The late Elio Quarisa would have been 75 in January. photo: lee harris
At a funeral today in Murano, the glass community mourned the loss of Maestro Elio Quarisa, who died last Friday, December 17th, after an extended battle with cancer. Quarisa would have turned 75 on January 4th, 2011.
In his long career he worked at the finest glass factories in Murano, beginning at Barovier Toso, where he started at the age of 9 to help support his family after his father died. (Child labor helped keep the glass industry going during WWII.) Quarisa rose quickly at Barovier Toso, reaching the level of Primo Maestro (Italian for “First Master”). After 27 years with the important glass house, he moved to Seguso Vetri d’Arte, the first of several leading firms where he was a sought-after consultant and technician by some of the top designers.
His love for glass work and his desire to guarantee the Murano glass tradition led him, in his retirement, to teach future generations of those who share this passion, including in the United States at nonprofit glass centers such as Public Glass in San Francisco and Chicago Hot Glass.
According to American glassblower Jeff Mack, studio manager at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion, who attended today’s funeral in Murano, Quarisa spoke often about his love for glass art and how it tied into his Murano roots. Mack says Quarisa wanted to pass on his years of accumulated experience to future generations so this art would not be lost, often referring to the “splendor” and “magic” of glass.
“Elio’s greatest reward was hearing from his students about how he inspired them and affected their lives in a positive way,” Mack told the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet.
At the Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass, Amy Schwartz is working to create the Elio Quarisa Scholarship Fund and is accepting tax-deductible contributions to support intermediate-level furnace-working students who are interested in Italian techniques. “These are basically people who would have or had studied with Elio who want to continue in that tradition,” Schwartz told the Hot Sheet. “The plan is to raise enough money to give away one scholarship per year. It is not an endowment but a scholarship fund.”
In addition, Schwartz said that the Rakow Library at Corning is considering possibly being a repository for Quarisa photos and a larger history of Muranese glassmaking. “Elio had a dream of talking to the maestros and documenting the history before it is all gone,” says Schwartz. “We are talking about how we might make a project like that come through.”
Watch a video of Elio sharing the wealth of his knowledge at a 2009 goblet demonstration at the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion where he was assisted by Jeff Mack and Matt Paskiet.
Editor’s Note: To share your own memories and thoughts about the passing of Elio Quarisa, please use the Comments below.
.
I just heard the very sad news that Maestro Elio Quarisa passed away last friday December the 17th, 2010.
I had the wonderful opportunity to watch him blow glass & meet him and speak with him at the GAS conference in Corning a couple of years back. Maestro Elio was a very charismatic, charming and friendly man. I wish I had had the honor and opportunity to study under him.
You will be missed Maestro Elio Quarisa.
I am extremely saddened by this news,
My sincerest condolences to your family,
Lance McRorie
FlameTree Glass, Inc.
Roswell, Georgia
Hi
Please help Elio’s memory live on, donations are being accepted for “The Elio Quarisa Scholarship”, awarding a scholarship for the study of classic Venetian Goblet Design at Corning, each year.
Please send your donations c/0 Amy Schwartz, Director of Education & The Studio, Corning Glass, One Museum Way, Corning, New York, 14830.
You can call Amy with any questions at 607-974-8914.
Rest in peace.
Thank you for your frequent visits to Bowling Green and Toledo, Ohio.
I met Elio and Adriana almost ten years ago in California. Caleb Siemon had invited the maestro to his shop, United Glass. I was passing through town and visiting Caleb when Elio arrived. Through happen stance and timing I was fortunate he and his wife invited me to travel with them and assist Elio during that trip on the west coast.
I met up with him again as one of his assistants at Pilchuck.
Of all the things I learned while assisting and spending time with him the ones i often think about pertain to life. At the end of the day, we’d have dinner together, he’d reminisce about growing up during the war, working in the factories, and loving his friends and family.
He’d always tie it together through analogies of movement, timing, and seeing things by way of interactions (i.e. if you touch this, this can happen) and the infinite possibilities of results vs. “seeing” only the immediate or the now. He often encouraged his students to look further than what was right before them and reminded them to remember the past.
This was always so beautiful to me because more often than not he was sharing his life with all those around him and not just technique.
He will be missed.
I will miss him.
What great memories we have of Elio and Adriana teaching in our studio. It was a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience that created lasting friendships. We always hoped they would get back to our studio so Elio could eat more pasta fazool (we called it chile).
We still treasure the pictures of Adriana with Daisy Dog. Thank you Elio and Adriana for time you spent with us and the knowledge you left with us. We’ll remember you both, always.
Foster, Theda, Todd and Josh
Elio was my greatest instructor in his class everything was possible. He taught the old way of working, the way the masters he admired as a child did. He worked at a time when wood was still being used to fuel the furnaces. He taught his students to respond to the material and be courageous and always push the boundaries of what they could do. Thank you Elio
Elio was a wonderful, selfless man. I enjoyed his tales from Murano. Thank you for inspiring a generation.
I’ll miss you mate,
~Lucky Luciano
Elio was an inspiration. I will always remember his lessons, and ways. He was a warm hearted wonderful man, deserving of every prase.
Rest in peace old friend. Caio
I met Elio and Adriana at Corning when he first came to teach,I was immediately inspired by his love and passion and knowledge of glass.I took several classes after that with him,he became my friend,a tall good looking well dressed italian man,always ready to give everything he had.I will miss his singing and laughter and love of life and glass.I will never forget you my “MAESTRO” my Friend!!With love Carlo Provenzano
i was thriled to assit elio at the glass conferance at san bernadino college. He was a true master of glass and will be missed. He was the most helpful instructor and mentor to us folks> rest in peace.
Pingback: A Corning Studio scholarship honors the late maestro Elio Quarisa | The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet
Hearing of Elio’s passing was deeply saddening. I will always remember him as a truly kind soul who loved sharing his passion with others. I was lucky enough to have the privelage of watching him work at Bowling Green State University twice in the last five years, experiences that permamently cemented my passion in the venetian style. Elio was and is the largest influence on my own work and I know will truly be missed by all who had the pleasure to know him.
“He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ~ Thomas Campbell
Pingback: Elite tool maker from Murano celebrates legacy of Elio Quarisa with contest | The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet
Pingback: Elite tool maker from Murano celebrates legacy of Elio Quarisa with contest | The GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet
I was very happy to work with such a master, he put glassblowing into something different for me all together.