(CLINTON, NJ) -- Hunterdon Art Museum will hold the virtual symposium, “Pipe Art: Understudied Glass,” on Saturday, March 20 at 7:00pm EST. This free program takes place via Zoom Webinar and requires pre-registration to attend.

In conjunction with Hunterdon Art Museum’s current exhibition “Glass in the Expanded Field,” curated by Caitlin Vitalo, this symposium considers the glass pipe as a fluid work of art fundamental to the art history of glass.

Sometimes demoted by law or public opinion to the category of “paraphernalia,” the artwork of the pipe nonetheless defies its sometimes categorization as sub-sculpture. Celebrated artists Kim Thomas and Dan Coyle, whose works are featured in the current exhibition, and Luken Sheafe, whose artist name is SALT, will present their intensely wrought, figural, and in the case of Thomas, sometimes kinetic, pipes.

Joined by Susie J. Silbert, Curator at the Corning Museum of Glass, these artists will further contextualize their work within the burgeoning field of pipe-making. The symposium additionally will consider historical glass that is sometimes demoted by structures of power and hierarchy and therefore figures in an understudied cultural history of the United States. Art historian Joseph Larnerd will illuminate the rich personal history and aesthetic power of a 1909 cut glass bowl, and Jason Vartikar will reflect on 19th-century blown-glass jugs.

The Hunterdon Art Museum presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art, craft, and design in a 19th century stone mill listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Founded in 1952, the Museum is a landmark regional art center showcasing works by established and emerging contemporary artists. It also offers a dynamic schedule of art classes and workshops for children and adults.

Programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund; Hunterdon County Board of County Commissioners, through funds administered by the Cultural & Heritage Commission; Hyde and Watson Foundation; Investors Foundation; The Large Foundation, and additional support provided by the IFPDA Foundation along with other corporations, foundations and individuals.  The Hunterdon Art Museum is a wheelchair accessible space.  Publications are available in large print.  Patrons who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired may contact the Museum through the New Jersey Relay Service at (TTY) 1 (800) 852-7899.

“Glass in the Expanded Field” is made possible in part by the generous sponsorship of Basil Bandwagon.