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The Artists Program at Waterford Crystal in Ireland
originally published in GASNews, October/November 2000

            I recently had the unexpected opportunity to work at the Waterford Crystal factory for twelve days. In early July, I was asked to help execute a series of work by Ginny Ruffner that ranged from ladle-cast sand molds to blown chandelier parts. Without thinking about it too much – really, what was there to consider? – I said yes, and began rearranging my summer plans. Ten days later I landed in Ireland.
            County Waterford, in the southeast corner of Ireland, was the home of Ireland’s earliest recorded glasshouse (1618). The original Waterford Glassworks, founded in 1783, was known for the clarity and brilliance of its crystal, and today retains its reputation as one of the most recognized names in the world for fine crystal. However, the studio glass movement of the past thirty years had, by and large, bypassed the factory.
            The marketing people at Waterford Crystal became interested in studio glass following Dale Chihuly’s chandelier project at the factory several years ago (documented in his “Chihuly Over Venice” video). Joe Rossano was, at that time, a member of Chihuly’s crew and has become the liaison between Waterford Crystal and the artists.
            The essence of the program is to give artists access to the unique facilities and talents of the venerable industrial facility, and share the results of that collaboration with a wider, art-oriented public. Waterford seeks to cultivate new relationships between artists and industry for their mutual benefit, by sharing technical knowledge and providing inspiration for one another. The first finished works had their debut at SOFA/Chicago last year, when pieces by Hiroshi Yamano, Richard Royal, Richard Marquis,  Dan Dailey and Linda MacNeil were shown by the artists’ individual galleries.
            My experience working at the factory incorporated a steep learning curve – not only had I never been behind the scenes at a large, industrial facility, but I have very limited experience dealing with the cumbersome bureaucracies that flourish there. Getting hold of a hammer might take half a day (don’t ask me to explain that one). Joe and I were involved in disrupting business as usual on a daily basis, employing techniques, materials and equipment that were both novel and suspect, and requiring their extensive cooperation in doing so. We were making pests of ourselves with our unusual requests, with an urgency that most of the Waterford employees found troubling. The Yanks, it seemed, were stressed.
            However, what I value most about the experience and what I remember mostly clearly is meeting and working with the Waterford employees. Open, friendly and relaxed, the Irish I encountered were a fount of hospitality. I think they regarded me as an exotic – not only was I an American, so obviously out of place and so dissatisfied with the cafeteria’s Nescafe, but the fact that I was an artist, with my own furnace yet, seemed very curious. In the same way that I found the scale of the factory operations interesting but frustrating and intimidating, they had some trouble picturing my microcosmic point of view.
            In the end, everything worked out fine. We subverted traditions – ladle casting! color! – and made the work.  Perhaps it wasn’t their goal in starting this program, but I took from my travels a deeper appreciation of the history and people of Waterford and a keen desire to return.

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