APRIL 7 • 2022 | 47

ARTS&LIFE
ART

A

t least three glass artists new to 
showing their work in Michigan 
will be represented as two simulta-
neous exhibits are presented through May 18 
by the Janice Charach Gallery at the Jewish 
Community Center in West Bloomfield.
Adam Goldberg, of Ohio, will display a 
contemporary sculpture in the 4th Bi-Annual 
Michigan Regional Glass Exhibition, which 
spotlights some 50 Michigan and Ohio art-
ists, including Albert Young, founder and 
owner of Michigan Hot Glass Workshop, and 
son Nolan Young as well as Andy Koupal, 
Herb Babcock and Lou Krueger. 
A complementary exhibit, SIP
, in the upper 
gallery, which spotlights original approaches 
to functional and decorative glassware, has 
invited artists from more distant states to 
debut their projects. They include Alexander 
Rosenberg, of Pennsylvania, who often uses 
glass as a tool to observe the natural world, 
and Josh Bernbaum, of Vermont, who exper-
iments with color. 
Curator of the main exhibit is Alli Hoag, 
glass artist and professor at Bowling Green 
State University, where she heads the 
glass program. SIP curator is glass artist 

Ryan Thompson, supervisor of the 
Greenfield Village Glass Shop. 
“I’ll be showing a sculpture made 
out of steel and glass that’s called 
‘Gnomon,
” said Goldberg, who links 
the work to a public commission. “It’s 
made up of two triangles that are in 
balance. 
“The piece is a study for what has 
turned into a large installation that’s 
going in an Ohio park. It represents 
a 9-foot tall version functioning as a 
sundial and casting a shadow on a large 
scale.
”
During high school, Goldberg 
started experimenting with glass as a 
fun activity offered by the Toledo Museum 
of Art. Serious studies happened through a 
bachelor’s degree program at Bowling Green 
State University. 
At the suggestion of his grandfather, who 
made Toledo warehouse space available, 
Goldberg began offering his projects to the 
public while teaming up with other glass 
artists.
“I like to make glass that anybody can 
interact with,
” said Goldberg, who designs 

Judaica for family and friends. “I like to think 
about the end user.
”
With a varied clientele, he has made large 
projects for business display.
“I like to spend time in the garden, and I 
like to incorporate my ideas of gardening and 
landscape design into my sculptural work,
” 
Goldberg said. “I’m drawn to glass because I 
like the team aspect [that we have].
”
Alexander Rosenberg, who divides his 

Complementary exhibits are on view 
at the JCC’s Janice Charach Gallery.

EXPRESSIONS IN

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Glass

LEFT: Adam Goldberg’s “Gnomon.” TOP: Josh Bernbaum’s specialty drinking glasses. CENTER LEFT: A pair of black goblets by Josh Bernbaum. 
CENTER RIGHT: Alexander Rosenberg’s “looking glass,” a goblet-like object used to examine a distant landscape in miniature on the viewer’s 
desktop. RIGHT: Rosenberg’s piece, titled “orb,” comes from a design derived from a mechanical model of the solar system.

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