Great Lakes Section

摘要

On Saturday, October 1, the Great Lakes Section met at the West Michigan Glass Art Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The meeting was sponsored by ChemGlass Life Sciences, Wilt Industries Inc., ABR Imagery, National Diamond Laboratory, Wale Apparatus, Inc., and Meints Glassblowing LLC.This marked the second visit to the WMGAC for Great Lakes members and their guests and was predicated on exploring the artistic side of attendees. Since the first visit, the WMGAC has consolidated three studios on two floors into one large area on the first floor of the Park Trades Center, tripling the facility floor space in the process. The Park Trades Center is a renovated factory complex spanning four floors; it has over 65 artists. Neighbor tenants include bronze casters, photographers, painters, sculptors, metal working artisans, stained glass studios, and many others. The fine cabinetry shop down the hall from the WMGAC has requests for cabinetry with an interstate two-year waiting list on some items. The bronze casters are responsible for many serious works that appear around the country. Particularly interesting was the life-size bronze statue of all-time Detroit Redwing hockey great Gordie Howe that sat on the PTC dock for 24 hours awaiting shipment to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit a few years back. The environment created by this center of so many diversified artists added a heightened atmosphere to the event.