June 14–September 9
Wolfe Gallery for Contemporary Art
The Museum is renowned for its extensive glass collection and for being the site of the historic 1962 Toledo Workshops. Those workshops, led by Harvey Littleton at the invitation of then-Museum Director Otto Wittmann, nurtured the artists now considered pioneers of the American Studio Art Glass movement and, through extension, helped to rejuvenate studio glass in post-war Europe.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of studio glass, TMA presents Color Ignited: Glass 1962–2012, an enticing “coming of age” look at the medium. International in scope, it showcases works by Toledo Workshops participants as well as by the major artists working in the medium since. The exhibition focuses on the role of color—from the conceptual to the political to the metaphoric—in artistic expression. More than 80 objects from private collections, galleries, other museums and TMA’s own collection are shown, including works by Littleton, Dominick Labino, Marvin Lipofsky, Dale Chihuly, Dan Dailey, Judith Schaechter, Ginny Ruffner, Fritz Driesbach and Klaus Moje.
Jutta-Annette Page, curator of glass and decorative arts at the Toledo Museum of Art, and Peter Morrin, director emeritus of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky., curated the exhibition.
Many of the Toledo Workshop participants were schooled in pottery, and as a result, many early works were vessels, some stylized, some with rays of color, some opaque and some transparent. There are vessels by Tom McGauchlin and Edith Franklin from the original workshops, as well as fused glass, neon glass, mirrored pieces and sculptures.
Color Ignited is the inaugural exhibition in the Museum’s new Frederic and Mary Wolfe Gallery of Contemporary Art. The Wolfe Gallery space was the home of the Museum’s glass collection until 2003, when construction began on the Museum’s Glass Pavilion.
A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue, with essays by Page, Morrin and Robert Bell, senior curator of decorative arts and design at the National Gallery of Australia, will be available in the Museum Store.
Supported in part by 
FREE Hands-on Activities
June 24, 2–4 p.m., Libbey Court
Vitrana Variety: Create a colorful work of art inspired by Dominick Labino’s glass Vitrana using transparencies and bits of color.
July 6, 7–9 p.m., Museum Terrace
Use Your Marbles! Create colorful designs by dipping glass marbles in paint and letting them roll across your paper.
August 10, 7–9 p.m., Museum Terrace
The Sounds of Color: Color Ignited artist Toots Zynsky has said, “When I hear music, it translates into color.” Create your own version of her spun glass pieces using a variety of materials while listening to live Club Friday music on the terrace.
FREE Presentation: Remembering Elio Quarisa
June 17, 3:30 p.m., Little Theater
The late Murano glass maestro Elio Quarisa (1936–2010) worked in the traditional Venetian style. His extensive career in glass began at the age of 9 at Barovier & Toso, and he continued working at some of the finest glass houses of Murano. He also collaborated with a number of international leading glass firms and top designers as a sought-after consultant and technician. In his retirement, his love for the medium and his commitment to the venerable Murano glass traditions led him to travel the world, teaching future generations and sharing his passion. Join TMA Glass Studio Manager Jeff Mack, Adriana Quarisa, and others for a discussion of the artist’s career and his contributions to the international glass art community. Also shown will be a recent Museum acquisition of a Venetian glass piece created by Quarisa at a special engagement in the Glass Pavilion in 2009.
FREE Glass Armonica Concert
July 27, 7:30 p.m., Little Theater
Invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761 and favored by Mozart, the glass armonica—which has no relationship to the harmonica—was outlawed in Europe for a time because of its unusual sound, described as a cross between the cello and the flute. Considered the first American instrument, the armonica is made of glass bowls nestled together, beehive-style, and stroked on the edges by the musician. In the 1970s, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia would have only one person repair its 200-year-old armonica: inventor and glass craftsman Dominick Labino. To familiarize himself with the instrument, Mr. Labino built one and taught himself to play it. As a child Dennis James had his first encounter with the armonica at the Franklin Institute. He would later have his own replica built and teach himself to play it, helping to set in motion an international resurgence of an instrument that was virtually extinct 30 years ago.
FREE Film: A Not So Still Life
August 24, 7:30 p.m., Little Theater
A Not So Still Life peers into the kaleidoscopic mind of Ginny Ruffner, an artist known for her evolving “visual thought experiments.” Director Karen Stanton explores Ruffner’s journey from her childhood in South Carolina to her emergence as a world-renowned artist. Meet the luminaries in her orbit—including Dale Chihuly, Graham Nash, and Tom Robbins—and witness her determination to recover from the accident that nearly claimed her life.