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Visitors look at work featured in the gallery at Wheaton Village. |
by Jim Weaver
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“Springtime Dance,” work on exhibit at Wheaton Village, by Charissa Brock. |
A Little History
Glass has been an important part of the history of southern New Jersey since the 18th century. The natural materials necessary to make it (wood, sand, soda ash and silica) were plentiful here. The nation’s earliest successful glass factory, founded in 1789, was located here, and today several of the country’s leading glass manufacturers operate here. In 1888, Dr. Theodore Corson Wheaton, a pharmacist, began making his own pharmaceutical bottles. Today’s giant glass manufacturer, Wheaton USA, evolved from his humble efforts.
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| A look at the Down Jersey Folklife Center display. |
In the 1960s, Dr. Wheaton’s grandson, Frank H. Wheaton Jr., visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., and discovered many examples of early glass created from southern New Jersey on display there. He felt these treasured pieces should be displayed near where they were produced and creating Wheaton Village and the Museum of American Glass became his goal.
In 1970, Wheaton Village opened to the public. Three years later, the T. C. Wheaton Glass Factory opened, and shortly thereafter the Museum of American Glass. Today, the museum’s collection has expanded to more than 12,000 pieces and is widely considered the most comprehensive exhibit of American glass in the world. The collection is arranged in chronological order beginning with glass from the first successful glass factory in America dating from 1739 to contemporary art glass.
Wheaton Village Today
Wheaton Village is a major craft center providing educational opportunities for craft artists including those working in glass, clay and wood. There are several modern, fully equipped production studios and a retail sales gallery on the property. The studios operate to facilitate the work of artists and to educate the public on the creative process.
The glass studio is an interactive public access studio, home to resident staff artists, fellowship artists and other guest artists. Throughout the day, visitors receive first-hand information on the artists’ work and production techniques. The glass factory and its studio have been identified as the “heartbeat” of Wheaton Village and are visited by nearly 70,000 people each year. The educational program, one of only a few in the country offered by a glass facility, offers hands-on opportunities and serves approximately 1,000 elementary and high school students each year.
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| More work featured inside Wheaton Village. |
In 1982, an ongoing artist-in-residence program for emerging contemporary glass artists, the Creative Glass Center of America (CGCA) fellowship program, was established. This was a turning point in the organization and broadened the mission beyond its historical emphasis. It was when the “factory” became a year-round “artist studio.”
In 2003, Hank Murta Adams became creative director and he has led the studio since then. In addition to hand blown glass, flameworking — heating glass rods over a concentrated flame to bend, stretch and shape them into sculptural forms — is done at Wheaton Village.
The ceramic studio opened in 1976 and remains one of the most popular for visitors. Most of the work made in the studio is wheel thrown and salt fired or fired in a reduction kiln. It’s a production pottery studio where artists make their living from their wares. The studio was expanded in 2004 to benefit the artists and to include space for guest artists and workshops. It has also been home to a co-operative program for interns for almost 20 years. Started with students from Rowan University, it has evolved to include area artists of all ages. The studio accepts one intern a year for the experience of working in a functioning studio.
The woodcarving studio opened in 1976, and since 2004 has been housed in its own building. Woodcarvers typically carve into Jersey white cedar, basswood or tupelo gum. Carvers vary in their techniques and designs, but most of the completed works involve a combination of carving, wood burning and paint/stains. Resident carver Art Parkin carves shore birds and ducks, all native to the South Jersey area.
The biennial GlassWeekend is an international symposium and exhibition of contemporary glass held at Wheaton Village since 1985. It brings together the world’s leading glass artists, collectors, galleries and museum curators for a three-day weekend of exhibitions, lectures and hands-on glassmaking. Proceeds benefit the fellowship program which provides working fellowships to 12 artists each year. In addition, GlassWeekend helps fund exhibitions to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Down Jersey Folklife Center, a division of Wheaton Village, was established in 1994. The first regional folk-life center in New Jersey, it focuses on expressive traditions — those things that groups of people know, do and pass on to their families, friends, neighbors and community. The arts and communities featured at the center reflect the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of South Jersey. Programs at the folk-life center and Wheaton Village include research projects, ongoing displays and exhibits, music, dance and craft demonstrations as well as workshops, concerts and other performances that present traditional artists and area folk-life. The center is also involved in sponsoring and coordinating folk-artists-in-education residencies.
| For More Information |
| Visit www.wheatonarts.org or call (800) 998-4552 |
“Our work is based on an important symbiosis between artists and audiences,” executive director Gogan says, summing up Wheaton Village. “Visitors have unusually high access to the studio artists. Concurrently, artists are provided opportunities to develop work. We carefully balance public exposure, while fostering respect for the artists’ privacy and process.”
“While glass will always be one of our greatest assets, strengthening our work in other mediums and disciplines will allow participants to be engaged by a more stimulated community, realized by projects based on ideas, not a specific material,” she concludes.
James Weaver is a Pennsylvania-based free-lance writer.