser vessel and
Daniel Clayman sculp-
ture.
Some of the wiz-
ardry of glass tech-
niques will become
clear during the exhibi-
tion with the periodic
showing of a documen-
tary made by Oscar-
winning filmmaker Sue
Marks.
"Much of the evolu-
tion
[in glass] has been
Above: Jean Sosin: "My priority always has been to
caused
by the collectors,
acquire work ... that I enjoy seeing in my home."
museums and critics
Left: Michael Glancy Vessel with Base from the collec- who have disregarded
the labels applied to art
tion of Dorothy and Byron Gerson.
categories and, with
open minds, have found
Below left: Dale Chihuly Sculpture from the
Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, donated by validity in the material
Jack and Aviva Robinson. This coral basket is the first of glass and the artists
in which Chihuly incorporated pieces inside of pieces.
who are working with
it," Hampson said.
Below right: Ricky Bernstein Sculpture. In addition to
"Their acceptance
the pieces from the private collections, works by
and economic support
prominent Jewish glass artists are displayed.
have given artists in
this medium the free-
dom to experiment and
grow."

❑

The works they offer include an
Alber Alberius vessel, a Kyohei Fujita
box form and a Paul Stankard sculp-
ture.
The Chodorkoffs always look for
novel images and have found them in
sculptures by Harvey Littleton,

"The Art of the
Acquisition:
Contemporary Glass
From the Jewish
Community" will be
shown 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Sundays, 11 a.m.-6
p.m. Mondays-
Wednesdays and 11
a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays
through May 14 at the
Janice Charach Epstein
Museum Gallery at the
Kahn Jewish
Community Center.
The opening reception
runs 2-4 p.m. Sunday,
April 5. A panel dis-
cussion will take place
in the gallery on "The
Art of Acquisition" with Ferdinand
Hampson, Rabbi Sherwin Wine
and the collectors at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 23. (248) 661-
7641.

4/3
1998

93