WEEKENDER I ARTS

Artists churn out marbles at Sauder Village

10/11/2017
BY ROBERTA GEDERT
BLADE STAFF WRITER
  • marbles-jpg

    Artists will use a rounding machine to fashion glass marbles over the next 4 days at Sauder Village.
    • Artists will use a rounding machine to fashion glass marbles over the next 4 days at Sauder Village.
    Artists will use a rounding machine to fashion glass marbles over the next 4 days at Sauder Village.

    Four years ago, glass artist Mark Matthews and guest artist and engineer John McCormick used a rounding machine, modeled after a machine first patented in the early 20th century, to form glass marbles at Sauder Village.

    Over the next four days, two more glass marble artists, Brent Young and Larry Zengel of Hot House Glass in Bowling Green, will join them for a second round of marble formation at the venue, 22611 State Rt. 2.

    Matthews said glass is first heated in a 1,000-degree oven from scraps that he has been saving at his Sauder Village studio since the mid-1980s, then rounded in the machine, which McCormick built using a model first patented by Martin Christensen in 1905.

    He said the foursome will be able to create a marble about every two minutes.

    The public can view the process from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Finished marbles can also be purchased, although it would be seven to 10 days after the event so that the marbles can be sorted, signed and distributed.

    For more information on “Machine Forming Extravaganza II,” click on Class and Events at saudervillage.org or go to bit.ly/​2gtYyVH. For more about the artists, go to markmatthewsglass.com or hothouseglass.com.

    ‘Sunset over Pearson Wetlands’ by Art Weber is also part of the ‘Great Black Swamp’ show.
    ‘Sunset over Pearson Wetlands’ by Art Weber is also part of the ‘Great Black Swamp’ show.

    ■ For another month and a half, residents can view imagery that portrays the Great Black Swamp area from its pre-European settlement origins to present day at the nature photography exhibition, The Great Black Swamp.

    The show, at the National Center for Nature Photography, Secor Metropark, 10001 W. Central Ave., Berkey, Ohio, features 35 images taken by local photographers that include Michael Basista, Andrew Cole, Art Weber, and Brian Zwiebel. It will be on view through November.

    Hours of the free show are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. For more information, go to blackswamp.org or call 419-833-1025.

    ■ The Swanton Chamber of Commerce is hosting its fourth Swanton Juried Fine Art Exhibit and Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Valleywood Golf Club Banquet Room, 13502 Airport Hwy.

    The two-day, free show will be preceded by an artist reception at 7 p.m., at a ticket cost of $15 at the door.

    The show offers the opportunity to view and buy work from 68 artists from 24 cities in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. The exhibition supports scholarship prizes for student artists.

    For more information, or to inquire about reception tickets, call 419-826-1941, or go to bit.ly/​2g0ExoV.

    ■ From 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, members of the public can attend a reception at Sam B’s restaurant gallery, 163 S. Main St., to view or buy up to 100 art pieces by local artists.

    The Razzle Dazzle Collection includes a variety of different art media and will remain displayed at the restaurant through Jan. 7.

    It is organized by the nonprofit PRIZM Creative Community. For more information, go to myprizm.com.

    ■ The Toledo Museum of Art has named an art historian from Brooklyn, N.Y., to a two-year leader fellowship.

    Alyssa Greenberg will work on museum projects “related to the day-to-day operation of the museum, conduct research, and complete an independent in the field of museum work” as part of her fellowship, the museum states in a news release.

    The museum’s Leadership Fellowship Program was started six years ago, and is supported by endowments from Scott and Margy Trumbull and the late Dorothy MacKenzie Price, as well as a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

    Greenberg has an art history doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago and almost a decade of experience in working in museums across the country.

    For more information, go to toledomuseum.org.

    Send news of art items at least two weeks in advance to rgedert@theblade.com or call 419-724-6075.