BGSU glass artist shifts perception

12/20/2017

Alli Hoag shows her newest glass works, including Clarity Series No. 1, in 'Alternative Beginnings' at River House Arts at downtown Toledo's Secor Building.

A downtown art gallery is showcasing the newest work by a local glass artist.

Alternative Beginnings, a collection of work by Alli Hoag, who is also the head of the glass program at Bowling Green State University, is being shown at River House Arts, Secor Building, 425 Jefferson Ave.

Hoag’s work focuses on the topic of magic as it relates to science and the physical realm, focusing on “the ordering of the natural world and the distorted lens of perception.”

She has fine arts degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and from Alfred University, and participated in residencies at Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris and S12 Galleri og Verksted in Bergen, Norway.

She became interim head of the glass program at BGSU in 2014, and became the tenured chair of the department two years later.

Her work in the solo exhibition Alternative Beginnings, has been described as an investigation of “the translation of the real through the distorted lens; sculptural compositions of glass and mixed media are created as a synthesis of both physical and mirage, manifesting in the same realm as one's perception.”

It remains on display through Jan. 27.

For more information on Hoag’s work, go to allihoag.com. For more information on River House Arts, go to riverhousearts.com.

River House Arts is a stop on the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo’s monthly art loop Thursday.

■ Also on the route is a Bowling Green State University artist who returns to northwest Ohio to do glass blowing demos Thursday at Gathered Glassblowing Studio, 23 N. Huron St., during the last downtown Arts Loop of the year.

Kari Lynn Schneider has a degree in graphic design, but states on her website that she prefers to pair design and fine art, and works in a variety of media, especially hot glass.

She will conduct demos at the Gathered Glass bench during the loop, the self-guided downtown arts tour that runs from 5:30-9 p.m. Participants can take TARTA buses on a route that offers stops for last-minute shopping ideas at local venues, including the Porter Gallery at the Toledo School for the Arts, Jack Wilson’s Sculpture Studio, and House of Dow.

For a map, a full list of local shopping stops, and other information, go to theartscommission.org/featuredloop.

■ The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo has recognized four local artists through its Merit Awards program.

The new program this year awards $5,000 in grants to four literary, performing, and visual artists who are recognized for their dedication to advancing their art forms. They were announced earlier this month at an Arts Commission event.

Award winners were:

Natalie Lanese, a visual artist who is primarily a painter, was awarded $2,500. Lanese is an associate professor at Siena Heights University and the director of the Klemm Gallery in Adrian.

Lindsay Scypta, a ceramacist whose work has published in Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, and other art publications, was awarded $1,000.

Zac Weinberg, who creates large-scale glass and mixed media sculptures, and who has worked in Bowling Green State University’s glass and sculpture facilities, was awarded $1,000.

Lauren Fowler, a glass and porcelain artist whose work is represented by the Sherrie Gallery in Columbus, was awarded $500.

The recipients are chosen by a panel of artists and community leaders. For more information on the awards program or how to apply for 2018, go to theartscommission.org/forartists.

■ Kids ages 7-13 will have a chance to create their own superhero costumes or engage in wizardry at workshops over the holiday break.

The camps, daily from Jan. 2-5, are provided by the University of Toledo’s Department of Art, and will be held at its Center for Visual Arts, next to the Toledo Museum of Art on Monroe Street.

The morning Superhero Camp, from 9 a.m. to noon daily, will include instruction on creating their own superhero and comic design, as well as how to sew, draw, and paint their own outfits. The afternoon workshop, Wizard Camp 2.0, from 1-4 p.m., is a repeat of a summer class that was popular, and will include fabric painting, hand-sewing magic puppets, creating a spell book, and a magical traveling case to hold creations. The weeklong workshop will also include doing wands again, but with a new technique.

Both workshops will include take-home projects. Cost is $60 for one or $105 for both. For more information or to register, go to utoledo.edu/al/svpa/art/galleries/artworkshops.html.

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