The Venetian art world is both ebullient and poised; traditional, yet youthful. It respects its own illustrious history, yet no one takes its lore less seriously than the Venetians themselves. Lucio Bubacco understands such seeming contradictions. A Venice native himself, Bubacco is well-trained in the traditional lamp-working techniques of his forebears. Yet every piece he creates is like a breath of fresh air, keeping established traditions fresh and relevant. In his hand the exuberant paganism and of the Venice Carnivale takes center stage as masked men and dancing women cavort with devils and satyrs. His work is a toast to life in all its decadent and spiritual forms, and who can tell which is which? Take your guess by catching his work near the front desk.

–Dale

A few months ago, I mentioned that Narcissus Quagliata’s chimerical “Dreamer,” would be installed in our hotel. As it turns out, glass art is a family business for the Quagliatas, and his son, Orfeo, has earned a world-class reputation in his own right. Orfeo Quagliata spent his childhood in San Francisco, where he began working with glass at age 12 as an apprentice to his father. Since then he has moved on to appear in top-rank museums and galleries around the world. His work always makes a great first impression. Maybe that’s why he was chosen to design our front desk!

–Dale

Billy Morris once assisted Dale Chihuly as a gaffer, which, in glass art circles, refers to a master glassblower who shapes glass as it comes out of the kiln. In other words, he worked directly with Chihuly to help execute that master’s designs and ideas. Since then, he has moved on to become one of the most original, creative and virtuosic glassblowers in the world. Inspired by ancient civilizations, tribal cultures and mythology, his sculptures raise ordinary artifact to the level of art. Raise yourself in our elevator to the 25th floor and see the work he’s done for us.

–Dale

One of my pet peeves about the Web is that whenever creative organizations launch a new website, all-too-often, navigation is difficult and those fancy-schmancy flash animations render the download times interminably long. Ugh. Thankfully, this is not the case with the Tacoma Art Museum site. Easy to surf, yet pretty to behold, this site is, in my opinion, a model of Web design. (Such good design doesn’t come cheap, I’m sure.) Here’s an opportunity for you to help the museum pay for its facelift: October 18, TAM will be holding its annual gala benefit. Show up and pitch in!

–Dale

In the seafaring Japanese culture, fish occupy a central place as cultural markers, symbols and sources of inspiration. Blown glass artist Hiroshi Yamano takes all of that a step further, appropriating the fish as an alter ego. Says the artist, “My works come from all my experiences. The memories I have from my experiences are my most important treasures. To keep finding my treasures, I have to keep swimming the world like a fish swimming in the waters.” He adds, poetically, “I am a fish who is always looking for something. I am a fish who cannot stop swimming until my body stops moving. Maybe I will swim forever, like the universe.” See his work on Floor 22.

–Dale

All too often, artists who work with historical models or with “antiquing” techniques, such as faux-distressed finishes, veer into pastiche and inauthenticity. It is as if they become mesmerized by the content of their artwork, be it 1950’s kitsch or Greek classicism, and lose their authorial control. Peter Powning does not have that problem. Take a look at this vase. Here’s how Peter describes his work with his kilned-glass pieces. “My work is meant to have the feel of the artifact. An emotional artifact made solid. A cultural artifact from some future/past, reconstructed or guessed at. Some parts original, some new, others assumed.” What makes such work legitimate? The clear-headed purposefulness behind it all. He suggests that ideas that characterize might include, “falling apart, pulling myself together, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, cultural fragmentation, the beauty of the spirit that has been tried and survived.” A lot of feeling goes into his work, and it is that emotional clarity that makes his worth both credible and incredible. You’ll find him on the 22nd floor.

–Dale

You might recall that last September, we caught the Murano glass show at the Travers gallery and had some nice things to say about local hero Lino Tagliapietra. Well, if you didn’t get enough of his work then, you should stop in at the Museum of Glass. On March 29, they opened a new exhibit honoring Tagliapietra called “Living Legacies: Homage to a Maestro.” Well deserved kudos to a true visionary.

– Dale

Native American glass artist Preston Singletary blurs the lines between the traditional and the contemporary; his heritage and his modern life. As a member of the Tlingit tribe, he creates works that depict his family’s animal symbols, such as the wolf. But these highly refined pieces use modern techniques to recontextualize these ancient symbols for the modern experience. As such, he is adding a new chapter to the Native American story – one that takes into account both its rich history and its current reality. Singletary does not lament; he accepts and celebrates. Watch an interview with the artist here. His work is in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, the Heard Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Seattle Art Museum and now, on the 20th floor of the Hotel Murano.

-Dale

“I use the vessel as a way to enter the work, a starting point if you like, but the vessel also acts as a metaphor for the container of ideas,” so says Bruno Romanelli. This glass artist has pared his work down to its bare essentials: cylinders, disks and cones and he infuses them just one simple color – or no color at all. The result is that his pieces are so easy to “get” that you could walk right by them. That would be a mistake, because, as he says, “Each piece is an exploration of the relationships between form, color and material.” Very true. If Piet Mondrian had been a glass sculptor, he would been Bruno Romanelli.

–Dale

The Tacoma art scene just got another boost. Impromptu gallery recently opened as a cooperative gallery for local artists. Conveniently located just around the corner from Corina bakery, Impromptu aims to serve the local art community. Best of luck to them, and watch this space for details of coming attractions.

-Dale