A & E

Glass and steel are two industries integral in the development of the city of Pittsburgh and the region that surrounds it. So, there could be no better way to honor Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary than an art exhibit that combines those two things. The Pittsburgh Glass Center in Friendship has brought us all that and more with the remarkable "Glass & Steel: Art Transcends Industry," which opened recently in the center's Hodge Gallery.

Showcasing works by 31 artists from Western Pennsylvania, the exhibition is a tour de force of combined techniques in both mediums. It ranges from a large-scale chandelier in the shape of a bunch of grapes that Nick Russo, Daneal Ferraro and Doug Hansel made mostly of blown glass balls attached by wire to a steel armature; to a large, mostly steel room-divider screen by Dan LeDonne that includes several large, cast-glass discs.

There even are a few more mediums employed in some of the works, such as photography, wood and oil paint.

Take, for example, Chris Clarke's two wall sculptures -- "Leptotes" and "Tenuifolia." They combine blown-glass tendrils and forged steel rods mounted into wood tree trunks that have been stripped, sanded and shellacked. Looking like plant forms from another planet, they cling to the back wall of the gallery.

Not far away is the piece "The Island," which combines a photograph of a metalworking plant by Nathan J. Shaulis sandwiched in a cast glass-and-steel sculpture by Heather Joy Puskarich.

"On a Clear Day" by Jeffery Phelps combines fused glass and welded steel in front of a five-panel cityscape of Pittsburgh that Phelps painted on flat sheets of turquoise-colored glass. The clear, fused glass on top of the painting makes for an interesting irony, considering the title of the piece. That's because Pittsburgh has been known to be one of the country's rainiest cities, and the vertical striation of the fused glass make this city scene look as though it is caught in a downpour. The piece also has a double intention with the arched shapes that Phelps has attached at the base of each panel. They look like train tracks, but in shadow harken to the city's many bridges -- both of which are integral elements of the lay of the land.

Some artists used found objects as part of their pieces, such as Brian Engel, who took an old, rusted bicycle and transformed it with the addition of glass. His piece, titled "Escape Mechanism #2," includes kiln-cast and slumped clear glass elements that enhance the bike, such as a glass tassel, a basket made of flame-worked borosilicate glass rods, and a cast glass baseball glove attached to the bicycle's back fender. He even replaced the bicycle's midsection, which in old-style bicycles resembled a little gas tank, with a cast-glass component that has silk-screened images of maps.

From molten glass to beautifully intricate crafts, there are a number of flame-worked jewelry pieces on display that are sure to amaze. Melissa Melan effectively combines lampworked beads and steel nuts in "Nut Case," an elegant necklace. Two necklaces by Leslie Kaplan also use the lampwork technique, but take it to the extreme with odd, botanically inspired shapes she calls "Weird Botany." And another necklace worthy of note is "My New World Awaits!" by Theresa Cress, which combines mini rocket ships and space guns made of colorful flame-worked glass.

There are a number of vessels on display that combine glass and steel sensibly. They range from the most modest of mason jars filled with nuts, bolts and rusty nails in Karin Coyne's mixed-media work "Reliquary of All of Our Unfinished Business" to Suzanne Ririe's "Cowboy Bottles," which has steel shavings in the body of each blown-glass bottle.

But the real standout in this category is "Because" by Anthony Schafermeyer. Having three hand-forged bees on the outside, this honeycomb-etched vessel is a real eye catcher. It is arranged on a pedestal in the center of the gallery, not far away from the piece "Down" by Claire Kelly, Schafermeyer's wife, which includes a blown glass cardinal on a steel twig, one of her signature forms.

The pair, who have taught workshops at the Glass Center before, recently moved to Pittsburgh from North Carolina, setting up shop in Millvale.

Kelly and Schafermeyer aren't the only newcomers represented in this show. Two students from the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Dana Laskowski and Hunter Blackwell, show their work -- sculptures that combine steel wire and glass -- for the first time. Laskowski's piece "Repair" is a figural work that includes a cast-glass face resting atop arms made of wire. Blackwell's piece, "Pods," consists of five blown-glass seed pods held in wire nests attached to one wall.

All in all, this very appropriate show salutes the city's industrial past and creative future, making it a must-see among exhibits related to Pittsburgh's 250th.

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