Auction event chair Erin Morris (left) and PGC assistant director Heather McElwee (right) stand behind a Sidney Hutter work that sold for $32,000.
As reported on the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet last week, the organizers of the Pittsburgh Glass Center‘s annual auction made a high-stakes bet that having their event coincide with the G20 summit would be a boon and not a bust. Their risk-taking paid off in the form of the $115,000 raised from the 300 attendees who gathered on September 25th at the American Eagle Outfitters facility, well away from the security zone.
“I think everyone who came to the party was ready to get out and celebrate,” wrote PGC’s Page Ilkanipour in response to emailed questions from GLASS. “There were a few small protests in town, but nothing major in our neighborhood.”
The gathering of international leaders did provide a publicity coup for PGC in the form of the “Transformation” bowls designed and fabricated at PGC which were presented by President Obama to each of the finance ministers attending the summit.
Designed and blown by the artists of PGC, no two "Pittsburgh Transformation Bowls" (with an amber metallic base referencing the old steel industry) are identical. President Obama presented these 12-inch bowls to finance ministers attending the G20 summit.
The translucent green color represents Pittsburgh’s transformation to a cleaner, greener city. Clear glass ribbons were individually wrapped around each bowl to illustrate Pittsburgh’s creativity and individuality, while a bright blue lip symbolizes Pittsburgh’s iconic rivers, and the Pittsburgh G20 Summit logo is etched on the bottom of each bowl. The bowls were designed and created by the artists of the Pittsburgh Glass Center including gaffers Chris Clarke and Heather McElwee as well as production artists Brian Engel, Jason Forck, Everett Hirche, Paige Ilkhanipour, Samantha Laffey, Janice Larko, Heather Joy Puskarich, and Becky Smith.
The top five prices paid at the Pittsburgh auction were:
$32,000 for Sunset Stacked Glass (H 19, W 12, D 9 in.) by Sidney Hutter
$5,500 for Pucci Top (H 12, W 15, D 13 1/2 in.) by Nancy Callan
$10,000 for Standing Cube (H 18, W 16, D 16 in.) by John Kuhn
$8,000 for Resourceful Rarities (H 30, W 34, D 12 in.) by Michael Taylor
$8,000 for Murrine Vessel (H 35, W 19, D 11 in.) by Stephen Rolfe Powell
