February 7-9 and Feb. 11-13 2011, getting-famous glass blower Charlotte Potter will hold two glass blowing workshops at The Factory/Teton Art Lab in Jackson.
As far as Potter knows, these are Jackson’s first glass blowing workshops. Material properties of molten glass, basic techniques and some “non-traditional” practices will be examined. Students will work in teams, doing “couples skill-based drills with material exploration to conclude in a series of glass objects.” Hands-on practice is supported with lectures and demonstrations.
Potter, who last year received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (considered by many to be the country’s most prestigious arts university), says she is thrilled to pioneer a new arts program. Her time at RISD 
has been transforming. If you are a Jackson chick, you probably have a pair of Potter’s earrings. I took my blue ones right out of her ears back in the day, when Potter was a SRB wait person. If you frequented Teton Art Lab’s earliest exhibitions, you remember Potter’s cutting edge, wickedly imaginitive glass wildlife wall trophies.
She is in awe of glass. “Glass has binary qualities cloaked with competing characteristics: liquid and solid, elastic and brittle, captivating and humbling,” says Potter. Before she embarked on her graduate studies she wasn’t really “clear” about why she was into glass, compelled as she was to work with her medium. Gradually, she became deeply focused on traditional glass-making; she now understands glass as an experience that culminates in a tangible object.
“Graduate studies at RISD required self-analysis and alert questioning of why I remain…inspired by hot glass as an artistic medium. Integral to the glass blowing process is [one’s] body, and working with an assistant. Perhaps for this reason much of my work is concerned with the way people relate to one another, and being grounded in the body….I am curious about the ways in which humans relate to one another and…I court the allure and illusion of fusion.”
Potter believes that blowing glass immediately locates a person in their body, and quickly reveals dexterity’s importance. The process requires developing muscle memory crucial to creating an object.
“In my own studio practice, I am not wedded to glass or glassblowing, however I remain inspired by my native material, returning to glass studies when mystified [by] an idea. I believe I will always dip back into the well of glass for stimulation.”
Tuition for Potter’s class is $300. To register, call 307.699.0863 or email [email protected] To learn more about Potter’s impressive achievements, awards and exhibitions, and her art, log onto her website at www.charlottepotter.com.
•
Before he left office former Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal announced the recipients of the 2010’s Governor’s Arts Award. Jackson’s own arts education non-profit pARTners is a recipient, and the group will accept that prize on February 11, 2011, in a celebratory event at Cheyenne’s Little America. The Wyoming Arts Council (WAC) award recognizes arts groups and individuals providing outstanding arts services to Wyoming.
“I think pARTners is a great fit for the award because we have such a strong, sixteen-year track record of bringing the arts into local classrooms to improve learning,” says the organization’s Matt Daly. “Each year we help students at every grade level participate in the creative process. I think the fact that Governor Freudenthal recognized pARTners for the award indicates the important place the arts have in our local schools. The arts can be integrated into every academic discipline, offering new challenges to all students. PARTners could not do our work if there weren’t teachers and administrators, artists and arts organizations who are all willing and eager to collaborate to bring the arts into the classroom. For us, receiving the award confirms the value Teton County places on the arts in the education of our young people.”
Congratulations, pARTners! To learn more about this arts non-profit and its award, log onto www.edu-partners.org/
•
Jackson based photographer John Richter, who opened his shop on King Street last summer, has a new image, “Thanksgiving.” An edition of 250, the shot pictures Jackson Hole’s iconic Mormon Row barn. And though he’s seen lots of sunrises in his photographic career, Richter says this shot takes in one of the most beautiful sunrises he’s ever seen over the Teton Range.
“It was 20° below zero Thanksgiving morning, and I was struggling to record the beauty being presented to me as the biting cold literally sunk its teeth into my hands,” says Richter. “I could only imagine the hardships endured by the settlers who built this homestead a century ago!”
Stop into John Richter’s gallery, say hello to our new neighbors, and check out this and other images on display. It’s a riot of color in there, and the space transformed, now a den-like venue, dramatically lit. www.johnrichterphoto.com
•
An artsy party benefitting theater in Jackson takes place February 5, 2011. The Madame X “Le Cabaret Artistique” cuts loose 6-9:00 pm at the Center for the Arts in Jackson. $100
buys you a festive evening enjoying the great music and talents of headliners Nicole Madison and Pam Drew Phillips, dinner, wine & dessert. Over 40 talented Jackson artists will take the stage. Proceeds benefit Off Square Theatre Company.
For information and to purchase tickets phone 307.733.3021. www.offsquare.org
Tammy Christel 
