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Embracing Netflix Fame: What the Blown Away Contestants Are Up To Now

Four months after the release of Blown Away, we caught up with some of the contestants to find out how their lives have changed in the wake of the hit Netflix show, and to ask… what’s next?

What has the success of Blown Away meant for you?

“I have newfound notoriety created by the success of Blown Away. This has given me an opportunity to step up to the next level in my career. The challenge is to translate that into something more permanent. Blown Away has been a springboard for me to redefine my artistic goals and work strategically on achieving them. A door has opened for my career and to continue to progress I need things that are longer-lasting like gallery shows, and a way to keep making art such as residencies. There has been a remarkable buzz too. I’ve felt so connected to my new fans, and very supported by them and their words, it’s so powerful in my life.” Deborah Czeresko – New York City, New York

Deb Czeresko working in the Amphitheater Hot Shop at CMoG during her Blown Away winners residency

Rick Price, a legacy in print

Richard Price, the editor and head of publications for The Corning Museum of Glass announced his retirement earlier this month after serving for nearly three and a half decades with the Museum.

As the Head of Publications, Rick, as he was better known, edited editions of the Museum’s prestigious Journal of Glass Studies, Notable Acquisitions, and the contemporary glass exhibition-in-print, New Glass Review—all annual publications.

Additionally, Rick has edited exhibitions catalogs and other scholarly publications, including Glass from World’s Fairs, 1851-1904 (1986) during his early tenure, Drawing upon Nature: Studies for the Blaschkas’ Glass Models (2007), Collecting Contemporary Glass: Art and Design after 1990 (from The Corning Museum of Glass) (2014), and the forthcoming publication, In Sparkling Company: Reflections on Glass in the 18th-Century British World, a companion piece to the Museum’s major exhibition in 2020.

This small cross-section alone represents the breadth of knowledge and specialties that Rick has fixed his attention on over the years.

Rick has worked with scores of curators, scholars, conservators, scientists, and librarians during his tenure at The Corning Museum of Glass. He is widely recognized throughout the arts and scholarly communities as the go-to editor for all things pertaining to glass and glassmaking.

Respected by colleagues past and present and held in high esteem by Museum members as well as friends and family, a request for testimonials that speak to his character and extensive career was enthusiastically met by all.

Photographing Glass: Highly Reflective Black Objects, Part 2

This article is Part 2 of a series on photographing highly reflective black objects, often referred to as “mirror black”. Part 1 can be found here.

In May 2019, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam hosted 2+3D: Practice and Prophecies, a biennial international conference on 2D and 3D digital photography for museum and cultural heritage professionals. I was invited to lead workshops on lighting techniques for highly reflective black objects. Frans Pegt, a photographer at the Rijksmuseum, and I originally planned to jointly lead these workshops, but Frans was later asked to give workshops on the 360° capture of a masterwork in silver (another very difficult subject). However, The Rijksmuseum generously funded Frans to come to Corning in March of this year for an intensive week in The Corning Museum of Glass photography studios where together we documented lighting solutions for the objects that appear in this post.

Frans Pegt, Rijksmuseum photographer, documenting a setup in the CMoG studio.

Part 1 demonstrated techniques using a photo table with a translucent white acrylic surface that allows for both backlighting and surface lighting.

Part 2 of this series demonstrates similar techniques adapted for an opaque background, as well as more traditional object lighting techniques modified for mirror black glass, and finally some hybrid approaches.

Photographing Glass: Highly Reflective Black Objects, Part 1

A note about this series of articles:

Since 2015, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has hosted 2+3D: Practice and Prophecies, a biennial international conference on 2D and 3D digital photography for museum and cultural heritage professionals. In 2017, I was invited to lead workshops, in collaboration with Rijksmuseum photographer Frans Pegt, on photographic lighting techniques for transparent glass. During the workshops, someone asked about photographing highly reflective black objects, often called mirror black. Both Frans and I said: “That’s a whole different workshop!” Photographing mirror black objects is one of the most difficult and humbling challenges photographers face, but Frans and I decided we should attempt to document successful approaches.

So, in May 2019, I led workshops at the 2+3D conference on lighting techniques for highly reflective black objects. Frans was already committed to giving workshops on the 360° capture of a masterwork in silver (another very difficult subject), so I was on my own this time. However, The Rijksmuseum had generously funded Frans to come to Corning in March of this year for an intensive week in The Corning Museum of Glass photography studios where together we documented lighting solutions for several objects that will appear in Part 2 of this series.

New Exhibition Announcement: Special Exhibition on Glass in 18th-Century Britain Opening May 2020

The Museum’s spring exhibition, In Sparkling Company: Glass and Social Life in Britain During the 1700s, will open May 9, 2020. With exhibition design by Selldorf Architects, In Sparkling Company will present the glittering costume and jewelry, elaborate tableware, polished mirrors, and dazzling lighting devices that delighted the British elite, and helped define social rituals and cultural values of the period. Through a lens of glass, this exhibition will show visitors what it meant to be ‘modern’ in the 1700s, and what it cost.

Detail of a Mirror in wood frame, Probably England, London (glass), and Scotland (frame), carving attributed to William Mathie (fl. 1739–about 1761), based on designs by Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779), about 1760. H. 174 cm, W. 105.5 cm, D. 12.5 cm. The Corning Museum of Glass (2018.2.8).

The exhibition will also include a specially created virtual reality reconstruction of the remarkable and innovative spangled-glass drawing room completed in 1775 for Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1714-1786), and designed by Robert Adam (1728-1792), one of the leading architects and designers in Britain at the time. An original section of the room (which was dismantled in the 1870s), on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A Museum) in London, will be on view in North America for the first time as part of the exhibition. It will be accompanied by Adam’s original colored design drawings for the interior, on loan from the Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.

Robert Adam (1728–1792), design for the end wall of the drawing room at Northumberland House, 1770–1773. Pen, pencil, and colored washes, including pink, verdigris, and Indian yellow on laid paper. H. 51.6 cm, W. 102.1 cm. Sir John Soane’s Museum, London (SM Adam, volume 39/7). Photo Credit: © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London. Photography by Ardon Bar Hama.

The Corning Museum of Glass is thrilled to share news of an exciting collaboration on the forthcoming Netflix series, Blown Away, which will bring the art and beauty of glassblowing to television screens around the world. A visually compelling process often described as “mesmerizing” and “captivating,” glassblowing has never been the subject of any major TV programming—until now.

The art glass competition show created by Marblemedia, an award-winning entertainment company based in Toronto, Canada, Blown Away features a group of 10 highly skilled glassmakers from North America creating beautiful works of art that are assessed by a panel of expert judges. One artist is eliminated each episode until a winner is announced in the tenth and final episode. A co-production with Blue Ant Media of Toronto, Blown Away will air on the Makeful channel in Canada before coming to the Netflix platform worldwide later this year.

Today, The Studio announced the 2019 Artists-in-Residence recipients: twelve artists from around the world who will each spend one month at The Studio, researching and experimenting with new techniques to further their work. Additionally, two artists and two scholars have been selected for the David Whitehouse Research Residency for Artists and the David Whitehouse Research Residency for Scholars, respectively. These recipients will spend up to three weeks in the Rakow Library, utilizing the vast holdings to inform their practice or area of research. Each resident will provide a public Lunchtime Lecture during their time at the Museum, describing their inspirations and work at The Studio and the Rakow Library.

2019 Artists-In-Residence at The Studio

Shinobu Kurosawa & Jim Butler
February 24-March 24; Public lecture on March 14

Translated literally, the Japanese word tonbodama means dragonfly ball. Since 2000, flameworker Shinobu Kurosawa has been making tonbodama beads that depict traditional Japanese landscape and nature scenes in glass.

In her March 2019 residency, Kurosawa will use The Studio’s resources to continue her research on tonbodama and expand her flameworking skills as she explores new possibilities in Japanese beadmaking.

The Corning Museum of Glass Surveys Global Contemporary Glass in Special Exhibition Opening in May 2019

Today The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) announced that 100 artists—representing 32 nationalities and working in 25 countries—have been selected to exhibit in New Glass Now, a global survey of contemporary glass and the first exhibition of its kind organized by the Museum in 40 years. The show, which will be on view from May 12, 2019, through January 5, 2020, will include works ranging from large-scale installations and delicate miniatures to video and experiments in glass chemistry, all of which demonstrate the vitality and versatility of this dynamic material.

Sarah Briland
United States, b. 1980
Problematica (Foam Rock)
United States, Richmond, Virginia, 2016
Foam, Aqua Resin, glass microspheres, steel, concrete stand
With stand: 96.5 x 52 x 45.7 cm
Photo: Terry Brown

In spring 2018, CMoG welcomed submissions of new works, made between 2015 and 2018 in which glass plays a fundamental role, for consideration by a panel comprising Susie J. Silbert, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at CMoG, and three guest curators, including: Aric Chen, curator-at-large, M+ museum, Hong Kong; Susanne Jøker Johnsen, artist and head of exhibitions at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Denmark; and American artist Beth Lipman. More than 1,400 artists, designers and architects working in 52 countries—from Argentina, Australia, Indonesia and Japan to the United States, United Kingdom, and beyond—submitted works, which draw upon flameworking, glassblowing, casting, neon, carving, and kilnworking techniques, among others. Read more →