OCEAN ELEVEN
Happening October 15
Museum curator Jodie Nelson presents:
Ocean Eleven
A (free) live online presentation featuring eleven artists pushing the boundaries of the studio glass movement, working with luminous color, glass, and light to create sculptures that explore the resilience of the ocean, the beauty of the Earth, and the majestic forces of our natural world.
Select TICKET & use special code: REFRACT for free access.
RSVP now and receive BONUS: limited docuseries featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with each artist!
Ocean Eleven is inspired, in part, by astronaut Christina Koch’s powerful message from Artemis II. Reflecting on Earth from a lunar vantage point—”Planet Earth, you are a crew”—this project investigates what it means to move forward with shared responsibility for the planet.
This online presentation with museum curator Jodie Nelson brings together artists who extend the role of the artist—acting as record keepers, tracing environmental change, and as peacemakers, holding space for reflection across the visible and unseen forces shaping our environment.
Together, these works by April Surgent, Julie Conway, Kait Rhoads, Meg Holgate, Jenny Pohlman, Sabrina Knowles, Mary White, Stacy Levy, Steve Jensen, Steve Klein, and Rik Allen offer visual form to stories of relationship—between people, place, and ecological intelligence, recognizing that what we cultivate defines the communities we live within.
Select TICKET & use special code: REFRACT for free access and link.
Collaborations
The Artists
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Rik Allen
Vantage Point
Expand your imagination with Rik Allen, whose work connects the natural world, human experience, and the liminal space between inner and outer worlds.
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April Surgent
A Call to Attention
Witness the delicate state of our ecosystems through the unique vision of master engraver April Surgent, a record keeper of our planet’s changes.
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Kait Rhoads
With Our Ocean
Curiosity is unbound with Kait Rhoads, whose awe of the oceans led her to develop a signature hexagonal form used in monumental public sculptures and intimate handheld works.
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JULIE CONWAY
Lighting Paths in Bio-Glass
Conway’s passion for giving new purpose to found glass bottles by melting them to a molten liquid before sculpting them into something beautiful.
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Stacy Levy
Respecting the Rain
Discover how this Yale alum abandoned the “white box” approach to art-making, bringing creativity into our daily passage.
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Mary White
Peacemaking in Glass
Find out about ecofeminism from Mary White and how she integrates peacemaking into her public art commissions.
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JENNY POHLMAN & SABRINA KNOWLES
Unseen Forces
Like ocean tides governed by the unseen pull of the moon, their work holds memory and carries forward the resilience of the feminine.
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MEG HOLGATE
Luminous Landscapes and Entryways
Learn Holgate’s unique perspective on art and environmental awareness as she reflects on microplastic consequences.
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STEVE KLEIN
Water Marks
Klein’s visual vocabulary has turned to our environment, global warming, and the vanishing beauty of our natural world.
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STEVE JENSEN
Of Vessels and Voyages
Inside the peak of Jensen’s sculpture is thick carved glass swirls, there floats a single transparent glass bottle filled with water — and potent message for us all.