Ralph Harvey: A History Studio Glass Education in the Rural South

RALPH HARVEY

A History of Studio Glass Education in the Rural South

Georgia Southwestern GEORGIA State University Exhibition Catalog SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH This catalog was published in conjunction with the retrospective exhibition: Ralph Harvey: A History of Studio Glass Education in the Rural South. (September 26 2015– January 28 2016) at the Albany Museum of Art with the support of Georgia Southwestern State University Published by The Department of Visual Art; Georgia Southwestern State University University All proceeds from the sale of this catalog will go to the support of the “Harvey Glass Blowing Studio Fund”.

ISBN- 978-0-692-50893-0 Department of Visual Art Georgia Southwestern State University 800 Georgia Southwest State University Drive Americus, Georgia 31709 https://gsw.edu Colophon Editor Keaton Wynn Designer Joshua Stone Printer Fuse Graphics 3KRWR &UHGLW $OO SKRWRV E\ *HRij &DUU H[FHSW WKRVH RWKHUZLVH QRWHG All images appearing in this catalog are courtesy of the Department of Visual Art at Georgia Southwestern State University

RALPH HARVEY

A History of Studio Glass Education in the Rural South Ed. Keaton Wynn Contributors 'DYLG *ULĴQ Laurel Robinson Dr. Howard Risatti Fritz Dreisbach Jerry Hovanec

Ralph Harvey, circa 1982

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Contents 8

Donors, Support and Dedication

10

Foreward

12

Introduction

16

The Loneliness of the Regional Artist

24

Words Fail

46

Hovanec Collaborations

50

Ralph Harvey: A Dedicated Artist and Teacher

54

Ralph Harvey: Vitae

58

Timeline of GSW Studio Glass

66

GSW Glass Alumni

78

Sketchbook Excerpts and Ephemera

84

Acknowledgments

85

Contributor’s Biographies

87

List of Works

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Donors Thanks to the following for their financial support:

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

This book is dedicated to Ralph Harvey and faculty everywhere who invest their lives in the lives of their students .

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

The Glass, the Artist, & the Studio

S

omeone once said that one of the most significant problems in working with glass is that the glass artist must find a way to move beyond the inherent beauty of the material in the pursuit of concept.

In some ways this is perfectly true. The most intricately formed crystal goblet shares some immediately apparent qualities with the humblest drop formed paperweight. Both are clean, smooth, and glittering. Both have shapes and curves that are sinuous and pleasing to the eye. Both have a solid, comforting weight that is at the same time distinctly fragile. Whether in sparkling crystal, jeweled translucence, or glittering opacity; glass is quite frankly, lovely to be-hold. Thus does glass present itself. Such is its nature.

For all its inherent beauty, glass is a demanding medium, perhaps the most demanding in its own way, and very few mediums match how glass so effectively hides it process in the final object. Glass is a two thousand degree blob of incandescing molten sand on the end of a five foot stick that gives mere seconds of workability. If other mediums have a window of opportunity glass has a drive through- in and out in seconds.

Blink and you will miss it. There is a component of this medium’s natural process that is as vital to the glass artist as the finished object. This is apparent in the carefully measured choreography of the glass artist, the way they speak of their medium, and the manner in which they examine a glass object with eyes that peer past the surface to the underlying technique. To ignore the nature of glass, process and beauty, in pursuit of concept may violate the integrity of the medium itself, regardless of the final object.

Clear Glass Goblet “After Penland Series” 1982

With that said, the riddle of glass is neither more nor less esoteric than that of its practi-tioners and its studio programs. Whether by product of their individual artistic bent bringing to-gether like minds, or the development of the studio glass movement, or a combination of both the art of glass blowing has developed its own vocabulary, tools, and methodology. This was largely by necessity, as the early pioneers of studio glass created their craft largely

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Gasparilla Vase 1989

from their own imag-inations. What they ended up with is one of the most fascinating of art making processes, with movement bordering on choreography.

This fascination becomes evident in the curious onlookers crowding a glassblower’s studio windows.

From the beginnings of the American studio glass movement in the 1960s the experi-menters who were to be glass artists had an envious position. They had the freedom and oppor-tunity to both fail spectacularly and to create a uniquely distinct studio movement.

These artists, working in this new and yet ancient medium, directly and indirectly influenced the spread of stu-dio glass, of particular interest here, to South Georgia and Georgia Southwestern State Universi-ty. Like all movements, not just those of the arts, interest and support waxed and waned over time, but the backing of the studio glass program at GSW, due to the singular aspirations and dedication of arts faculty members such as Ralph Harvey, has never been lacking.

When Ralph Harvey was hired as an art instructor at GSW in the mid 1970s the studio glass movement was an entity hardly a decade old, and the university had instituted its first offi-cial glassblowing course only a couple of years before.

Taking up the reins for GSW’s glass pro-gram from those who created it, Harvey, who admitted he knew little about glassblowing at the time, headed the program for two and a half decades, growing it into a source of particular pride in an outstanding program. In 1983, Harvey oversaw the completion of the university’s newly built glassblowing studio.

His quick study, personal artistic style, willingness to collaborate, and teaching methods were instrumental in solidifying the program’s status, as well as contributing to its unique character.

Over those twenty five plus years, and now beyond as professor emeritus, that Ralph has been at the university, he worked and formed relationships with some of the most highly regarded glass artists in the country. Collaborative work has gone out of the studio program at GSW and artists have come in to host lectures and workshops, giving the art student opportunity to work alongside some of

Opaque Goblet “100 Mile and Hour Paper Cup” 1985 the most famous names and skilled artisans in the medium. This opportunity, alongside the dedication invested by the faculty, has made the university’s studio glass program a sought after destination for future glassblowers.

The value of the university’s studio glass program and Ralph Harvey himself to the Southeastern region and the academic study of glass, deserve recognition and accolades. It is in this light that the Albany Museum of Art is proud to host the Ralph Harvey Retrospective: A History of Studio Glass in the Rural South exhibition in our Haley Gallery.

In collaboration with Georgia Southwestern State University and glass artists across the world the Albany Museum hopes that this exhibit and its corresponding accoutrements will help shed light on an artist, in-structor, and community member so richly deserving of recognition for his efforts in the ad-vancement of academic studio art glass, as well as to shine that light on the exceptional program he and others brought to Southwest Georgia.

David Griffin Director of Collections and Exhibitions Albany Museum of Art | GSW alum

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Introduction: Art in Rural Southwest Georgia

T

here is a notion that the only real way to “make it” as an artist is to head for NYC and find a pathway to exhibition opportunities, get acclaim by the critics and sell work for large sums. It is the same mythic dream for actors and singers, go to New York or LA, hit the big time with recognition and fame.

The narrowness of this approach is sadly realized by thousands of really creative people who stake their careers on this path while denying art’s other essential realities of what art is about.

There are other historical and contemporary ways to think about success in art making. Visual Art is a form of human communication with a history that goes back to the formation of our species (maybe earlier from some accounts of the creativity of our hominid precursors). What gives art validity and currency cannot just be about where it gets created or who gets to see it or how much it sells for in the skewed marketplace where a Picasso brings $179,000,000!

Some artists make very different life decisions. The professor that both Ralph Harvey and I shared in our formative years, Bob Knipschild, was an interesting man.

When I arrived at the University of Cincinnati in 1970, as a young undergraduate thinking that perhaps my skills might end up used for medical illustration, I had no idea that I would decide to be a painter. I heard stories of Bob and how he had a mystique of not selling out. The story (I have never attempted to check its veracity) was that Bob was “making it” in NYC. He was exhibiting with all of the big important Abstract Expressionists. Then his work started to change and the galleries wanted him to keep making the earlier work that was selling. He chose to take a teaching job at the University of Iowa and later became the director of the MFA program at the University of Cincinnati. He was portrayed as someone possessing great integrity, an inspiring teacher and a really good painter. We all knew as students that Bob was exhibiting and selling his work; there were always crates of paintings being shipped somewhere.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Laurel Robinson (top left) and Ralph Harvey collaborate with students on a project, circa 1982

He and other professors taught us about making the work we thought important, guiding us along pathways that always felt honest and not trendy.

Artists can and do live all over the country and all over the world. We can have a deep impact on people in a variety of ways that are unrelated to the flashy, expensive, exploitive world of NY galleries. Artists can and do teach and have a far ranging impact. Ralph and I were inspired by Bob Knipschild and our paths crossed in a place that exemplifies the richness of making different choices. Both Ralph and I have had an impact through the work we have made and exhibited, but also through the teaching we have done in rural southwest Georgia.

Ralph Harvey in Wheatley Hall Studio 1977

It was mid-summer of 1978 and I was living at the beach in Kill Devil Hills, NC when I was contacted by Bob. He had recommended me for a job in a small department where one of his former painting students from the University of Iowa was looking for a painting instructor.

Jack Lewis, the coordinator of the GSW art program, met me at the airport sporting Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirt and smoking a fat cigar. He drove me to the art department and dropped me off at the glass studio and introduced me to Ralph. Sweat was dripping through a bandana tied across Ralph’s forehead as Jack told me that I would be spending the night at Ralph’s house. As I walked through their front door, the Harvey’s little Sheltie, Tom, came right over and peed on my leg. Nancy said something about Tom liking me and marking his territory! Good thing I am a dog lover.....

And thus began what amazingly has become a long friendship.

My first visit to Ralph’s house after moving to Americus included a beer in a beautiful glass mug he had made. He gave it to me as my first of many Ralph-blown vessels, still proudly in my kitchen cabinet and used regularly.

Sometimes, coincidences link people in strong ways.

Ralph and I share not only a Jewish heritage, but the same birthday, the same 12 year spread that gives us the same Chinese astrological sign, the same painting professor, similar Northern, urban childhoods, and Nancy Harvey has the same birthday as my father. Our aesthetics are similar and we both have the odd habit of creating small things to carry in our pockets and share.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Through the years, Ralph and I collaborated, experimenting with materials and surfaces. One of the best parts of the GSW art program is this collaborative spirit across all of the studio areas. My previous educational experience was the opposite: painters didn’t like the sculptors or printmakers, and the divisiveness of the faculty actually did damage to the students. At GSW I was invited to experiment in all of the media, use of tools and processes. The students were encouraged to do the same, creating a wonderfully open and expansive experience.

Before coming to GSW, I had never been in a glass studio. Watching that process has added a richness to my understanding of one of the most magical materials artists can explore. Its hot color and honey-like consistency, fluid and then quickly rigid and breakable, never ceases to amaze me. Ralph’s exuberance for glass and his playfulness in manipulating it allowed me to expand my thinking and creativity.

Watching Ralph play allowed me to play. “Play” is an important concept. It is about exuberance and energy rather than the humdrum of just work. Play becomes the impetus for discovery, revelation and the realization of ideas. Play is not trivial, it is in fact, the process of making wonder a lived experience. Wonder is the key of Creativity, of Questioning, of finally arriving at Innovation that then can be concretized as Art. Jack, Ralph and I became the studio team at GSW for over 20 years. Together we created a community of faculty and students with common cause. This cause brought us close in many ways and we learned so much from each other.

From Ralph I learned the following: 1)How to play and feel the joy of just making things 2)How to take risks and laugh at failures, lots of glass crashes to the floor 3)How to stand up at faculty meetings and tell truth to power 4)How to fight for the important things and leave the trivial alone 5)How to not step in shit because you will get it on you 6)How to laugh at a fish who toys with your line And then Ralph’s daughter, Sarah, was in a terrible car accident. The accident and subsequent 15 years of her care showed us all the amazing spirit of both Ralph and Nancy.

Their family trauma was in many ways shared by all of us in the art department. Faculty and students bonded together to help keep us focused and strengthened.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

My list was augmented: 7) How to move through pain to courage 8) How to Love beyond limitations 9) How to continue to create with Hope Recently, I spent another shared birthday with Ralph. We sat again at his table with old friends for another meal together. I drank wine in another beautiful glass birthday gift. It has joined the others in my kitchen cabinet to use and remind me of the value of our friendship.

Thank you Ralph, for all you have given me...

Today, our students are all over the world. Our work and that of our students have been exhibited all over the world.

Some of our students are now teachers, museum curators, professors, and artists. Some of our students have studios and make work seen more locally/regionally, others have work being shown in Europe, India, San Francisco, New York and Boston to name a few. Some of our students work in small communities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.

Our little glass program is known all over the country because artists like Fritz Dreisbach show up periodically to “play” with Ralph in the studio.

Laurel Robinson and Ralph Harvey circa 1980

Recently, a large group of our alumni came back to visit.

They spoke about our program as a “boot camp” for art making, self-discipline and hard work. Gratifyingly, the majority of these former students were working in art related fields and crediting their faculty with giving them a strong grounding in the arts and ability to think creatively. There is something extremely powerful about knowing that the GSW visual arts faculty and other university faculty provide skills and the values of integrity and creativity with an impact that is profound and lasting.

Not all of the “great” contemporary artists went to the big schools; some went to the small ones. Some of these students go to NY or LA and “make it”, others choose different paths and have ever expanding circles of influence.

Laurel Robinson Professor of Visual Art Chair of the Department of Visual Art Georgia Southwestern State University

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

The Loneliness of the Regional Artist Chapter 1

Tobacco Opal Teabowl 1988

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

T

o talk about the “loneliness of the regional artist” is more than just a play on the title of the 1962 film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner1.

Artists working in the regions, that is to say, a long distance from large metropolitan areas, are indeed lonely, at least in the sense that they are seldom recognized by their local communities, not to mention the world’s art centers. Why is this? One could argue it is because, isolated in the regions and outside the mainstream, the quality of their work isn’t very high. But the work of an artist like Ralph Harvey in southwest Georgia certainly refutes this–his work is clearly of high quality and also speaks to a wide audience.

Moreover, many of the now recognized artists in New York City, for instance, came to New York from other places.2

Several years ago at a ceramic arts conference, a well-known New York critic said that ceramics was probably going to become an important art medium in the near future. The reason was that several graduate students at a New York City university were now working in ceramics, the implication being that ceramics (or any other media) was not legitimate until it arrived in New York City. Is New York the center of the art universe and American cultural values such that nothing else matters?

This attitude reflects a much larger and more complex problem that has much to do with the transformation of society and cultural values in the modern period. One part of this problem has to do with the question of patronage.

Without being too simplistic, it can reasonably be argued that for centuries religious institutions were the major patrons of the arts. They, along with royal courts, supported artists working in nearly every artistic sphere - music, architecture, sculpture, painting, mosaics, stained glass, and all the crafts.

And while some artists got commissions outside their home towns, local and regional artists also received commissions from the institutions in their areas. The evidence of this, for example, is still visible in small and large churches all over Italy. Today they are generally labeled “provincial artists” by art historians, though this doesn’t necessarily mean they were not good artists - one need only remember that Piero Della Francesca actually falls into the category of “provincial artist.” Yet his work was not only included in Giorgio Vasari’s famous book Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, published in 1550,

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Piero’s work is still highly acclaimed and people make pilgrimages to provincial churches in Arezzo, San Sepolcro, and Urbino to see it.

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Until the late 18th century, the church (and in some countries the court as well) was still the major patron of the arts in many European countries. When church influence waned, for the most part, so did patronage. Artists were then thrown into a very different situation when confronted by the newly developing phenomenon that was a product of modernity– the art market. One of the earliest examples of this developing situation occurred in Holland in the 17th century. Artists had to fend for themselves and deal directly with the buying public by creating work “on spec” rather than “on commission.” Something similar happened in France in the 19th century as the academy system of selecting artists of merit was replaced by what Harrison and Cynthia White call the “dealer-critic-system”– essentially the system of dealers, galleries, and critics that we have today. As this occurred, artists like Gustave Courbet flocked to Paris from the provinces, not only increasing their numbers exponentially by the latter part of the century, but also making the modern metropolis the center of cultural values.3 Before discussing this phenomenon, it is of interest to look at a new form of “patronage” that developed in the 20th century, the college and university system in post WWII America. The parallels are not insignificant and certainly revealing, especially in the case of artists who, like Ralph Harvey, spent much of their artistic careers teaching in higher education.

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After Congress passed the GI Bill in 1944, veterans began going to college in unprecedented numbers subsidized by the federal government. They studied a variety of subjects, including the arts.4 The result was that for the first time in over a century a new system of what might be called patronage emerged for artists, because as programs expanded to meet student demands, the hiring of more professors, even in the arts, became a necessity. This situation continued even after the GI Bill ended as evidenced by the abundance of art programs across the country, including the art program at Georgia Southwestern State University.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Clear Glass Goblet “After Penland Series” 1982

While these changes increased financial support for artists, this system differs so significantly from the earlier one that, in fact, it probably shouldn’t even be considered patronage in the former sense of the word. It is true that colleges and universities hire artists as professors and thus provide them a stipend with which they can live and work, offering a kind of life-support system. The difference from the old system is that the stipend is for teaching, not for their art work. Unlike religious institutions of the past, what these institutions don’t do, certainly not on a regular basis, is purchase or commission works of art from their professors.

Admittedly a professorship does bestow a degree of prestige upon artists; however, this prestige usually does not reflect onto their art work. So in reality, the artist as creator is still left to his or her own devices, something especially difficult for those working in the regions. This helps explain the continuing migrations of young artists to major metropolitan areas of the country in the hopes of establishing themselves as artists.

There are other problems that are even more acute for artists who today are working in the country’s regional areas. As already mentioned, under the old system of church patronage even artists working in small towns and regions could

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Vase 1990 survive as artists because they too got commissions. Why is this?

One obvious answer is that they were conveniently located in town and the fees they charged were affordable. In modern terminology we would not exactly describe these artists as folk artists. However, they and their more famous urban counterparts do have certain things in common with each other and with today’s folk artists, something that explains why they could prosper in the countryside. What they have in common is their relationship to their communities. Folk art, a concept that hardly existed until the 20th century5, is usually defined as the product of untrained artists/ artisans. Moreover, it is thought of as work that is “consumed” by the people who made it; it is appreciated and embraced by the community for which it was made because folk artists are part of their community and they make art for their community based on shared communal values. Moreover, folk artists have an interpersonal relationship with their community Before the modern period, this definition typified art in general, even high art, though it no longer applies to non-folk artists. That the church was the major patron of the arts assured this to be the case - Christian themes for Christian churches in Christian communities.

With the advent of modernity and the gradual decline of church patronage, a pre-given, subject-centered art (e.g.,Old and New Testament themes) disappeared. What replaced it, often identified misleadingly as “art for art’s sake,”was really a search for a common subject matter to replace common religious themes. In the face of modernity and its inherent ideas, this search became less centered in community and more a product of the modern metropolis where interpersonal relationships tend not to exist in the same way.6 This shift, however, was not without consequences for artists and for

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culture generally.

As early as 1939, German writer Walter Benjamin, in his essay “Some Motifs in Baudelaire,” saw a great many problems with this shift, problems that still exist today and go to the heart of any discussion about the regional artist.

Benjamin lamented the destruction in the modern world of genuine experience. Genuine experience, which for Benjamin rested on communication, was being replaced by information, by simple verifiable facts. For him there could be no communication without a shared structure of meanings within the collective memory.7 Through the workings of the capitalist system and the rationalization process,8 Benjamin recognized a transformation that was occurring through the movement from Gemeinschaft (community) to Gesellschaft (society). It was this movement that was destroying the communal bases of memory found in ritual, ceremony, and festival.9 The result is that the local artist is more and more isolated and alone within his or her own community because that community now looks to the centers of power and commerce for validation of genuine art and culture. Centers like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles essentially end up dictating artistic and cultural values for the country as a whole by default, if not by design, producing a leveling off of cultural norms. An even more troubling aspect of this shift is that the difference between high art and popular culture seems indistinguishable to many - consider the uniformity of popular culture disseminated by broadcast and social media.

The question that begs to be addressed is whether something can be done about this or is it a hopeless situation in which regional artists like Ralph Harvey are doomed to work in obscurity regardless of the high quality of their work?

Clearly it is not hopeless for there are examples of local art institutions that do regard their artists as valuable assets to the community and do exhibit their work.10 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas did something like this with their recent exhibition “State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now.” To develop the

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

.VISL[ ^P[O )SHJR /HUKSLZ exhibition the director and the curator made a 100,000 mile road trip in 2013 visiting nearly 1000 studios to, as they stated, “discover artists whose work has not yet been fully recognized on a national level.” The resulting exhibition featured over 100 artists from every region of the country and in almost every medium including craft media such as wood, ceramic, and fiber.

The organizers made no distinction based on material, only on the quality of the work.11 While the artists in the exhibition were not necessarily regional to Arkansas, they weren’t specific to the metropolis either.

Some additional examples showing the benefits to artists, even artists working in craft-centered material, occurred at the True Luck Gallery of the Visual Arts Center (VisArts) in Richmond, VA. Curator Caroline Wright organized a series of important exhibitions of area artists that had significant consequences for them professionally. “Where We Meet,”a 2012 exhibition of the work of fiber artist Andrea Donnelly, a recent MFA graduate living in Richmond, resulted in two of her major works entering the collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.

“Substitutions for a Game Never Played,” an exhibition of work by long-time painter Megan Marlatt was, according to the artist, “a game changer in my career” because curator Wright allowed her to weave into her painting show some of the large papier-maché heads that she had been working on for several years. This led to VisArts getting a NEA Fast Track Challenge America grant so Marlatt could do papier-maché workshops with artists from Spain and then create an organization of bighead makers called “The Big Head Brigade.” Subsequently The Big Head Brigade has had numerous performances: Socrates Park, NY (Sept 2013); Art in Odd Places, Greensboro, NC (Nov 2013); Dumbo Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY (Sept 2014); and Art in Odd Places, New York, NY (Oct 2014). Also as a result of Marlatt’s VisArts exhibition, the Barton College Art Galleries in Wilson, NC has offered her an exhibition for March 2015.

Another VisArts example worth mentioning is “Tied,” an exhibition of the work of jeweler and sculptor Susi Ganch that opened in the spring of 2014. It received a great deal of local ;OL L_OPIP[PVU ^HZ VWLU MYVT :LW[LTILY [V 1HU\HY` -VY TVYL VU [OPZ ZLL [OL JH[HSVN\L VY NV [V 0UJPKLU[S` [OL ^VYR VM 5VY[O *HYVSPUH ZJ\SW[VY )VI ;YV[THU ^HZ ILPUN ZOV^U H[ [OL =PZ\HS (Y[Z *LU[LY PU 9PJOTVUK H[ [OL ZHTL [PTL

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RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

as well as national attention with a review in Surface Design Journal and a “critics pick” review in ArtForum International. Also as a consequence of the exhibition Ganch’s work is to be included in the upcoming Boston Museum of Fine Arts exhibition “Crafted: Objects in Flux,”curated by Emily Zilbur.

One of Ganch’s pieces will grace the cover of the exhibition catalogue as the “signature image” and will be featured with all exhibition announcements and promotions.

As a result of the exhibition Ganch also has received invitations to exhibit her work at the Kohler Art Center in Wisconsin and at Pulse Miami.12 `This is the way the art world should operate with institutions big and small contributing to a national dialogue on art and cultural values by making judgements based not on material but on the quality of work produced.

In this regard it clearly makes a difference when local and regional arts organizations seek out the first-rate artists in their area to exhibit. Doing so not only supports these artists, but helps integrate their work into their communities initiating a process in which shared values between artists and communities can develop. It may also help to create a dialogue with the larger society as well.

One hopes something like this will occur with this retrospective of Ralph Harvey’s glass art. Not only is he an example of an artist who has worked diligently throughout his career to establish and maintain a glass program in a university setting, he also has created a body of work that certainly deserves attention on a national scale.

Howard Risatti, Richmond, VA

Goblet with Red Handles 1981 -82

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Words Fail Chapter 2

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RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

T

here are artists who hold to the belief that words are limited, even in the face of increasing discursive tendencies in contemporary art. As semiotic strategies that evaluate and interpret art through the lens of social construction, media and language seem to multiply, some artists, Ralph Harvey would be included among these, are suspicious of such overarching schemes.

This rejection of current strategies can be viewed as a quaint, early 20th Century sensibility that art has outgrown. It can also be viewed as a necessary, even if quixotic, response in a time of ever increasing layers of mediation and theory that gazes into a labyrinth of selfabsorption and self-construction.

Ralph Harvey, Untitled 2015

Contemporary art has long since “dematerialized the object” and left the aesthetic goals it once had in an attempt to move away from elitist debates concerning taste and the subsequent commodification of that taste.

Art has moved to the social matrix of language as a way to negate what was in the past an oppressive Kantian elevation of the aesthetic aspects of objects we call art.

In this Modern view art was subsequently separated from life and sealed within the pure spaces of galleries and museums to be experienced in the ethereal abstract aesthetic realms of the cognitive mind. 1 The question remains…. Is what we have now in contemporary art less elitist, more embedded or connected to life and viewed less as a commodity? The answer is clear that art has retained all the negative qualities we have attempted to purge from it. As Jean Baudrillard has suggested, art is more complicit even collaborating with the co-opting forces of power, wealth and privilege than ever before due to the illusion that we are now free from these determinative forces. 2

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Is it possible that art has become even less connected to life and more embedded in forms of mediation…. and

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

in essence less alive? In approaching the work of Ralph Harvey we are without a doubt engaging something that is living or at least dynamic, energetic and expressive of life.

Several years ago, I found myself at an exhibition standing in front of a work of art alongside Ralph. We both stood there silently, he then turned to me and with a wry smile said, “It’s too literary”. This comment was not necessarily about Literature but language. In this statement he expressed his belief that the work needed an external justification of what it was unfortunately lacking - a reason to be. >HS[LY )LUQHTPU PU ¸;OL >VYR VM (Y[ PU [OL (NL VM 4LJOHUPJHS Reproduction” describes this WYVJLZZ (Z TLKPH[PVU [OYV\NO JVWPLZ KPTPUPZOLZ ¸(\YH¹ [OL unique aspects, history and TH[LYPHS WYLZLUJL VM H ^VYR PU [PTL HUK ZWHJL P[Z WVSP[PJHS PTWHJ[ will increase as its potency as a \UPX\L [OPUN KPTPUPZOLZ (\KPLUJL HUK (Y[PZ[ ^PSS PU [PTL MVYNL[ HUK UV[ YLJVNUPaL [OL \UPX\L TH[LYPHS WYLZLUJL VM [OPUNZ¯ (Y[ ^PSS IL YLHK HUK UV[ L_WLYPLUJLK VU H ]PZJLYHS SL]LS HZ ZVTL[OPUN real and physically present. The potential shadow this casts is the YPZL HUK LSL]H[PVU VM TH[LYPHSS` HULTPJ HY[^VYR HUK [OL SHJR VM YLJVNUPaPUN ^OH[ OHZ ILLU SVZ[

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This might be a criticism of many works of art today where the “work” is merely a placeholder in the social milieu triggering recognition throughout the system that something is being communicated. This is akin to ones and zeros rippling through a program; there is recognition, communication and the transfer of information, but is this any closer to life?

There is a concern that art can become simply a justification for theories, or the use of theories could function as a justification and validation of certain art. When the work happily fits within the system of semiotics, language and theory, its complicity is undeniable evidence of the work’s relevancy and importance and therefore judged to be of high quality due to its participation in the “life” of the artworld. The material vitality of the work is a mere afterthought, if thought about at all. 3 Ralph has already stopped reading this.

This is not an anti-intellectual gesture on his part but the belief that to approach art in this way is a step away from life and therefore art. It is not that language and theory are bad (of course, they can be useful) but they are limited. They are mediations of life not life itself.

Poetry, the most direct attempt to manifest life through language, is still limited in its mediation. 4 To then write theoretically about Poetry is even further from the two essential characteristics of “life” that are key to Ralph’s work, “Being” and “Presence.” 5 To make the statement that “words fail” is not to describe the uselessness of words, language or theory, but to

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

acknowledge their limited and easily manipulated nature. Words and language stop short of the terms “Being” and “Presence” that I am using to stand in for aspects that do not translate into language or often diminish in their resonance when described.

Language is a powerful tool, the most powerful tool at our disposal for both thought and communication. But I am using the term “Being” for those aspects of who we are which extend deeper and remain beyond the reach of language. This becomes evident when language is removed from one’s life.

In various monastic traditions monks often discipline speech through embracing silence, which is an acknowledgement of the limitations of language in dealing with these deeply hidden aspects of ourselves and others. In this particular case I am thinking about Benedictine and Cistercian orders within the Catholic tradition, but these approaches exist in other monastic practices in a variety of faith perspectives.

The mediation of life through a proliferation of words can replace, displace, diffuse or even distort the deeper hidden aspects of “Being” which these monastic traditions attempt to hold with the utmost respect. This mediation can also impact relationships or our “Being with another or in relation to others.” The “Presence” (Being with) of others can be seen in greater clarity through a recognition of the “Being” in others that exists beyond the reach of words.

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Self-Portrait

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

What I am describing as “Being” (my word) may have in the past been described as the soul, a word now often avoided along with the intrinsic, immutable value that has been traditionally placed on this part of the self. Where terms such as “identity” may describe the self as an onion with a collection of many layers, the soul or “Being” as I am using it might be traditionally imaged as a container or pot that has an invisible center within the self. We could also just as easily use an onion that has internal layers not attainable, accessible or describable through language, word or any semiotic system.

While standing in elevators with others we may wonder, “Why is the silence ‘awkward’?” Whether one describes this phenomenon as psychological or spiritual it is nevertheless the evidence of the “Being” in individuals coming into the “Presence” of each other.

(Fig. 1) I have now used 1,062 words to describe how words are limited. I hope you find this as funny as I do. To make the statement that there are unknowable things that cannot be communicated may be an irritant to some who have placed their faith in the modern scientific process and its resulting progress which is believed to be limitless. Others would disagree, who take the position that there is no thought outside language so it is impossible to engage these uncommunicative aspects at all.

This view of “Being” and “Presence” as I have described it can be easily discarded as a Romantic perspective of little value in its immeasurability. But with Ralph’s career and creative production we can see that for some, life is to be lived not dissected. When simply translated into information it ceases to be life or living.

These immutable aspects of “Being” and “Presence” as I am describing them also come into play for the artist who commits to a material. The “Being” of the artist engages the material and its “Presence” with great patience and diligence to peal back the layers until the “Being” of the artist comes close to the unknowable otherness of the material. This is not hocus pocus, though it sounds like it, nor is it mere craftsmanship.

David Pye in his classic text, “The Nature and

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

David Pye, “The Nature and Art of >VYRTHUZOPW¹ L_JLYW[ MYVT ;OL >VYRTHUZOPW VM *LY[HPU[` HUK [OL >VYRTHUZOPW VM 9PZR

Art of Workmanship”, described what he calls the “workmanship of risk” which is the activity of artists working within craft traditions. He states, “The essential idea is that the quality of the result is continually at risk during the process of making; and so I shall call this kind of workmanship ‘The workmanship of risk’: an uncouth phrase, but at least descriptive. It may be mentioned in passing that in workmanship the care counts for more than the judgment and dexterity; though care may well become habitual and unconscious.”6 The engagement with material is driven by care or caring. The “Being” of the artist comes to have an intimacy or relationship with the material through consistent committed “Presence”. This is for the most part done in silence… by “being together” artist with material. These are the strong roots that bear fruit in Ralph’s work and an essential requirement of intimacy of any kind, whether with a material or people.

ORIGINS

Ralph Harvey was born in 1940 and grew up in a Jewish family within an art rich environment. His mother earned a degree in Interior Design from The University of Chicago and she often took Ralph to the Art Institute of Chicago. His father was a dentist who took up painting as an ongoing hobby.

Ralph’s interest in art grew during his time in the Winnetka Public School System, which included New Trier High School, a school known for its quality art program. It was out of this context that Ralph found his way to studying art and beginning his creative life as a painter at the University of Iowa. During his undergraduate studies his love for art history informed his interest in painting. In 1961 during his Junior year, he spent part of that year in New York City taking classes at New York University. During this time he also met many painters of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists such as Franz Klein, Willem de Kooning and Larry Rivers. All these influences along with the energy of the city had an impact on him as he returned to Iowa City to complete his BFA. During his service in the United States Army in the “visual aid” department at Fort Benning (Fig. 2) he

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Carl Gildersleeve (Army Buddy) with bag on head

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

found himself in the South hanging out with a good friend and painter Don Cole.

Together they crashed a party in Auburn, Alabama, hosted by Nancy Macon who in an instant had Ralph’s devotion. Ralph recalls seeing Nancy for the first time and saying to himself, “That’s for me!” It was for him “a bolt from the blue!” Nancy agreed and they married six months later in 1964.

Shortly after getting married Ralph left active duty and began working towards an MFA in painting at Auburn University, completing his degree in 1967 and receiving his Honorable Discharge papers in that same year. (Fig. 3)

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Icon

Nancy and Ralph were blessed in 1969 with the birth of their daughter Sarah, and these moments together as a new family find their way into Ralph’s sketchbook, which he habitually kept with him. (Fig. 4) Ralph was already teaching in 1966 even before he had his MFA, but after seven years of teaching at Alexander City State Junior College in Alexander City, Alabama, he came to a point of crisis. Though he loved teaching and had great success with a variety of students, he felt like he was at a dead end and unable to recognize the good work he was doing at the time.

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Nancy and Sarah

It was at this moment in the Fall of 1973 he and Nancy made the trip to Tallahassee, Florida, where Ralph would study in Florida State University’s Master of Science in Constructive Design program. For the next two years he was committ ed to a passion that would inform the rest of his career. When beginning his first ceramics class he offered to help Bob Bocz prepare clay by pugging scraps, and he experienced the material in a way that was for him transformative. In the simple mundane task of pugging clay he connected with the visceral power of the material, clay, as living. He has described this event in this way.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

“So this happy horse shit bucket of garbage and this happy horse shit bunch of clay scraps and I run it through the pug mill and it comes out in these incredibly beautiful pieces of material. So I stack them up and make this wall out of these slugs of clay. ….. I mean I thought I made this beautiful piece of sculpture right? I mean I was a painter, I never….., I had been trying to get to the meat of the stuff but I could never get the paint to do what I wanted and here’s this clay out in space!”

His time at FSU was as eye-opening as it was formative.

Working in metals, fibers and clay he had moved into a way of making that matched the energy he had experienced in New York with his own tactile sensibilities and direct physicality that would become so essential to his work. In a humorous bit of evidence of Ralph’s aesthetic, in an otherwise stellar grade-sheet from an assignment in his weaving class, his grade was lowered for not having even edges. (Fig. 5) This is a perfect example of the irony of having rubrics in art education.

After leaving FSU, Ralph taught in a variety of contexts.

He held a one-year position at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, as well as within the prison system in Wetumpka, Alabama, as an extension of the Alexander City State Junior College. Ralph also had a unique position as an Artist-in-Residence for the K -12 schools of Madison County, Alabama, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Humanities.

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` HUK ^LH]PUN

He loved working with the kids and had a knack for bringing them out of their shells. He also was quite the performer. (Fig. 6) Between these teaching positions during the summer in 1975 he took a job at Boggs Pottery in Prattville, Alabama. Here he learned about the deficiencies of academic ceramic education and was introduced to the pragmatic wisdom of traditional folk potters whose work ethic, skill and productivity further formed his aesthetic direction. Ralph recalled that as they watched him throw several forms they asked him, “Well, you’re pretty fast. Where’d you learn to do that? In College?”

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Ralph responded, “Yeah how’d you know?” “Because you’re doin’ it all wrong!” they exclaimed. “You got to get on top of that roll, son!” 9

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` *SH` HUK RPKZ

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For these “jug” potters there was a level of material knowledge, material intimacy beyond the intellect, embedded in the nervous system from daily work of “snatching up” form after form until effortless.

Center…open…pull…cut… repeat were as natural as breathing. The jug potter’s proclamation that, “You got to get on top of that roll, son!” communicated specific technical instruction about hand positions in relation to the inside and outside hand during a “pull.” It also spoke to the years of unseen experience which results in a depth or form of knowledge unattainable through language.

This type of knowledge is only possible through “Being” and “Presence” resulting in a disciplined consistent attentiveness or as David Pye described it, “care.”

In his book “The Craftsman” Sociologist Richard Sennett alludes to this deep form of knowledge while discussing the practice of skilled work.

“The view of good practicing may seem to slight the importance of commitment, but commitments themselves come in two forms, as decisions and as obligations. In the one, we judge whether a particular action is worth doing or a particular person is worth spending time with; in the other, we submit to duty, a custom, or to another person’s need not of our own making. Rhythm organizes the second kind of commitment; we learn how to perform a duty again and again. As theologians have long pointed out, religious rituals need to be repeated to become persuasive, day after day, month after month, year upon year. The repeats are steadying, but in religious practice they are

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

not stale; the celebrant anticipates each time that something important is about to happen. ….we are alert rather than bored because we developed the skill of anticipation.” 10 Anticipation is an awareness of the demands the material makes. It is a form of listening and attentiveness, but experienced beyond language and is a heightened state of consciousness. One is fully alive and one’s “Being’ is fully experiencing “Presence.” Ralph has acknowledged that this lesson at the hands of the craftsmen at Boggs Pottery made him a better teacher, able to “put into words” with greater clarity the pragmatic technical information, but it also presented for him another level of knowing unattainable through language. He described seeing 70 year-old potter, Ralph Miller, with “old tree-trunk hands all gnarled” and his workshop floor covered with the morning’s work of 60 large forms, and it was only 10:30. This effortless production of unpretentious work exhibited a level of knowledge not attainable by any other means but experience, and it became one of Ralph’s guiding principles and an indispensable core to any aesthetic judgment.

AMERICUS, GEORGIA

While teaching and working in Alabama in 1976, Ralph was contacted about a teaching position by Dr. Bill Dragoin, a friend and then Head of the Department of Sociology and Psychology at Georgia Southwestern College in Americus, Georgia. The position was to teach art history, painting and glass-blowing. With his diverse background in art history and both 2D and 3D areas, he was encouraged to “figureout” the glass process.

The story of Ralph’s entry into this new position is legendary, including an introductory first session pretending to “observe” the students’ technique (really taking mental notes of the process) and later sneaking into the glass studio at night to practice with no one around.

Recalling the primitive studio and that first attempt to blow glass Ralph stated, “So I watch these kids work and I sneak in at night scared to death, damn near pass out trying to blow, and the piece doesn’t have any air in it, the piece checks. The second piece I made was good; …. You could sorta figure it out because if you’re life depends on it, you can learn shit in a hurry!” 11 (Fig. 7) Ralph brought the program a long way from the dirt floored studio using a furnace with a bricked up door and scrap window-pane glass and charged with 2.5% Cobalt

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

to the studio as it is today.

With ingenuity, hard work and the help from students and friends like Fritz Dreisbach, Ralph established an innovative program where he did more than just “figure it out.” Ralph became a prolific glass artist finding a balance between teaching and creative production.

The approach he developed in clay translated to glass, always emphasizing energy, expressiveness and motion.

In one of his usually pithy artist statements from 1986 Ralph proclaims in all capitals, “BLOWN GLASS SHOULD LOOK LIKE BLOWN GLASS. COLDWORKING MEANS BLOWING GLASS IN A STUDIO THAT IS BELOW 60 DEGREES. THE THRILL OF WORKING FAST WITH HOT MOLTEN GLASS IS SOMETHING THAT I WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET ENOUGH OF.” -PN\YL ! /HY]L`»Z ÄYZ[ NSHZZ WPLJLZ

He uses words and phrases such as “INTENSITY, VIGOR, SILLY IRONY and EARTHY ELEGANCE” to describe his work. His artist’s statements run alongside his work, never attempting to explain or even contextualize the work. Often he leaves works untitled, not as an avoidance of intellectual engagement, but as a manifestation of a philosophical view of the work and its “thusness.” To move it into the realm of language and discourse would be to undermine its essential vitality as a material object and ultimately steer the viewer’s engagement with the work. This decision is not due to an avoidance of conceptual purpose, but evidence of a consistent philosophical perspective. (I can hear Ralph laughing.) But it is true, much in the same way his use of humor belies a profound sincerity in his work.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Ralph’s sense of humor runs through much of what he does; it is a consistent perspective he brings with him wherever he is. Where this sense of humor comes from could be seen as a family trait. Ralph’s father’s family was from New York and part of the Russian Jewish community there.

His family was culturally informed and even connected to the performing arts through his father’s cousins. As his family came into the United States the Horwitz family split into two lines, the Harveys and the Howards. Three of the Howard brothers were vaudevillians, and they are part of his memories of visiting his father’s family in New York. Their stage presence may be part of Ralph’s quick wit and love of teaching. Though not entertainment, teaching is still a performance of a kind, and those who have taken Ralph’s classes would attest that his stage presence in the classroom was undeniable.

This sense of humor can be found in various drawings Ralph completed during faculty meetings. These meetings are notorious within academia as being, at best, necessary periods of boredom for the basic ongoing bureaucratic functions of the university. During these meetings Ralph would occupy himself by making drawings, many commenting on the ongoing discussions taking place such as recruitment efforts, enrollment and budget concerns, all presented with a sharp and biting wit. (See examples in Sketchbook excerpts) In “Appendix” Ralph uses the appendix page from a university report to riff on the term, layering pun upon pun on par with any underground comic. (Fig. 8) In the same aforementioned artist’s statement Ralph gives a list of influences ranging from Giotto, Chaim Soutine and Arthur Dove to Ernie Kovacs, Hunter S. Thompson and Soupy Sales.

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Appendix

Humor is key in much of Ralph’s work. Though not listed in these influences, west coast ceramic artist Robert Arneson was known to Ralph, and his brand of humorous Funk, the use of pun, satire and irreverence had an impact on much of Ralph’s representational work.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

As Ralph’s work in glass evolved this humor found outlets in glass with series such as the “Office Set” and his first collaboration in 1979. Ralph and fellow GSW faculty member Dr. Rick Burns, a professor of psychology, each celebrated their mutual passions of glass blowing and fishing. “Fishin’ with Rick and Ralph” emphasized the qualities of hot glass and humor with spontaneous renderings of fish, lures, a flashlight and even hand blown bottles of Miller beer to enjoy after a long day on the water. (Fig. 9) Miller bottles were an early accessible and workable glass used in the GSW glass studio as well as in many other glass studios of the time. It also is an off the cuff send-up of trompe l’oeil and contemporary gestures such as Warhol’s “Brillo Boxes” (1964) and Jasper John’s “Painted Bronze” (1960). The tongue in cheek quality is more connected to Robert Arneson’s “The Chef” (1971) and the irreverent west coast Funk that had a strong influence in the 1970’s rather than Neo Dada or Pop. “Fishin’ with Rick and Ralph” like Arneson’s “The Chef” includes the artist as a component in the work; Arneson as the “Chef” and Ralph in multiple photographs along with Rick Burns as the “fishermen.”

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Glass has a loose, fluid quality and viscous nature that causes it to draw into itself due to its physical properties, resulting in a spherical shape. The heat required to increase its workability results in soft and rounded edges lending itself to the relaxed and “silly” characteristics Ralph liked to exploit. “Fishin’ with Rick and Ralph” is fun and accessible, a real crowd pleaser. But it speaks to the extension of aesthetic experience beyond the object in its form as an installation and even to performative aspects of making, extending to a form of performance as documented through photographs or, as Ralph might say, “Having all manners of fun.” 12 This is an important aspect in the later collaborative works between Ralph and Jerry Hovanec, which at once consistently hit a comical “silly” tone even when the result veers into the tragic.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

(Fig. 10 - 11).

“The Circus” 1982 was the first collaborative work between Ralph and Jerry Hovanec and was as much a pedagogical approach as a resulting work of art. Jerry, Ralph and students, all did preparatory drawings of various standard circus performers, and selections were taken from these drawings to be produced in glass. (Fig. 12) For Ralph the collaboration was a pedagogical tool.

Ralph has distilled his educational philosophy to these fundamental elements: Draw, Think, Draw, Make, Repeat. Within this collaborative event Ralph, Jerry and the students all exemplified this creative process, which was an effective way for students to learn these fundamental creative practices.

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The “Circus” of the object resulted from the “Circus” of the studio connecting both the performative display tradition of blowing glass as something to participate in or to be watched, and influences of west coast Funk that were key to the early development of the studio glass movement. The “Circus” was exhibited multiple times before it was ultimately donated to the children’s oncology wing at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.

“The Circus” was displayed in the waiting room where thousands of children were able to enjoy it and get lost in its imaginative narrative. 13 (Fig. 13) In 1986 Jerry Hovanec returned to Americus, Georgia, to collaborate once more with Ralph, first on a warm up preparatory piece based on children’s literature, then on what could be described as a spectacle. They turned their attention to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, drawing and blowing the forms of various characters in the opera in the midst of the perpetual playing of various

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

interpretations of the piece at full volume through rotating videos. Students along with the artists worked together to produce a strange and remarkable series of pieces that has for the most part been in storage for 29 years until its presentation in this exhibition. 14

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14

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13

These funky, relaxed and fun sensibilities become ironic when engaging a more serious subject. In 1983 Ralph produced an ambitious piece with multiple components that combine in a singular depiction of war. “War” presents the world under a massive cloud form with figures driving tanks shooting cannons, dying and even flying a bombing run with a massive atomic bomb strapped to the plane ready to be deployed. The child-like quality of the handling of “War” contrasts with its serious life-and-death content and in the context of the late Cold War fears of a final apocalyptic destruction of the world. The tragedy of ever repeating wars seems to be imbedded in a child’s imagination or a toy from which successive generations might be indoctrinated to perpetuate conflict and violence forever. But what could be the threat here?

It would be so sweet if it were not at the same time so horrific. (Fig. 14 and 15) Of the pieces from this earlier period in Ralph’s work that combines perfectly his sense of humor with conceptual dimensions are his “20th Century Gaffers Goblets” from 1982. In these pieces we find both a technically demanding work in the form of an inside joke as he bends the various “nuts and bolts” materials of the contemporary studio glass artist into a representation of the medium’s most iconic form, a goblet. 15 (Fig. 16) Ralph’s love of energy, motion and movement are evident in his “Bridges” series, also from 1982, which literally presents motion and energy. The biped arches demand attention and care in the making process as does the timing of the boxing of the work in the annealer at the precise moment to “lock in” form capturing a sense of movement. Here workmanship of risk, using Pye’s phrase is pushed to the extreme, nearly turning the making process into a high wire act.

(Fig. 17 - 18)

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` War

This is material knowledge that comes with a level of care only possible through “Being” and “Presence.” What are the qualities of the material

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` War (detail)

within a variety of conditions? They are alien to me, and my behavior must be given over to the necessities of that material, which demands a level of “Presence” that can’t be compromised. This is the level of knowledge Boggs Pottery brought to Ralph’s understanding of process that academic education could not necessarily provide. Which is to say that merely earning credit and receiving an education will not by definition result in this level of expressive freedom. Knowing or knowledge becomes something lived.

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Bridge

In the late 1980’s as Ralph’s daughter, Sarah, reached college age, his work began to change. He started working more specifically for more marketable galleries. The reader may assume that this means he began making more work that emphasized functionality as a way to connect and be more accessible. At least this would be the stereotypical perspective. Conceptually this had little impact for Ralph as he has been quoted as saying, “Everything I make is a sculpture….

Some are just easier to drink out of.”

This phrase is insightful and is evidence of a consistent conceptual perspective.

Ralph bristles with frustration when issues of art and craft are raised as distinct categories. This quote, in a humorous way, communicates that all 3-Dimentional objects can of course be viewed through an appreciation of sculptural qualities, but at the same time these objects within the context of intention and purpose may have different attributes that arise in their description and how they exist in the world.

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All the work is of a continuous whole, though how we talk about it will vary depending on the characteristics of a given object. It is this type of careful language that can treat each object as a unique work with its own attributes whether or not one actually attempts to drink

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

from the object. Materials, techniques and processes are relatively consistent whether the result ends up on a pedestal or table, but it is impossible to claim that these are identical spaces.

A series that exhibits these attributes in a celebration of material are Ralph’s “Breakers” (1982 – 83). (Fig. 19) These pieces are good examples of the fluid nature of Ralph’s production and how the work develops or evolves over time. What these things are as objects change.

Initially this series started with a “leaner” a sculptural form moving to the side in space which in later pieces became portrait heads as the forms took on anthropomorphic qualities. These “portraits” were of people Ralph knew and are animated by motion and gesture, the energy of its production seen within the energy of their rolling undulating forms. Many of these are clear glass but others incorporate linear color through the addition of cane.

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Cane is colored glass heated then drawn and stretched out into long linear stringlike “cane” that is broken into small sections. These short lines then can be added to glass forms. Ralph considered these linear additions drawings. These drawings take full advantage of the optics of glass.

Jerry Hovanec likes to call these pieces “Break Dancers” because they have figurative qualities and they move in space.

(Fig. 20) Ralph simply called them “Breakers” because of their impact on his back.

Ralph tends to enjoy challenges and especially challenges that are physical… such as riding a bike for long distances, throwing clay or in this case holding 20 plus pounds of molten glass extending from the body attached to the end of a 4 foot punty rod in a 100 degree studio for an hour with no assistance.

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The solitary glassblower is a heroic ideal that many

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

glass artists gravitate towards. The gaffer, or the one in charge of producing the piece, often has at least one assistant traditionally called the “bit boy” who would help by bringing “bits” of hot glass to the gaffer as needed. The “Breakers” were a monumental homage to the material vitality of glass, but also a way to challenge himself and his abilities within the performative context of the studio. This is reinforced by the fact that, on the bottom of each piece, the weight and height of the work is inscribed, much like the weighing and measuring of a trophy fish as it is weighed measured and photographed after it is reeled in at the end of the pole. In this case the “monsters” were pulled in at the end of a punty rod. (Fig. 21) It was only in hindsight that these pieces became “Breakers” due to the physical toll they had on Ralph’s back. The drawings were then shifted to other forms that were thinner and conical, inspired by the waters around Gasparilla Island in Florida south of Sarasota. Pieces from the “Gasparilla Series” are inverted cones layered on the surface with organic shapes and sea inspired color. The deep optics of the “Breakers” became the depth of the water; what is below the surface, the immense active life below what we can see.

As Ralph said about his source inspiration, “…. You can go to Charlotte Harbor. It’s like thirty yards away. And you know, you can go to the Charlotte Harbor side and you can dig a hole in a yard-square area and come up with a five gallon bucket of Quahog Clams in any location and it was like, the reality of the whole thing was way below what you could see. You could imagine what is going on under and that had a huge impact on that whole series.” 16

-PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Breaker

This series became popular with the growing number of market-focused galleries Ralph was working with during this period such as Mindscape in Evanston, Illinois, The Maurine Littleton Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the Signature Shop in Atlanta, Georgia. (Fig. 22) -PN\YL ! 9HSWO /HY]L` Breaker

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

On Easter Sunday in 1990, the priorities and direction of Ralph and Nancy’s life shifted at its core upon hearing that Sarah had been in a car accident while returning from the University of Georgia in Athens where she was a student. Art, the studio, teaching and all that goes with it faded into the distance. Sarah’s injuries left her a quadriplegic and unable to speak. In time she was able to respond to yes and no questions with blinks of the eye and eye movement. “Being” and “Presence” and “Being with another,” the attentiveness, awareness and care all came into the fullness of their meaning. The care, energy and focus of the studio became the skills of caregiving; “Being with Being” in an intimacy that is deeper than language.

In time Ralph returned to the studio through a long and difficult journey. He came with a new recognition of life that exists beyond appearances, that is beyond the grasp of words. What he developed conceptually during this period in his career was an emphasis on the relationship between the interiors and surfaces of the work he produced.

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Glass is a uniquely qualified material to discuss the nature of interiors and surfaces. In three subsequent series, Ralph emphasized the richness of the interior spaces of forms, an area often overlooked and usually unseen. The conceptual intent is clear; there can be a universe inside.

In a series of pieces he has described as “Domes” Ralph continued to challenge himself making complicated forms filled with a variety of visually engaging elements. (Fig. 23) The domes act as vitrines holding within them small cylinders covered with color and small glass objects and “bits”.

In another work titled “The Good Stuff is on the Inside” the viewer gazes inside the form through its surface to see the “good stuff.” It is not easy, it takes effort, but it is where everything is that is worthwhile.

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Ralph brought his great loves together developing pieces he titled “Inside – Outside.” He had often collaborated with Sarah over the years as she was growing up so it was nothing new. Ralph often used

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Sarah’s drawings and her sensibilities would sometimes guide his making of forms. This continued after the accident and was an ongoing source of inspiration.

Having devised a way to direct intention through yes and no response, Ralph would be guided through the process of developing work by her responses. This created a shared space of a developing idea that both participated in constructing. Ralph and Sarah were able to collaborate on drawings or graphic “glyphs” through the use of a harness for her arm by which she could guide the movement of a sharpie. Ralph would then transfer these drawings to colored glass where the drawing would be masked off and the glass sandblasted to reveal the remaining drawing. These sheets or slabs of glass could be rolled up onto bowls or organic forms.

These collaborative works helped keep Sarah with him as he went back into the studio, and whether in the studio or assisting with her care and just being present with her, she was ever the center of his thoughts. (Fig. 24) After his retirement in 2002 Ralph spent less time in the studio after helping Charles Wells transition into his position as Ralph’s replacement. Ralph was able to watch Charles learn as he did “on the job.” Charles’ background was in sculpture, but his ability to build and maintain equipment made him the clear choice. The money saved over the history of the program through the construction of their own equipment is key to the program’s efficiency and also what makes it such a great place to study glass. Students learn to construct all the equipment necessary for glass working.

As Ralph eased into retirement he spent more time with Sarah, fishing, and visiting family rather than making work. His love of fishing lead to tying flies, which became as much of a creative work as any work of fiber or piece of jewelry he had ever made. He was always on the search for the right materials with the perfect physical properties and optics to tie flies whose aesthetic quality would be determined by the purist of critics. He has often been seen with a small box or glasses case that fit easily within his pocket carrying his most recent works.

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

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When Sarah passed away in 2005 Ralph did in time return to the studio and to making. When he did, he came back to clay, the material that had set him on a new journey back in 1973. The series of ceramic works he produced in 2007 are powerful, and tragically beautiful. These thrown and altered stoneware forms originally “untitled” (sometimes titled “Life Dancers”) have evolved as a work from their original intentions when he first made them. (Fig. 25 – 26) Though clearly influenced by the Abstract Expressionist gestural approach of Peter Voulkos and others of his generation, it is imbued with a sublime content. The heroic figurative forms are torqued, torn, damaged, transformed, survive, overcome, elevate and then dance.

The horrific beauty says everything without words. To apply words limits its emotive evocative strength. The work presents a strength, passion and beauty that for Ralph parallels Sarah’s life. Ralph’s recognition and respect of the depth of her inner life and strength to fight on, may be best communicated in these ceramic forms.

(Fig. 27 – 28 - 29) In 2014 Ralph returned to the glass studio and produced a series of glass forms that he has referred to as “potatoes.” Others have responded that they appear to reference the human heart though Ralph refutes this connection as limiting the openness of the viewer’s response and potential alternate interpretations. So they are potatoes. This ongoing series of collected and combined glass forms he calls “Things that Fell from the Sky.” (Fig. 30) They are a combination of pulled glass “cane” both clear and with color, hot glass bits and trails on a torqued and distorted blown glass core. Ralph has commented that these are the culmination of a career’s worth of skills, evolving sensibilities and insights.

Glass by its nature is pretty, and because of that it is a difficult material to make into significant objects that speak to more than just attractive surfaces. But with these forms and the wisdom gathered from a long road travelled, they combine scale with all the things that make Ralph’s work what it is; movement, energy, gesture, guts, randomness, pain and wonder into a wordless sublime.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

His title emphasizes the random, arbitrary nature of things. How things can drop in from nowhere and shock you, and you are forever changed… transformed.

The work without discursive means communicates through embodying these things, it also reveals the grace Ralph has found that silently weaves its way through all these things, pulling them with purpose into unified magnificent whole.

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Words fail. To discuss this work as a sign or signifier in a semiotic system, or in the political matrix of a social construction, would demean both the work and the maker. One can only be ushered by language close enough to the “work” to be able to enter the deeper waters of a lived experience.

Great art will do nothing less.

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Hovanec Collaborations Chapter 3

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

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first met Ralph when he and his glass students came to the Penland School of Crafts in 1981. They brought excitement and fun to the studio. His slide show including his “Office Ma-chines” was incredible.

In 1982 Ralph invited me to GSW as a visiting artist where he, his glass students and I collaborated on “The Hovanec Brother’s & Harvey circus Americanus.” Our Circus was shown in the front window of the Heller Gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City.

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At the time Alexander Calder’s Circus was just a few blocks away at the Whitney Muse-um. In 1985 we donated our Circus to the Children’s Cancer Clinic at the National Institutes of Health.

In 1986 we created what I believe was our best collaborative work, “The Magic Flute.” In the studio we continuously played different adaptations of Mozart’s opera designed by Chagall, Hockney, Bergman and Sendak. We were inspired by details that suited our unique vision which resulted in our own “Magic Flute”.

Ralph is a great artist, a magical catalyst, and the best collaborator. It was an incredible treat for me to work with him and his GSW glass shop students.

Jerry Hovanec

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RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

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Ralph Harvey, A Dedicated Mentor and Artist Chapter 4

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

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alph Harvey is today, and has been for over fifty years, a consummate artist and a dedicated educator. Sixty years ago his art career began with painting and art history. He progressed to ceramics, and later evolved into sculpture and glass blowing.

Harvey gathered from many of the best artists he could find. Absorbing and digesting their strengths, Ralph developed his own original direction! His artwork evolved into a unique and personal style not seen since the 1960s.

There is no single Ralph Harvey genre; his art moves in multiple directions. He selects and develops the best medium for each type of work he produces. His ceramic work is from the earth; powerful and gutsy clay, enhanced with bold brushwork. His glass speaks dramatically of the viscous fluidity inherent in the molten material. Every object - painting, clay or glass is uniquely recognizable as Ralph Harvey art.

Ralph’s decorative motifs convey the classic detailing inherent within each chosen medium. His glass demonstrates the arrested liquidity unique to hot glass. Sixty years experience painting and drawing is clearly evidenced in both Ralph’s brushwork and his bold color juxtapositions, typical of all Ralph Harvey art work.

Harvey’s glasswork has the presence and dynamic punch of the early ceramic sculptures of Pete Voulkos. Action and movement are present in all of Ralph’s art, regardless of the medium. The primitive and dynamic action typical of blown glass made in the 1960s was due to the unskilled techniques that we acquired back then.

But Ralph embraces the loose, expressive action of hot glass because it is a moving liquid. AND he loves it! Random, expressive, powerful, unconstrained, purposeful, dramatic; you see it all in Harvey’s artwork.

Ralph Harvey’s devotion to his students, and their devotion to him, says mountains about his teaching skills and classroom techniques. I have personally witnessed the skillful presentations by Ralph Harvey to his students dating as far back as 1978.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

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Harvey has always gone above and beyond normal university requirements. The best way to measure the quality of a good teacher is to observe the careers and successes of his former students. Many of Ralph’s students are successful artists and have returned to deliver inspiring demonstrations to the Art Department of Georgia Southwestern University.

I think most colleagues have difficulty dealing with the duel positions of educator and artist. Ralph is unique. He never, ever allowed either “profession” to outweigh the other. Each of his career commitments complements and enhances the other. His students know it; I know it.

Ralph Harvey is worthy of the tribute bestowed by this museum. He is most deserving of the public praise and acknowledgement as an artist and as an educator! I am proud to celebrate the life and careers of Ralph Harvey which are demonstrated by this comprehensive retrospective exhibition and accompanying catalogue. Thanks for being here Ralph!

STORY TIME

The first time I came to Americus, Ralph took me to the glass studio outdoors behind an old Georgia Southwestern University building. The equipment was very basic and

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

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rusty, so primitive and homemade; the hot glass we blew then was melted beer bottle scrap. I felt like I had stepped back in time nearly 20 years.

Ralph was so excited because he worked very hard to create a new glass studio for his students. And here was a visiting artist from way up in North Carolina demonstrating skills for everyone. In those days i.e. the 80s, I had gained a reputation as a teacher’s teacher. Ralph watched, studied, and practiced everything I did. He listened to everything I said or suggested. It was inspiring to watch all the light bulbs go on as he began to get it.

During one of my early visits, Ralph Harvey told me about a secret barbecue spot and drove me way out in the country to a small farm. We pulled in the driveway, went around back and parked by an old shed. They were cooking pork barbecue on old army cot bedspring that was stretched over a bed of hickory-wood coals. We ordered our sandwiches, which were served on white Bunny Bread slathered with a killer barbecue sauce. Coleslaw, beans, and corn were on the side with gallons of sweet iced tea.

This is a memory I carry with me forever - thanks pal.

Another story, if I may, happened when Ralph drove up the mountain to take my glass class in North Carolina. We all worked hard in the sweltering August heat. Each day, after my demo, Ralph poured me into his car and we cruised the hills with the Cadillac’s air conditioning on full blast! That kindness saved me from permanent exhaustion.

Ralph is the quintessential people person! He loves his family, his students, his neighbors, and his buddies.

Thankfully, Georgia Southwestern University has recognized Ralph’s dedication by bestowing on him their highest honor: Professor Emeritus. And, of course, Ralph continues to help students working in the glass, metals, and ceramics studios, just as he did when he was the professor. I have seen how the students benefit from his dedicated help.

I realized during my first workshop in Americus that Ralph was a dedicated teacher, and an inspiration to his students. He worked tirelessly to inspire and challenge them. For me, he quickly became more than a colleague. Ralph Harvey is one of my best friends!

Fritz Dreisbach

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Ralph Harvey, Vitae Chapter 5

Tobacco Opal Teabowl 1988

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Ralph Elliot Harvey 1940

Born: Chicago IL

EDUCATION: 1981

Summer Coursework: Glassblowing, East Tennessee State University

1973 – 1974

Studies in Constructive Design: Coursework for MS (Ceramics – Metals), Florida State University

1969 – 1973

Post-Graduate Studies in Junior College Education; Auburn University

1965 – 1967

MFA (Painting – Art History –Studies in Higher Education), Auburn University

1961 1958 – 1962

Studied Baroque Art History, Economics, English and French at New York University BFA (Painting – Art History), University of Iowa

TEACHING: 2008

Professor Emeritus Georgia Southwestern State University, Department of Visual Art

1983 – 2002

Associate Professor of Art, Georgia Southwestern State University Department of Fine Art

1976 – 1982

Assistant Professor of Art, Georgia Southwestern College, Department of Fine Art

1975 – 1976

Resident Artist, Madison County School District, Madison County Alabama, National Endowment for the Arts / Alabama State Council on the Arts and Humanities Artist in Schools Program

1975

Alexander City State Junior College; Extension Program Draper Prison for Men Tutwiler Prison for Women, Wetumpka Alabama

1974 – 1975 1973 1966 – 1973

Instructor of Art and Art Education, Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama Graduate Assistant (Instructor), Florida State University Art Instructor, Alexander City Junior College, Alexander Alabama

SOLO EXHIBITIONS: “Ralph Harvey: A Pre-Retrospective” James Earl Carter Gallery Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus, Georgia (March 2015) Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia (1990) Alabama A & M University, Normal, Alabama (April 1988) Augusta College, Augusta, Georgia; Two-Person Show with Laurel Robinson (September 1983) Capuchin Glass, Inc.,Washington, D. C., Two-Person Show with Jerry Hovanec (December 1982) Custom Interior Design, Albany, Georgia (December 1982) Marylin Wilson Gallery, Birmingham, Alabama (April 1982) “Goin’ Fishin’” (Collaborative with Dr. Rick Burns) Georgia Southwestern State College, Americus, Georgia (January, 1980) Banks-Haley Gallery, Albany, Georgia (December 1978) Columbus College, Columbus, Georgia (November 1978) Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, Two Person Show with Jack Lewis (April 1977) Georgia Southwestern College, Americus, Georgia (October 1976) Artist’s Workshop and Gallery, Huntsville, Alabama (August 1976) Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery Alabama (May 1975) Alabama State University; Montgomery, Alabama (February 1975) Alexander City State Junior College, Alexander City, Alabama (November 1971) -HijHUVRQ *DOOHU\ -HijHUVRQ ,RZD December 1963) Esquire Gallery, Chicago, Illinois (December 1963) New Trier Township High School, Winnetka, Illinois (February 1962)

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

GROUP EXHIBITIONS: Albany Museum of Art, “Southern Fried Glass,” Albany, Georgia (October 2006–January 2007) Tuscumbia Valley Arts Center, “Southern Fried Glass” Tuscumbia, Alabama (July 2006–October 2006) Mary G. Hardin Center for the Arts, “Southern Fried Glass,” Gadsden, Alabama (February 2005–April 2005) Washington Square Art Program, “Figures in Motion” Washington Square, Washington D.C. (November and December, 1992) Elements Gallery, “A Celebration of Color,” Greenwich, Connecticut (November and December, 1990) Mindscape Gallery, “A Gather of Glass,” Evanston, Illinois (October–January 1989) 3DXO /XVWHU *DOOHU\ ŗ5HIJHFWLRQV Ř 6DQ )UDQFLVFR &DOLIRUQLD September 1989) Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association, “The Great Goblet Show,” The Athenaeum, Alexandria, Virginia (September 1989) Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, “Artists of the South, Georgia/North Florida,” Tifton, Georgia (April 1989) LaGrange College, “LaGrange National XIV,” Lamar Dodd Art Center, Lagrange, Georgia (February 1989) The Signature Shop, Atlanta, Georgia (June 1988) Foundry Gallery “Erasing the Lines: The Crafts as Fine Art/The Fine Art in Crafts,” Washington, D.C. (August 1987) Glasshouse Art Glass “One of a Kind Art Glass Goblet Show,” Seattle, Washington (November 1986) Southern Arts Federation “Southern Studio Glass,” Traveling Exhibition (September 1985–September 1986) -Masur Museum, Monroe, Louisiana -North Carolina University Craft Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina -Polk Public Museum, Lakeland, Florida -Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Belleair, Florida -University of Montevello, Montevello, Alabama -D. D. Patty Museum, Columbus, Mississippi -Bloomingdale Park District, Bloomingdale, Illinois -Historic Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania -Chattahoochee Valley Art Association, LaGrange, Georgia Anniston Museum of Natural History, Anniston, Alabama (November 1982) Romany Kramoris Gallery, Sag Habor, New York (November 1982) Georgia Southwestern College, “Hovanec Brothers and Harvey Circus Americanus” Americus, Georgia (October 1982) Touch of Glass Gallery, Decatur, Georgia (May 1982) Touch of Glass Gallery, “National Glass 1981,” Decatur, Georgia (November 1981) Toni Birkhead Gallery, “Knick Knack Show,” Cincinnati, Ohio (November 1981) Courtyard Gallery, “Ralph Harvey Featured Artist,” Birmingham, Alabama (November 1980) Bradley Museum, “Georgia Southwestern Faculty Art Show,” Columbus, Georgia (March 1980) Touch of Glass Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia (December 1979) New Point Station, “Christmas Show,” Americus, Georgia (December 1978, 79) Courtyard Gallery / Marylin Wilson Gallery, “Christmas Show,” Birmingham, Alabama (November 1978, 79, 80, 81, 82) Artist’s Workshop and Gallery, “Six Regional Craftsmen,” Huntsville, Alabama (October 1977) Alabama State University, “Faculty Art Show,” Montgomery, Alabama (October 1975) Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida (March 1974) Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida (November 1973) Adele Rosenberg Gallery, Chicago, Illinois (June 1962) Gallery R.J., New York, New York (November 1961) Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa (March 1960)

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Timeline of GSW Studio Glass Chapter 5

Cane Teabowl 2013

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

TIMELINE OF GSW STUDIO GLASS 1962 0DUFK DQG -XQH +DUYH\ /LWWOHWRQ RUJDQL]HV WKH ıUVW VWXGLR JODVV workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art. 1963-University of Wisconsin, Madison, Harvey Littleton establishes Art 176 D *UDGXDWH OHYHO JODVV FRXUVH &RQVLGHUHG WR EH WKH ıUVW 8QLYHUVLW\ DFFUHGLWHG glass course in the United States) 1969 &DUWHU 0F&DijUH\ LV KLUHG WR WHDFK Dimensional media. (Fig. 1) 1971-(April 5-7) First Glass Art Society (GAS) meeting

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at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland North Carolina (1st poster by Fritz Dreisbach) &DUWHU 0F&DijUH\ HVWDEOLVKHV WKH JODVV VWXGLR LQFOXGLQJ *ODVV WDQN DQQHDOHU glory hole, marver and tools. Continues ongoing experimentation with glass processes.

- Jerry Chappelle leads a glass and Raku workshop.

1972- Jerry Chappelle leads glassblowing and Raku workshops. New furnace built with a 100 pound tank, designed by Jerry Chappelle. (Fig. 2) -PN ! 1LYY` *OHWWLSSL NSHZZ ^VYRZOVW -George Thiewes glass workshop.

1973 $UW *ODVVEORZLQJ *ODVV FRXUVH ıUVW RijHUHG IRU FUHGLW 'HVFULEHG LQ the course catalog as “Three-dimensional aspects of glass as a transparent to VHPL RSDTXH IJXLG KRW H[SUHVVLYH PHGLXP Ř &DUWHU 0F&DijUH\ EXLOGV D SRUWDEOH WDQN DQG annealer and demonstrates glass blowing at the Piedmont Art Festival in Atlanta Georgia.

-PN ! *HY[LY 4J*HɈYL` ^VYRPUN in the Crawford Wheatley Hall NSHZZ Z[\KPV JPYJH

(Fig. 3)

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

*HRUJLD 6RXWKZHVWHUQ &ROOHJH OLVWHG LQ *ODVV $UW 0DJD]LQHŖV ıUVW ŗ*XLGH WR *ODVV ,QVWUXFWLRQŘ DV RQH RI LQVWLWXWLRQV RijHULQJ JODVV HGXFDWLRQ LQ WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV &DUWHU 0F&DijUH\ LV LGHQWLıHG DV WKH LQVWUXFWRU 1973- Shigeko Sato Walton an artist trained in glass is hired as an Instructor of Art but takes another teaching position the following year.

1974 )UHG )UHHPDQ D IRUPHU VWXGHQW RI &DUWHU 0F&DijUH\ ZKR DWWHQGHG -HUU\ &KDSSHOOHŖV ZRUNVKRS DQG KHOSHG EXLOG WKH VFKRROŖV ıUVW IXUQDFH LV KLUHG WR WHDFK JODVVEORZLQJ ZKLOH DQ RĴFLDO VHDUFK LV FRPSOHWHG WR ıOO WKLV IDFXOW\ -PN ! -YLK -YLLTHU circa 1974 position. (Fig. 4) 1976- Ralph Harvey hired as Professor of Painting, Art History and Glassblowing. Harvey with a background in ceramics “sneaks” in early to teach himself glassblowing. (Fig. 5) -PN ! 9HSWO /HY]L` 1977 Furnace rebuilt by Ralph Harvey and Kirby Gregory based on the furnace at Penland and photographs of Harvey Littleton’s studio. They constructed a 75-pound tank an 8-pot hot color

-PN ! 9HSWO Harvey and 2PYI` .YLNVY` PU the Wheatley Hall V\[KVVY NSHZZ studio. Circa 1977

furnace and an annealer from a 55 gallon drum. The annealer was cooled by opening the door slowly every two hours in stages DFFRUGLQJ WR QRWFKHV VHW DW VSHFLıF increments. (Fig. 6) - Craig Bryson, visiting artist workshop.

- Rob Levine, visiting artist workshop.

1978- Fuel crisis threatens the glass program. Dr. Iris Argo, Dean of English and Humanities would “take a drag of her cigarette and tell the administrators that they would terminate the glass program over her dead body!” Tanks were reduced from 75 pound to 50 pound tanks. (Fig. 7) -PN ! +Y 0YPZ (YNV

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

)ULW] 'UHLVEDFK :RUNVKRS 7KH ıUVW RI ZRUNVKRSV Fritz provided the GSW students, faculty and community. Other workshops were held in 1980, 1982, 1988, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004 -PN ! 9HSWO /HY]L` ¸-YP[a >VYRZ )PN¹ KYH^PUN \ZLK [V WYVTV[L -YP[a +YLPZIHJO»Z ^VYRZOVW

and 2011. Ralph Harvey and Jack Lewis have quoted Fred Freeman as stating about Fritz, “You just tell him you have a pig for him to cook and he’ll come down for nothing.” (Fig. 8) 1979- “Glass 79” New Glass: A Worldwide Survey; Exhibition of 273 objects from 28 countries at the Corning Museum of Art Ralph Harvey runs an advertisement in the Glass Art Society Journal to promote the GSW glass program. (Fig. 9) 1980- Ralph Harvey and Ken Runyan rebuild the studio with a 300 lb “Billy” furnace a new glory hole and a 55 gallon

-PN ! 9HSWO Harvey, photo JVSSHNL KYH^PUN HUK ?LYV_ 7VZ[LY [V W\ISPJPaL ]PZP[PUN HY[PZ[ 1LYY` /V]HULJ and their “Circus” collaboration. 1982

drum annealer. A “Billy” furnace is named after “Billy Bernstein of Celo, North Carolina to become the role-model for many Eastern glass studios (footnote)”. Fritz Dreisbach correspondence

-PN ! 9HSWO /HY]L` produced this HK]LY[PZLTLU[ [V Y\U PU the Glass Arts Society 1V\YUHS PU

- Ralph Harvey built a portable glass furnace made from a Johnson gas IRUJH WR XVH DW WKH ŗ/RYH $ijDLU ZLWK WKH $UWVŘ HYHQW LQ 7LIWRQ *HRUJLD 1981 'U &OLIWRQ 3HDUVRQ YLVLWLQJ DUWLVW ZRUNVKRS 7KH ıUVW RI several workshops to be given by Dr. Pearson.

1982- Ralph Harvey and Jerry Hovanec collaboration. “The Hovanec Brothers and Harvey Circus Americanus” (Fig. 10) - Glass studio is moved from Crawford Weatley Hall where it began in 1971 to a new facility where it now currently resides in the Fine Arts Building. Two new annealers were built one out of a Norge chest freezer and others from 55 Gallon drums and other salvaged material. A new glory hole was built and Jesse Durham built an additional

-PN ! 9HSWO /HY]L` NH[OLYPUN NSHZZ PU [OL UL^ -PUL (Y[Z )\PSKPUN NSHZZ Z[\KPV The new studio was opened in 1982.

JDijHUŖV EHQFK )LJ +DQN 0XUWD $GDPV YLVLWLQJ artist workshop. Paul Bendzunas, visiting artist workshop.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

1985- Bernie D’Onofrio, visiting artist workshop. “Flatten it with Bernie” Flat glass workshop.

1986- Ralph Harvey and Jerry Hovanec collaboration. “Children’s Literature” and “The Magic Flute” 1988- Carl Powell, visiting artist workshop.

1990- Robin Winters, temporary instructor for three months.

- Chris Dingwell teaches 3D and Glass (1990 – 1991) 1994- Matt Janke, visiting artist. “Glass Casting Workshop” (Fig. 12)

-PN ! 4H[[ 1HURL >VYRZOVW" ¹.SHZZ *HZ[PUN >VYRZOVW¹ KYH^PUN I` Ralph Harvey

William Morris, visiting artist workshop.

1996- Georgia Southwestern State College becomes Georgia Southwestern State University 1998- Chuck Sorrels and Tracy Peabody, visiting artists workshop.

1999- Mobile glass studio built by students Phil Taylor and Chris Fiertner. Later purchased by student Kelly Robertson who worked with fellow student Jeremy Alford as Calvary Glass providing workshops and demonstrations in Georgia and Alabama.

Wayne Harjula, visiting artist workshop.

2001- Rich Fizer, visiting artist workshop 2002 (Spring)- Ralph Harvey Retires after 26 years teaching at Georgia Southwestern.

2002 (Fall)- Charles Wells is hired to teach 3 Dimensional Art and becomes the new professor of Glass. Charles Wells is hired with a Sculpture background and like Harvey learns glass while on the job. (Fig. 13)

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

-PN ! *OHYSLZ Wells was hired in 2002 to teach +PTLUZPVUHS TLKPH HUK NSHZZ of course.

Southern Fried Glass Price List 2003- Charles Wells and Phil Taylor rebuild the studio furnace.

2005- Jack Wax Workshop and Exhibition: Bit-Building as a hot glass-working process.

Southern Fried Glass Exhibition: Organized by Kelly Robertson a GSW Glass alum featuring Ralph Harvey, Charles Wells and GSW glass alumni. This exhibition

1) Tadashi Torii, Bird Plate, $1500 2) Kelly Robertson, Foxy Lady More pieces are available for 3) Chris Fiertner, Untitled, $1500 purchase in the glass display 4) Chris Fiertner, Untitled cases located outside of the exhibit hall 5) Tadashi Torii, Sazukari 6) Tadashi Torii, Ten 7) Tadashi Torii, Shukui 8) Charles Wells, Self Portrait #1, $300 9) Charles Wells, Self Portrait #2, $300 10) Chris Fiertner, Embraced Form #3, $700 11) Kelly Robertson, Wilendorf Martini 12) Charles Wells, Self Portrait #3, $300 13) Chris Fiertner, Embraced Slug #4, $500 14) Jeremy Alford, Torso Study, $200 15) Kelly Robertson, Hot Carrot, $300 16) Chris Fiertner, Embraced Form #2, $600 17) Kelly Robertson, If Carrots Could Talk, $300 18) Kelly Robertson, Martini With Attitude 19) Ralph Harvey, Untitled 20) Tadashi Torii, Megumi (Giving), $2,200 21) Ralph Harvey, Untitled 22) Jeremy Alford, Untitled, $1,200 23) Chris Fiertner, De-evolution of the Platter #3, $900 24) J. LeAnne Wilbanks, What Was Comfortable and Complete, $200 25) Chris F ertner, De-evolution of the Platter #2, $900 26) Chris Fiertner, Embraced Slug #3, $500 27 - 32) Jeremy Alford, Expiate, $200 each 33) Kelly Robertson, Hot Lips, $500 34) Jeremy Alford, Tooth Fairy, Pine Box #1, $350 35) Jeremy Alford, Bare Bones, Pine Box #2, $400 36) Kelly Robertson, Timeless, $1500

travelled to three venues in Alabama and Georgia in 2005 -PN ! -\YUHJL I\PSKPUN JSHZZ H[ 2^HTL 5RY\THO <UP]LYZP[` VM :JPLUJL HUK ;LJOUVSVN` 25<:; [H\NO[ I` *OYPZ -PLY[ULY PU 1\UL VM -YVT SLM[ [V YPNO[" 9VILY[ /\ILY 7YVMLZZVY VM (Y[ )SHJRI\YU *VSSLNL 1LYLT` (SMVYK 1VOU 3PU *OYPZ -PLY[ULY +L]VU 2LZ[VY *LYHTPJZ *OHPY H[ 25<:; 1VL 5ZPHO

and 2006. (Fig. 14) 2010- Chris Fiertner a graduate from GSW with his MFA from Tulane University heads a team of students to Kumasi Ghana, West

The Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts presents...

SFG Southern Fried Glass

An Exhibit of American Studio Glass March 7 - April 29, 2005 Funded in part by

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$IULFD LQ DQ HijRUW WR VXSSRUW WKH FHUDPLFV program at Kwame Nkrumah University of 6FLHQFH DQG 7HFKQRORJ\ GHYHORS LWV ıUVW JODVV VWXGLR )LJ - Charles Wells rebuilds studio furnaces.

2012- Sam Cornman, visiting artist workshop.

Zack Wickham, visiting artist workshop.

Phil Vinson, visiting artist workshop.

2013- Peter Secrest, visiting artist workshop.

-PN ! *OHYSLZ >LSSZ HUK Phil Vinson at the 2015 Glass Art Society (GAS) JVUMLYLUJL PU :HU +PLNV California. Photo courtesy VM 4VIPSL .SHZZISV^PUN studios, LLC

2014 *ODVV FODVVHV DUH RijHUHG WR WKH $PHULFXV FRPPXQLW\ WKURXJK WKH Americus Center for the Arts sponsored by the Americus Sumter County Arts Council. Classes are taught by GSW glass student and studio technician Phil Vinson using a mobile glass studio built at GSW. - Eoin Breadon, visiting artist workshop.

2015- Charles Wells and GSW glass technician Phil Vinson start “Mobile Glassblowing Studios, //&Ř GHYHORSLQJ D SRUWDEOH PRUH HĴFLHQW IXUQDFH system. They exhibit with the technical vendors at the Glass Arts Society Conference in San Jose, California. (Fig. 16) - John Shoemaker, visiting artist workshop.

- Elise Betrus, visiting artist workshop.

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- Jim Wilbat, visiting artist workshop. (Fig. 17)

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

The Alabama State Council on the Arts

Alumni Work

A Collection of Works by Harvey’s Students

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Jeremy Alford (1979-2015) Jeremy Alford, a Georgia native, began studying glass under his mentor, Ralph Harvey, in 1998. He earned his BFA in glass from Georgia Southwestern State University in 2005 and went on to study glass sculpting at the Penland School of Crafts. He spent 5 years as co-owner of a superb mobile glass studio and a few more assisting others with their own artistic endeavors. Although his love of the medium took him to such varied places as New York, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and Africa, he primarily split his time between assisting in the hot shop at Georgia Southwestern and teaching classes at Atlanta Hot Glass.

The overwhelming theme in his body of work is the fragility of life and the visceral experience of being mortal. He examined the experience of living within an impermanent body. “He also likes kickball…

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GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Jesse Durham Jesse Durham earned his BA in Fine Art Cum Laude in 1983 at GSW where he focused on glass. He has also studied at the Penland School of Crafts and was Fritz Dreisbach’s assistant at Penland in the spring of 1981 and 1982. Durham has also worked at the Corcoran Glassworks in Troutdale, Oregon, and most recently at Firehouse Glass in Vancouver, Washington. Currently, he is working from his new home studio on a prototype portable furnace system built by Phil Vinson. In January 2014, he returned to GSW to produce and exhibit a body of work with some pieces assisted in the studio by Ralph Harvey.

Ralph Glass and Learning a Life Well Lived 1) “Keep it hot and keep it centered.”

2) “Turn it at the rate it is falling.” ŗ(DV\ RQ HDV\ Rij ZKHQ XVLQJ \RXU WRROV Ř 4) “Apply pressure at an even rate.”

5) “Once you get an idea repeat it 100 times and you may get it right.”

6) “Make sure you know which end of the pipe is hot.”

7) “Organize your tools before you start.”

8) “Make sure you keep the water in your bucket clean.”

9) “Have a plan in mind before you start.”

10) “If I lean on you it means I care, If I don’t then you have something to worry about.”

11) “If the door doesn’t open well, don’t force it, ıJXUH RXW ZKDWŖV ZURQJ DQG ı[ LW Ř 12) “Make sure you clean up after yourself each day; nobody wants to deal with your mess.”

I feel lucky that I was able to spend 5 years with Ralph in the studio at GSW. Many people have been instrumental in my life, but none more so than my parents, grandparents, my wife Kirsten, and Ralph Harvey. He took the foundation my parents built and gave me tools I could use as a person to lead a meaningful and rewarding life. I am very thankful that he was part of my development and that I can count him as a friend now. I love him more than words can express.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Chris Fiertner Chris Fiertner earned a Master of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in glass from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. His work has been exhibited throughout the Southeast including the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans for the 2004 Glass Art Society Conference and again at the 2006 conference in the exhibition “Six Feet Under” at Art Dimension in St. Louis. He has taught at Tulane University, Georgia Southwestern State University and the New Orleans School of Glassworks. Chris also has worked as a studio technician at Tulane University and the New Orleans School of Glassworks and as a glass studio fabricator for Wet Dog Glass in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ralph Aside from being a great instructor, Ralph Harvey has to be the most unique individual I know. His driving attitude, quirky insight, and his innate ability to relate complex technical information to a new student round out only a few of the traits I admire about him. His skills as an artist and an instructor helped to form my artistic sensibilities and my approach to handling glass, metal and ZRRG )URP P\ ıUVW FODVVHV ZLWK KLP DW *6: XS to now, Ralph has been an insightful mentor for whom I will always remain grateful.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Rich Fizer Rich Fizer received his BFA in Glass from Georgia Southwestern State University in 1993 under the tutelage of Ralph Harvey, and his MFA in Glass from Bowling Green State University in 1995. Fizers’ XQLTXH FRPELQDWLRQ RI YLEUDQW FRORUV DQG ODUJH IJXLG shapes has become his trademark. The molten glass becomes controlled chaos in the hands of this contemporary artist’s work. Staying on the cutting edge of the American Glass Movement, Fizer continuously challenges himself while experimenting with his “larger than life” organic style of working ZLWK WKLV KRW PHGLXP +H ZDV DPRQJ WKH ıUVW glassblowers to ever use tin snips to cut and manipulate a 2200 degree gather of molten glass.

From 1995 to the present, Fizer has maintained a KRW JODVV VWXGLR LQ VRXWKZHVW )ORULGD FUHDWLQJ ıQH DUW glass that is collected around the world.

Ralph There are unusual people in the world and if you are lucky enough to spend time with them, they can change your life forever. Ralph Harvey is one of these people. Ralph started as my teacher in 1989 and became my mentor and my life-long friend.

He taught me the basics of craftsmanship and ethics. I learned through his examples as well as his excitement and frustration with the medium. He taught me how to manipulate the glass while looking IRU WKH TXDOLWLHV WKDW WKH PROWHQ JODVV KDG WR RijHU Through demonstrations, conversations, critiques, and experimentation, Ralph encouraged my thoughts and allowed me to manifest these random ideas into glass art. He allowed me to develop my own style and technique through success and failure, which in turn allowed me to become the artist that I am today.

I thank Ralph Harvey for teaching me how to blow JODVV KRZ WR FRRN ıVK DQG PHDW DQG KRZ WR HQMR\ DOO WKH OLWWOH WKLQJV WKDW OLIH KDV WR RijHU

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Frederick (Fred) Freeman (1943-2013) Fred Freeman was instrumental in developing the GSW Glass program. He was there at the beginning when Carter McCaffrey first built a furnace. When the course was left without an instructor, Fred stepped in and taught the course until Ralph Harvey was hired. During the crazy tourist days of the Carter Presidency, Fred maintained a glass studio that became a must-see for those making the pilgrimage to Plains Georgia.

In remembering Fred, Ralph Harvey stated, “My impression of Fred was a man with child-like enthusiasm and impeccable taste.

Fred demonstrated to me the fun and the joy of the glass-blowing process. When I once looked back at some old glass of mine, and was telling Fred how bad it was, his comment was, “Yeah, but you had fun doing, didn’t you?” That was Fred.”

¸=\S[\YL 9VVZ[LK 6U >PUKL_ )V[[SL /LSPJVW[LY >P[O ) 4 > 4V[VYJ`JSL ,UNPUL PU H ;YLL¹ ¹ [HSS THKL ^P[O YLJ`JSLK 4PSSLY ILLY IV[[SL NSHZZ 2PYI` .YLNVY` IP[ IV` -YLK [YHKLK P[ MVY 9HSWO»Z “Tennis Shoe Teapot”.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Kirby Gregory In recent years Kirby Gregory has been involved with “Project Impact” in Apalachicola Florida after school and summer programs teaching pottery to children ages K – 8th grade. Gregory has been active with the Albany Area Arts Council and has participated various exhibitions throughout the southeast.

He has participated in “Fired Works” a regional ceramics exhibition in Macon Georgia where he has also led ceramic workshops. Gregory has also led workshops building Raku kilns and 5DNX ıULQJ DW WKH %RZHU\ $UW *DOOHU\ LQ Apalachicola Florida.

Ralph Whether he intended it or not, the way he OLYHV FUHDWHV ŗVWXijŘ DQG KRZ KH UHDFWV WR RWKHUSHRSOHŖV ŗVWXijŘ KDV LQIJXHQFHG PH since the day I met him.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Zachary Herrmann Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1977, Zachary Herrmann earned a BFA from Georgia Southwestern State University and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

He currently lives and works in Boston, MA. Ralph Ralph Harvey’s spirit in making has had an incredible impact on my own practice.

The time that I’ve been privileged to spend as his student has been invaluable. Ralph has an intense understanding of material, both in a technical and a visceral way. That understanding allows Ralph to fully and FRPSOHWHO\ UHVSHFW DQG GHıOH VRPHWLPHV simultaneously, the media being acted upon.

It may be that the space between those

verbs is where his magic is done. This is something which, when witnessed, given interest, is almost impossible not to have a desire to emulate.

Ralph is a creative force. Through the broadness of his modes of expression, students gain insight to an expansiveness of potential that was before unknown to them.

He is supremely caring and engaged.

Ralph experiences real emotion during the act of making and that comes to the viewer through the object with minimal disturbance.

The result is a pure translation to the viewer of what happens during the act, the relationship between maker and object. This clarity is a talent with which Ralph inspires.

It is something that is taught by its presence rather than by being the subject of a lesson.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Kelly Robertson Kelly Robertson began working with glass in 1999 while attending Georgia Southwestern State University. Over WKH ODVW ıIWHHQ \HDUV KH JUDGXDWHG IURP GSW with a BFA in Glassblowing, studied at Penland, Corning, ran a mobile glass studio, and exhibited his work across Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. In addition to making work, Kelly has taught workshops using his mobile studio as well as classes at Delta State University and Georgia State University. The highlight of his carrier thus far is collaborating with many of his fellow GSW glassblowers in the Southern Fried Glass exhibitions.

Ralph “It is hard to describe exactly what Ralph means to my life. He has been a teacher, mentor, and an icon to me. Ralph’s intensity and energy DijHFWHG PH PRVW RI DOO +LV SOD\IXO approach to making glass has had a major impact on me. My favorite memory of Ralph was right before Christmas break about a year after I started blowing glass. He and I spent a morning making juice cups. I spent WKH ıUVW SDUW RI WKH PRUQLQJ ZDWFKLQJ every move he made, so that I could try to do the same. I believe it was that morning when I truly started to become a glassblower.”

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Miyuki Shinkai Miyuki Shinkai came to North America from Japan, and found that expressing herself through art helped her overcome language and cultural barriers. Art has always been the ultimate form of communication for her to interact with and engage society.

Miyuki earned a BA in English and Comparative Culture at Kansai University of Foreign Studies in Osaka, Japan and then continued her studies in Hawaii, California, and Vermont, later earning an MA in Social Administration at Georgia Southwestern State University with a minor in Glass in 1994.

Shinkai has also studied at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. Her husband and fellow artist Wayne Harjula owns and operates a glass blowing studio in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast, Canada. They have recently developed an approach to recycling glass to encourage sustainable glass production PDNLQJ LW PRUH DijRUGDEOH DQG DFFHVVLEOH Miyuki’s passion is the connection she has with her community through teaching and exhibiting art.

Ralph 5DOSK ZDV GHıQLWHO\ WKH SHUVRQ ZKR LJQLWHG my glass blowing passion. The Glass Blowing program at GSW was where my journey in glass started. I had no idea such a destiny was laid out for me when I walked into the Fine Art department during my Masters studies in Social Administration from 19921994. Ralph taught us many styles and techniques and even arranged for us to assist the internationally acclaimed glass artist, William Morris, during his exhibition at the Albany Museum in1994. This experience led me to Pilchuck Glass School in Washington where we eventually had the opportunity to work at the Dale Chihuly Studio in Seattle.

There are always deeper friendships and learning in the GSW glass studio, a lot of laughter, tears, and excitement when Ralph is around. Most of all, what he really taught me was that my work has to stay truthful; to speak myself and keep pushing my boundaries. He taught us to stay who we are and get to know ourselves better every day. That is our work in this life and always will be.

Thank you, Ralph, for being a great mentor to us.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Charles Sorrels Charles Sorrels’ journey as an artist began during the fall of 1979 at Georgia Southwestern State University. Though he was awarded a BFA in Commercial Art, it was the classes in JODVVEORZLQJ WKDW VSDUNHG KLV FUHDWLYH IJRZ In the summer of 1986, he attended a Glass Concentration at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Island in Maine. That fall, Sorrels entered Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of American Craftsmen and was RijHUHG RQH RI WZR KLJKO\ FRYHWHG WHDFKLQJ assistantships in Glass. He graduated from R.I.T. in 1987, Cum Laude, with a Master of Fine Arts.

Upon completing his MFA, Sorrels established a private cooperative studio while apprenticing in the studios of glass blowing talents Leon Applebaum, Bill Glasner and Pete Seacrest. In 6RUUHOV EXLOW KLV ıUVW VROR VWXGLR LQ $OIUHG New York, and today continues in the tradition of independent glass artists, working in his own studio in Carversville, PA. After more than a 25 year career, a considerable body of work, participating in group and one-man shows and building a VLJQLıFDQW UHSXWDWLRQ QDWLRQDOO\ LW LV VWLOO KLV sophisticated palette and unique approach to form that distinguish his designs.

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Ralph Not a day in the past 30+ years of my life has gone by without using a Ralph’ism… for instance, “Beauty is beauty, no matter how ugly,” or “The worse piece you ever make could be a start,” or “The need to create always exceeds the limits perceived.” It goes on and on.

I don’t remember Ralph as just my teacher, but more as the instigator who pushed my thought processes further and encouraged a broader and deeper way of thinking.

I have no idea the amount of skill it takes to get a student to think - not just to learn - to think. The acquisition of

knowledge in any of Ralph’s classes was expected, and the use of this information in the pursuit of one’s own voice was required. All that we learned was to be used, broken, reconstructed and exploited for our own purposes. He taught us to embrace failure as much as success and that in the process of creating, lie the answers as well as the questions.

Teacher/ Mentor - though I‘m not sure that covers it.

Ralph’s strong suit is loving art to the extent that he’s devoted his life to helping many of us develop the means WR WKLQN DV DUWLVWV DQG WR ıQG RXU RZQ SHUVRQDO RHXYUH Ralph’s pretty good at that.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Phillip Taylor Since completing his BFA degree at Georgia Southwestern State University in 2001, Phil has exhibited throughout the Southeastern United States, including exhibitions at the University of Tennessee at Martin, The Cultural Center in Thomasville, Georgia, and the Colquitt County Arts Center in Moultrie, Georgia. Phil has also been the Continuing Education Instructor and Studio Technician for the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Currently Phil is a Direct Care Professional and Art and Recreation Director for the United Cerebral Palsy of Cincinnati (Stepping Stones Inc.). He is also the Studio Technician and an Instructor at Funke Fired Clay in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ralph Ralph has inspired me to be a better cook, person, artist, and teacher. Under his instruction I learned that art can be playful yet still get ideas across to the viewer. I remember many times having the night slot at the studio and have him drive up in his Chevy van to check out what is going on in the studio. He would walk up and help us out or just watch us work together.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Tadashi Torii After moving to the United States in the late eighties, Japanese native Tadashi Torii’s life changed when he realized he had found his true calling in art.

He graduated from Georgia Southwestern State University with his BFA in glassblowing/sculpture in 1997.

Over the past 20 years, Tadashi has created his own unique body of work inspired in part by his heritage, nature, and the human experience. Glass gives Tadashi the opportunity to express his inner most thoughts and emotions. His works have won numerous awards and can be found in many private collections and museums throughout the southeast including the Tennessee State University Museum.

Presently, Tadashi creates his art at Glasbläserei in Hamelin, Germany.

Ralph Ralph isn’t just a mentor, he is a friend, but he always knows when to be one or the other.

Ralph has always been there for me and always encouraged me in all aspects of my education and in a way we are more like an extended family, the glass blowing majors and Ralph. I feel that if it were not for Ralph Harvey, I never would have had the guts to keep pushing my artistic ideas and exhibit my art and go on to win various awards and recognition. I also don’t think I would have been skilled enough to assist various worldly renowned artists, or teach children, students, and professors.

The foundations that I learned from Ralph have let me improve my art and venture out into the art world and I have started to make a name for myself by getting representation in galleries across the country.

I trust that everyone knows Ralph as a great, extraordinary, wonderful mentor as I do. As long as I have the desire to create art I will always have Ralph Harvey to thank, to inspire and support me.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

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RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Acknowledgments It has been a privilege to bring attention to Ralph Harvey’s career and his place in an overlooked aspect of the American studio JODVV PRYHPHQW &KDQQHOV IJRZ LQ UDWKHU predictable directions when it comes to critical attention and the writing of art history.

There is a feeling that the game is rigged. , KRSH WKLV MRLQW HijRUW ZLOO LQ VRPH VPDOO way bring attention to what is a unique and remarkable history of studio glass education in the rural south. The credit goes to Ralph Harvey who, with ingenuity and a sense of humor, guided this hidden gem of a program through the years, further nourishing what &DUWHU 0F&DijUH\ DQG -HUU\ &KDSSHOOH EHJDQ in 1971.

Many people have helped with this project beginning with Nick Nelson, former Director of the Albany Museum of Art and QRZ FXUUHQW 'LUHFWRU RI WKH 6SULQJıHOG $UW 0XVHXP LQ 6SULQJıHOG 0LVVRXUL ,W ZDV in conversations with Nick and current Georgia Southwestern State University’s glass professor Charles Wells that this project took shape. Laurel Robinson, Chair of the Department of Visual Art at GSW, was an early and strong supporter of the HijRUW DQG PDQ\ VWXGHQWV KDYH LQYHVWHG WLPH and energy doing research and gathering interviews and information. Nichole Musser started the initial research in an independent study art history course and laid the foundation for the work that followed. Thanks should also go to Kayleigh Goodwin who was instrumental in organizing material, recorded interviews and made preparations for grant applications. Phil Vinson, Amanda Chapman, Juliann Ewing and Caitlin Segroves helped with exhibition preparation and archiving materials. Thanks also to Nancy Harvey for facilitating communication during the process and thanks to Cori Lyman-Barner and Suzanne Regalado who took the time to read and edit the text.

We appreciate the Albany Museum of Art and Director Paula Williams for providing a YHQXH IRU WKLV H[KLELWLRQ DQG WKH HijRUWV RI WKH PXVHXP VWDij VSHFLıFDOO\ .DWLH 'LOODUG DQG Jordan Walker.

6SHFLDO WKDQNV WR 'DYLG *ULĴQ 'LUHFWRU RI Collections and Exhibitions at the AMA, who did much “heavy lifting” in a variety of ways during the development of this exhibition. :LWKRXW KLV HijRUW WKLV SURMHFW ZRXOG KDYH been impossible. Thanks to Fritz Dreisbach and Jerry Hovanec for providing their memories, pictures and materials that make XS D VLJQLıFDQW SRUWLRQ RI WKLV FDWDORJ DQG Howard Risatti for his generosity and his contribution to this catalog.

Special thanks also goes to the GSW administration who so willingly supported WKLV SURMHFW VSHFLıFDOO\ 'U .HOO\ 0F&R\ Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Charles Patterson, Interim President at Georgia Southwestern State University. , ZRXOG DOVR OLNH WR RijHU P\ KHDUWIHOW appreciation to the Center for Craft Creativity and Design in Asheville North Carolina for providing support early on in this project and understanding the importance of recording this history. Thanks also to the Americus and Sumter County Arts Council for providing a grant in support of this publication.

Above all thank you to my wife, Stephanie, and our children, Ian and Maya, for their patience, understanding and support and for teaching me from whom I learn the most important things.

Keaton Wynn

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

Contributor Biographies Fritz Dreisbach )ULW] 'UHLVEDFK D VLJQLıFDQW SUHVHQFH RQ the Seattle glass scene, lives and works on Whidbey Island in his new glass studio in Freeland, Washington. He was selected to receive the 2015 Brychtová/Libenský Award from Pilchuck to acknowledge both careers: artistic and pedagogic. As an independent artist, he is developing a new series of wheelcarved and cameo-cut glasses, in addition to his singular show pieces: playful goblets, trick glasses, toy vehicles, and “Mongos.”

Combining his two loves of glass and travel, Fritz continues to make art, consult for glass factories, teach workshops, and present lectures around the world.

Coined the “Johnny Appleseed of Glass” by his peers, Fritz has presented hundreds of lectures and demonstrations in over 180 institutions the past 50+ years in North America, Europe and Asia. In 2002, Amsterdam, the Glass Art Society presented Dreisbach its highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his “unique and VLJQLıFDQW FRQWULEXWLRQV WR WKH ZRUOG RI JODVV Ř He was awarded the 1993 Corning Glass Museum’s Rakow Commission and elected a Fellow of the American Crafts Council in 1988. His glass is represented in numerous global public and private collections, including Corning, Hsinchu, Kamenicky Senov, New York, Rotterdam, Smithsonian, Tacoma and Toledo, “…all the usual suspects!” +H]PK .YPɉU 'DYLG *ULĴQ LV WKH 'LUHFWRU RI &ROOHFWLRQV DQG Exhibitions at the Albany Museum of Art in Albany, Georgia. He has been employed at the museum for eight years, full-time for the past two, and has held multiple positions within the organization including preparator, tour guide, and art educator.

David holds a BFA with a concentration in ceramics from Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia and has exhibited his work regionally and in Xi’an, China in 2015. He is currently working on a Master of Arts degree in Contemporary Art +LVWRU\ 7KHRU\ DQG &ULWLFLVP DW $]XVD 3DFLıF University.

Jerry Hovanec Jerry Hovanec studied clay with Dick Wukich at Slippery Rock University. He later worked as a production potter selling work at craft fairs and shops like Don Drumm’s in Akron, Ohio. On the advice of Drumm, Hovanec went to Penland to broaden his skills and develop new ideas. In 1978-79 Hovanec experimented with Raku, single ıUHG FHUDPLFV 6DJJHU ıULQJ DQG VDOW JOD]HG work. He hung out in the 24/7 glass shop with Susan Ford of Utica, Mississippi and was hooked on glass. In 1980 he studied with Fritz Dreisbach, turned his clay kiln into a glass furnace, and hasn’t looked back since.

Hovanec Glass is known by its spontaneity, individuality, wit, and charm. Jerry works individually and as part of a team with his wife, Ruthann, and his daughter, Renee, to design and create blown glass art in the historic T. Rayner Wilson blacksmith shop in Lusby, Maryland. Their work can be found in museums as well as public and private collections worldwide, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the US Botanical Garden. Renee’s work was on loan to the Ambassador’s Residence in Cabo Verde through the US Department of State’s Art in Embassies program. She is the youngest artist to have participated in this program.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

Howard Risatti Howard Risatti is Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Art and Critical Theory in the Department of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University where he also was Chair of the Department of Craft/ Material Studies from 2001-05.

His writings have appeared in various journals including the Art Journal, Artforum, New Art Examiner, Artscribe, Latin American Art, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Woman’s Art Journal, Art Criticism, The Studio Potter, Sculpture Magazine, Winterthur Portfolio, the British journal Crafts, American Craft , and Ceramic: Art & Perception.

His books include New Music Vocabulary (U of I Press, 1975); Postmodern Perspectives: Issues in Contemporary Art (Prentice Hall, 1990, 2nd edition 1998); The Mountain Lake Workshops: Artists in Locale (Anderson Gallery & VA Tech Foundation,1996). He co-authored with Kenneth Trapp Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery (Smithsonian Press, 1998). His latest book is A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression (UNC Press, 2007, paperback 2013).

Laurel Robinson Laurel Robinson, originally from Pittsburgh, received her BFA in Painting in 1974 and her MFA in Painting in 1977, from the University of Cincinnati. She has done post-graduate study at UCLA in Paleoecology, Sculpture DQG 6FLHQWLıF ,OOXVWUDWLRQ 8QLYHUVLW\ of Tasmania Centre for the Arts in Semiotics (Australia, 1986), University of Tel Aviv in Hebrew (Israel, 1988) and a variety of coursework at GSW from Sociology of Religion, Literature, to Math and Culture (1979-2011). She has been a professor at GSW since 1978 and the chair of the department since 2007. Laurel has taught or presented visiting lectures at a variety of universities: University of Tasmania, Royal

Melbourne Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University, UC San Diego, Maryland Institute of Art, St. Mary’s University, Winona, Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, and the University of Georgia.

Laurel’s exhibition record spans her career with regional, national and international venues and her work is included in several museum permanent collections: The Jewish Museum of NYC, The Skirball Museum at NYU, Cincinnati Museum of Art, List College at Columbia University, NYC Collection and the Macon Georgia Museum of Arts and Sciences.

Keaton Wynn Keaton Wynn is an Associate Professor teaching both Art History and Ceramics at Georgia Southwestern State University. He earned his BFA in Ceramics at Missouri State University, his MFA in Ceramics from Kent State University, and an MA in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Keaton works as a practicing artist exhibiting widely in regional, national and international exhibitions. Keaton has given workshops and presentations nationally and internationally and was recently a Visiting Scholar at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Art in Xi’an China. Since the fall of 2012 Keaton has been the Creative Director of the Dunhuang Creative Center established at Lanzhou City University where he teaches each summer and serves as a Professor of Art. He has recently completed a three-year research project into the use of indigenous materials for ceramic production funded by the Gansu Provincial Government. In 2015 he organized and directed a visiting artists program in Lanzhou focused on western responses to Yellow River culture, the Silk Road and the Dunhuang Buddhist Grottoes.

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH

List of Works 1) “Still Life at Don’s” Don Cole’s Studio Auburn Alabama Oil on Canvas | 1963 2) “Untitled” Oil on Canvas | 1965 3) “Untitled” Oil on Canvas | 1966 4) “Desert” Oil on Canvas | 1966 5) “Still Life Painting Demonstration” Alexander City Alabama Oil on Canvas 6) “Self Portrait” Oil on Canvas | 1966 7) “Mountain” Oil on Canvas | 1966 8) “Homage to Bonnard” Oil on Canvas | 1966 9)“Self Portrait” Oil on Canvas | 1968 10) “Map” Oil on Canvas | 1971 11) “Study” Oil on Canvas | 1971 12) “Self Portrait” Oil on Canvas | 1973

13) “Dancing Figures” Oil on Canvas | 1973

23) “Tobacco Opal Teabowls” Blown Glass | 1988

14) “Three Columns” Thrown and stacked Stoneware Cone 10 Reduction Wetumpka, Alabama | 1974

24) “Gasparilla Series” Blown Glass | 1989

15) “First Glass Pieces” Blown Glass: Sandblasted | 1976 16) “Goblets, Teabowls, Drinkers” Blown Glass | 1979-2015 17) “Fishing with Rick and Ralph” Collaboration with Rick Burns Blown Glass, Hot Worked Glass | 1979

25) “Sarah Bowls” Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 1994 - 95 ŗ*RRG 6WXij RQ WKH ,QVLGHŘ Sarah’s glyphs transferred to overlay and sandblasted panels. Copied with cane drawings.Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 1996 27) “Domes” Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 1997

18) “Bridges” Blown Glass and Hot Worked Glass | 1982

28) “Inside-Outside” Blown Glass Sharpie-Xerox-Overlay | 1999

ŗ WK &HQWXU\ *DijHUŖV *REOHWVŘ (Steinart Cane / Fiberfax / Kugler Color / Gabbert’s Cullet) Blown Glass | 1982

25) “Inside-Outside Bowls-Forms” Blown Glass | 1999

20) “Breakers” Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 1982-83 21) “War” Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 1983 22) “Bottles” Blown Glass | 1984

26) “Life Dancers” Wheel Thrown and Altered Stoneware Cone 10 Reduction | 2007 27) “Big-Little Shot Glasses” Blown Glass | 2014 28) “Things that Fell from the Sky” Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 2015

23) “The Magic Flute” Collaboration with Jerry Hovanec Blown and Hot Worked Glass | 1986

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY

RALPH HARVEY: A HISTORY OF STUDIO GLASS EDUCATION IN THE RURAL SOUTH