The artists of St. Louis’s Third Degree Glass Factory are joining creative forces with other artists in the area to create something completely unique. The new exhibit, Elements:A Collaborative Exhibition, combines glass art with other media.
By Sandy Selby
In life and in art, unexpected combinations can often create something extraordinary. That’s the case with the new work on display, Elements: A Collaborative Exhibition, at Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis. The project combines glass art with other media and the results are spectacular. Media represented include textiles, wood, metal, paper, ceramics, and more.
“We love working with our 45-plus artists that take classes, rent, and display their work here at Third Degree,” says Gallery Director Nicole Dutton. “So this past year we discussed how we might engage an even larger community of artists. Thus sparked the idea for a collaboration where artists of other mediums could engage with our glass artists to create unique works of art. Elements leans into the idea of both the formal elements of design as well as the elements that make up various mediums. We had no idea how this spark of an idea would turn into such an amazing exhibition!”
Nicole and her colleagues selected the artist pairings. “First, we asked our in-house artists who would like to participate and from there, we invited St. Louis artists working in other mediums that we thought would pair well in style, concept and dynamic,” Nicole says. “We introduced the artists to each other, gave very few parameters for their designs, and let them create!” The sculptural creations that resulted were put together by the talented teams of Jon Biscan and Joe Chesla, Tom McFarland and Noah Kirby, Jes Kopitske and Alison Ouellete-Kirby, Mike Wyatt and Nicole Marianovich, Ariel Danza and Nicole Shanks, and Make Salsbury and Nicole Dutton.
“The most pleasant surprise has been the new friendships and connections that have evolved from the artist pairings,” Nicole says. “Their work sometimes challenged each other, but it taught each new techniques and overall made for fun collaborations.”
The finished works will be on display at the Third Degree Gallery, 5200 Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays, beginning March 15 and running through April 27. Admission is free. While there to see the exhibit, visitors are encouraged to step into one of the Third Degree’s three studios to watch artists hone their craft.
All Photos courtesy of Third Degree Glass Factory
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