Napa Valley Museum Announces The Opening Of Randy Strong - Glass Master and 50 Years Of The Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve

From July 7 to August 19, Napa Valley Museum Yountville will present Randy Strong - Glass Master, a unique collection of artist Randy Strong's legendary 45-year career in the historic American Art Glass movement. View Strong's work from early groundbreaking glass techniques to his present one-of-a-kind veiled sculptures. Many sculptural works will be available for sale, with a portion of proceeds benefiting our arts and education programs. The Opening Celebration will be on Saturday, July 14 at 4 pm, and is free for Museum Members; $10 for Non-Members. An artist talk on Sunday, August 5 from 2 to 4 pm is included with Museum Admission. Randy will also participate in a free Family Fun event on August 11, from 11 am to 1 pm.

Randy Strong, an award-winning artist, designer, and master craftsman-has created elegant and highly sought-after works in blown glass for over 40 years in his East Bay, California studio. By combining his eye for contemporary design with ancient techniques, he designs and creates extraordinary works of art that are truly one-of-a-kind. Strong's work has been characterized by the use of difficult, defining techniques, materials, colors, and forms. His latest sculptural work challenges the concept of solid form in glass by further expressing its personality in lightness and movement that seemingly defy gravity.

Before entering the world of glass, Randy worked as an events photographer in the late 60s for the Oakland Tribune, and for a brief period was privileged to work with Ansel Adams. He studied ceramics at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California where he was mentored by renowned ceramicist Peter Voulkos. Upon graduation he received the prestigious scholarship to the University of Art in Osaka, Japan as one of the first exchange students between the Universities of California and California College of Arts and Crafts and Osaka, Japan. That grounding in ceramics soon led him into the largely unknown frontier of studio art glass.

As a modern day master of this ancient craft which had all but disappeared in the United States with the advent of mass production, Strong is one of a handful of American glass artists, including Dale Chihuly, who was instrumental in reviving the studio art glass movement. In fact, Randy was with Chihuly in 1970 when Dale and John Hauberg selected the location for the now renowned Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, Washington, which set the modern studio glass movement in motion. Strong is the winner of the juried 2005 and 2008 Niche Award for blown glass awarded by Niche magazine for the best of blown glass in the United States. Randy's glass sculptures have been acquired by international collectors and are a part of collections ranging from the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, to the Louvre Museum in Paris.

"What I love is to see if I can capture the life that glass has when it's at 2,000 degrees" explains Strong. "In its liquid form, hot and flowing glass is a mesmerizing, crazy and wonderful material. The challenge is to capture the life and energy of it's liquid state when it has cooled to a solid form. This is insanely difficult. I've always been one to take the hard road. I must love beating my head against that wall because I keep doing it.

"The best part of glass is the people you meet that make life enjoyable. After 45 years, I still love making glass and dancing to music while working. I still wake up every morning asking myself, "What if..."

Randy Strong Events Schedule:

Artist Reception: Saturday, July 14, 4 - 6:30 pm

Meet Randy Strong in our Spotlight Gallery and enjoy personal with the Artist discussions while enjoying wine and small bites.
Free for Members; Non-Members $10

Open discussion and talk with Randy: Sunday August 5, 2 -4 pm Free with Museum Admission

Trace the Artist's career from the early days of California School of the Arts in Oakland to the Pilchuck School in the state of Washington to now as part of the Northern California and American Art Glass movement.

Family Fun Day: Saturday, August 11, 11 am-1 pm

Randy loves educating children about art almost as much as he loves glass making. All ages are welcome to come, play and learn with the glass master himself in a fun and educational mid-day event at the Museum!

Also on Exhibition in July:

In the Main Gallery through August 19: Lowell Herrero: Origins of an Original

In the History Gallery from July 7 through August 19:

50 Years of the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve. An interactive and dynamic exhibit to educate museum visitors about the History of the Napa Valley's Agricultural Preserve: its key players, why and how it was initiated, describing the major challenges and successes of the last 50 years, and providing a view into its future priorities and anticipated challenges and changes. Opening Celebration July 7 from 5 to 7:30 is FREE for Members; $10 Non-Members. Admission to the Spotlight & History Galleries is included with regular Museum Admission.

On permanent exhibition in the History Gallery: "Land & People of Napa Valley."

The Napa Valley Museum Yountville is located at 55 Presidents Circle in Yountville, and is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 to 4 pm. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing unique experiences that enrich the cultural fabric of our community through exhibitions and educational outreach. For more information, call 707.944.0500, email info@napavalleymuseum.org, or visit our website at www.napavalleymuseum.org.

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