Like "I he Glint
Of Light
On Broken

The Janice Charach Gallery's
latest exhibit is bright,
innovative and full of
extraordinary detail.

Benedetto Glassworks: "When you see this kind of detail, you know you're

seeing an expert," says Charach Gallery Director Terri Stearn.

Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News

A

s a boy, Anton Chekhov was famous
for playing pranks and making up
clever nicknames for his teachers.
He grew up to become one of Russia's most
famous writers, a physician, a philanthropist
and a man who loved the beautiful, intricate
details of the seemingly ordinary: the way
the beat of a song can jump up and swallow
you whole, or how the blue of the sky can be
tinged with a ribbon of lavender, or the sleek
curve of a statue, rich and smooth like cream.
"Don't tell me the moon is shining," Chekov
wrote. "Show me the glint of light on broken
glass."
For most, the idea of "glass" is nothing
more than something into which water is to
be poured, or a flat rectangle that's part of a
picture frame, or the window in a car.
But to the artist, glass is a clear, perfect
medium for creation: a fierce and fragile sub-
stance just waiting for the details that make it
come alive.
On Sunday, March 27, the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's
Janice Charach Gallery will open "Too Hot To

Handle an exhibit and sale of glass from
Benedetto Glassworks LLC in Farmington
and by students and alumni from the
College for Creative Studies. The exhibit
opens at noon for patrons (those who have
donated $100 or more to the gallery) and
at 1 p.m. to the general public.
"Too Hot To Handle" will include every-
thing from the purely esoteric, like a glass
wall hanging, to the practical, like a vase.
For Gallery Director Terri Steam, the
glass exhibit is a chance to experience
something new, something old, something
of every color in the world.
This marks the seventh year that the
Charach Gallery has hosted a glass exhibit,
and a number of students whose work will
be on display this year were part of earlier
exhibits as well. Steam loves seeing them
grow.
"We've really developed a close relationship
with many of the students, and it's incredible
to see the way they progress:' Stearn said.
They all begin with talent, but students grow
technically and creatively, often blooming in
the most unpredictable ways.

Glass on page 44

he Janice Charach Gallery in
the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield presents
the exhibit and sale "Too Hot Too
Handle" March 27-April 28. Opening
reception:1-4 p.m. Sunday, March
27 (patron preview begins at noon
for those who have donated $100 or
more to the gallery).
Additionally, "Primal Inspirations,"
with glass works inspired by myste-
rious and magical tribal objects
from ancient times, will run April
17-28. Ferdinand Hampson of
Habitat Galleries, curator of the
exhibit, will deliver a lecture 5 p.m.
Sunday, April 17.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday-Wednesday,10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Thursday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is free. (248) 432-5579
or jccdet.org .

T

Art by Tim Sothward

Glass by David Helm

March 24 - 2011

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