Happy 2010 from everyone at Heller Gallery!
Dear Friends,
As we look forward to the New Year we are optimistic about what lies ahead. Reflecting on the past year, we are very proud to say that Heller Gallery was a major resource for museum acquisitions in addition to purchases by significant private collections.
In 2009 the Gallery placed artworks by Beth Lipman in the permanent collections of the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Kamm Teapot Foundation, the Corning Museum of Glass, the RISD Museum of Art and the Speed Art Museum. The Kamm Teapot Foundation also acquired a sculpture by Susan Taylor Glasgow. A major sculpture by Karen LaMonte was just acquired from the gallery by the Chrysler Museum of Art while a Christina Bothwell sculpture went to the Palm Springs Art Museum. The Speed Art Museum received a number of partial and promised gifts from Adele & Leonard Leight including outstanding works originally from Heller Gallery by Aleš Vašíček, Sibylle Peretti, Lino Tagliapietra and the legendary Czech couple Stanislav Libenský & Jaroslava Brychtová. In Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art hit the jackpot when it became the recipient of a 100-piece mega donation from Anna & Joe Mendel which included numerous works acquired from Heller Gallery. The Mendel collection will be on view at the MMFA from April 7th – October 31st 2010. Other pieces from the gallery were exhibited on loan at institutions ranging from the Museum of Glass to the Islip Art Museum, the Contemporary Art Center of VA, the Museum of American Glass and the Chrysler Museum of Art.
We are in the midst of a unique and expansive period in the history of glass. The material is increasingly viewed as a legitimate medium for fine artists and more and more works of art made from glass are entering public collections.
From the perspective of the Gallery’s interaction with the museum world, 2009 has been a banner year! Our thanks go to our artists without whose creativity and vision none of the above would be possible.
Happy 2010 from everyone at Heller Gallery!
