CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A two-piece glass sculpture by Marvin Lipofsky, a significant glass artist and University of Illinois alumnus, will be part of Krannert Art Museum’s Petals & Paintings event during U. of I. Moms Weekend in April.
Lipofsky donated the blown-glass sculpture – titled “Thüringen Forest Flowers” and featuring pastel colors – before his death in January. The sculpture will be sold through a sealed-bid auction.
Lipofsky earned a degree in industrial design from the U. of I. in 1962. He later studied ceramics and glass blowing with Harvey Littleton – a pioneer of the studio glass movement and the first to teach glass blowing at the college level – at the University of Wisconsin. Lipofsky developed the glass programs at the University of California, Berkeley and at what is now the California College of the Arts in Oakland.
The New York Times, in its obituary for Lipofsky, called him “a founder of the studio-glass movement, which took blown glass from the realm of interior decoration and functionality and showed its potential as a fine-arts medium.” It described his work as working glass “into small-scale biomorphic shapes with a dazzling array of surface textures produced by cutting, grinding, sandblasting, acid-washing or flocking.”
The colors and shape of a glass sculpture by Marvin Lipofsky inspired a floral design in the 2012 Petals & Paintings exhibition.
Lipofsky’s work has been exhibited at Krannert Art Museum in the past. He had two pieces in the 2012 exhibition “Fifty Years: Contemporary American Glass from Illinois Collections,” and one of those pieces was also part of the 2012 Petals & Paintings exhibition.
The sealed-bid auction has begun and continues through 1 p.m. April 8.
Petals & Paintings is Krannert Art Museum Council’s annual fundraising event, to support the work of the museum. It features a floral design exhibition, with award-winning florists from across the Midwest creating arrangements based on works of art in the museum’s collection. Rick Orr, a Champaign florist and U. of I. alumnus, is curating the exhibition.
Petals & Paintings will begin with an opening gala and silent auction on the evening of April 8. Tickets for the gala are $80 and may be purchased by calling (217) 244-0516 or emailing kam@illinois.edu. The silent auction will feature items donated by businesses and individuals, including restaurant meals, Ebertfest passes, custom-made jewelry, artwork, Illini football tickets and much more. A complete list of the items is available on the event’s website.
The floral arrangements will be on display for two days, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 9 and from noon to 5 p.m. April 10. New this year will be an art raffle in the lobby by local KAM Council artists. Four artists have donated work to be raffled off. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20. The exhibition itself is free and open to the public.
The School of Art and Design’s Master of Fine Arts exhibition will open the same weekend at Krannert Art Museum. The public opening reception is 5 to 7 p.m. April 9. The exhibition features the work of graduate students in studio art and design, and runs through April 23.
Editor’s notes: For more information about Petals & Paintings, go to http://kam.illinois.edu/exhibitions/current/petals2016.html or contact Julia Kelly at jkell@illinois.edu.
