Now at least one Canadian city has introduced a similar idea. Montreal, City of Glass 2010, involves the participation of no fewer than 42 organizations.
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Among them: 25 of the city’s 35 museums, five galleries (one virtual), two universities, one theatre, three maisons de la culture, and a tour company. In all there’ll be 100 exhibitions, as well as workshops, a fashion show and subway tours. Fittingly this year, Montreal will also host the annual Glass Art Association of Canada conference from May 26-30.
The City of Glass project was the inspiration of Benoit Legare, director of the Montreal Science Centre. In meeting with other Montreal museum directors, Legare, an artisan and glass collector himself, became increasingly aware of the city’s rich glass collections. And so a theme year was spawned, focusing on glass in relation to four main areas: Art, architecture, science and history.
Highlights include:
— Tiffany Glass: A Passion for Colour at Musee Des Beaux-Arts de Montreal. Visitors have until May 2 to see this exhibit of 180 works including a range of unique vases crafted into organic forms, lamps, jewelry and a selection of oversized stained glass windows. Reguar admission $15 and $7.50 on Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
If you miss the exhibit, the museum’s permanent collection has 22 Tiffany pieces, including 18 stained glass windows, two lamps, a vase and a table setting. General admission to the museum is free. Check mmfa.qc.ca.
— Notre-Dame Basilica. In addition to regular guided tours, this year a new themed tour focuses on the basilica’s stained glass windows. Learn about the windows created by master glassmaker Francis Chigot in Limoges, France, and see windows normally inaccessible to the public such as those in the sacristy.
Ninety-minute tours in English will take place on Thursdays at 1:30 and 3 p.m. from May 26 to Sept 2, $15. Check notredamebasilica.ca.
— On the catwalk with Verre Couture. Espace Verre, in collaboration with the Montreal Science Centre, hosts a fashion show May 29 featuring wearable glass outfits created by 15 Montreal and 15 international designers and glass artists. Cost $32, at the Belvedere hall of the Montreal Science Centre. For more, call 1-877-496 4724.
— Studio Guido Nincheri. Painter and master stained glass artist Guido Nincheri (1885-1973) worked at this east-end Montreal studio, which produced 5,000 stained glass pieces for customers throughout North America before it closed in 1996. Everything looks much as it did while the studio was still in operation, and now Nincheri’s grandson Roger is opening the doors for free public tours every Sunday from May to September at 1832 Pie-IX Blvd. For hours, check chateaudufresne.com.
— Chateau Dufresne Museum. The Beaux-Arts style mansion’s new exhibition — Nincheri’s Secular Work — is devoted to the art of Guido Nincheri. His studio was owned by the Dufresne brothers. A number of little-known works — on display for the first time — can be viewed until Sept 12. Wednesdays to Sundays. Cost $7. Check chateaudufresne.com.
— Nature in Glass: The Blaschka Glass Models, at Musee Redpath, one of Canada’s oldest museums. The Blaschkas — father and son glass blowers who worked in Dresden, Germany, in the late 1800s — created a glass menagerie of sea animals, flowers and even microscopic organisms that were anatomically detailed and scientifically correct. Only a few of the extraordinary and fragile models remain; the knowledge of how they were created has since been lost. See 27 Blaschka models on display until Oct. 29. Free admission. Check mcgill.ca/redpath.
— The Musee Marguerite-Bourgeoys has a few surviving fragments of the 150-year old stained glass windows from the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours discovered in 1996 and now restored and presented in the exhibition Ultreia! Onward Pilgrim. Continues to Jan 16, 2011. See marguerite-bourgeoys.com.
A real glass act
Aside from the special events this year, there are lots of permanent glass attractions in the city including amazing contemporary architecture (Centre CDP Capital building and the Palais des Congres); valuable stained glass windows in numerous churches and public buildings; the unique Le Lustre Sculpture by Italian Luigi Moretti in Place Victoria; Espace Verre — a glass blowing and glass arts school, studio and gallery which is housed, appropriately, in a former fire station; and almost two dozen glass art works in the city’s metro system by prominent Quebec artists. Add to that shops such as Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h Bijoux D’Art or Royer Objets Trouvailles boutique and one of the city’s newest hotels — Hotel Le Crystal with its impressive glass chandeliers.
If you go
For more, check CityofGlassMontreal.com or call 1-877-350-2010. Pick up the Musees Montreal free magazine which highlights the places with glass exhibits this year. Via Rail has various Getaway package deals including one to Montreal ($331 including taxes) that includes round trip train travel from Toronto, two nights accommodation and a three-day Montreal Museum Pass (30+ museums). For more, check viarail.ca/en/packages.
writer@interlog.com
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