World-Class Glass Art Show and Sale opens April 1

ARLINGTON - Exquisitely designed works of glass art will go on sale to the public Friday, April 1, at The University of Texas at Arlington's annual World-Class Glass Art Show and Sale at the Studio Art Center, 810 S. Davis, Arlington.

The show includes display creations, paperweights, platters, vases, vessels and other functional items delicately crafted by faculty, students and visiting artists through the University’s internationally known Glass program.

The sale runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with silent auction bids accepted 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The annual sale draws art enthusiasts from across Texas and neighboring states.

"We’ve seen people come from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and other cities in Texas," said David Keens, professor and architect of UT Arlington's glass art program. "Shoppers come early and usually find some real treasures."

Keens added: "The quality of work done by the students goes up each year. It's quite impressive."

The process of making the glass art involves manipulating glass with a variety of hand tools and fire. Glass blowing demonstrations will be part of the show.?

UT Arlington's glass art program is widely acknowledged to be one of the premier programs in the country, and the annual sale has been a major factor in the program's development.?

Half the proceeds from student work go to the student artists; the rest benefits the glass art program and will be used to buy materials for new equipment. Faculty and staff build and maintain all of the program’s state-of-the art equipment.?

"Our ovens constantly run at heats of over 2,000 degrees, which is a lot of wear and tear," said Neal Paustian, a student planning to enter UT Arlington's highly competitive master of fine arts program with a concentration in glass.

Paustian added: "We’re not only making glass art, we’re also learning about business practices and how to sell our work."

The event also will feature new works by Keens, whose pieces have been displayed in major museums and galleries throughout the United States, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, the Dallas Museum of Art, Contemporary Crafts Museum in New York City and Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Keens also has exhibited throughout Europe, Japan, Mexico and the Philippines. 

In 2007, Keens was named the official Texas state artist in the 3-D category.

The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive research institution of 33,800 students in the heart of North Texas. Visit www.uta.edu to learn more.