Published on:
28
January 2009
The words Alloa and glass have been synonymous for over 200 years and now an exhibition celebrating the Art of Glass is being held in the county.
The Art of Glass will feature work by a range of well known European artists working with glass in Scotland. It opens on Saturday 31st January at Aberdona Gallery and coincides with Clackmannanshire Council hosting the Bullseye Glass UK Lecture Tour on the same weekend.
The only Scottish stop in the Bullseye 2009 'Inspire & Inform' lecture series is at Tulliallan Police College on Saturday 31st January. This is an opportunity to hear Richard Whiteley, head of the prestigious Glass Workshop at the School of Art, Australian National University, and Heike Brachlow, a graduate of London's Royal College of Art who is presently conducting PhD research into colour in glass, speak.
Over 100 people are expected to attend the lecture and it is hoped that many of them will also take the opportunity to view the exhibition at Aberdona.
Artists who's work will be on display will include Brodie Nairn from Glasstorm, one of Britain's most exciting hot glass studios based in Tain; Swedish artist Elin Isaksson, creates unique handcrafted sculptural, lighting and architectural glass for individual and corporate clients by commission from her studio in Stirling; Design Graduate in Glass Jane Reid, who runs glass workshops at Aberdona, and Alec Galloway, who is Head of Architectural Glass at Edinburgh College of Art. Alex has created a large scale architectural glass work which has been installed within the main entrance of the new Alloa Academy.
Kathleen O'Neill, the Council's Cultural Planner said: "We are pleased to be supporting artists working with glass through community workshops and public art commissions. It speaks for itself that Clackmannanshire is hosting the only Scottish stop for the prestigious UK glass lecture tour."
The Art of Glass will be open weekdays from 10am to 5pm, and weekends 11am to 5pm - and is free of charge. The exhibition runs until 15th March.
Entry to the Inspire and Inform lecture is by ticket only and student discount is available.
A wide ranging programme of workshops in glass continues in February at Aberdona. These include stained glass, the art of recycling glass and etching techniques. Please see ClacksWeb for more details.
Contact Kathleen O'Neill at koneill@clacks.gov.uk to purchase lecture tickets, make course bookings, and to get more detailed information on the artists and venues.
The OI glass factory is the oldest glassworks in Europe still operating on its original site, while Alloa's glass cone is the only one left in Scotland.