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Special receptions offer Art Boca Raton collectors the opportunity to enjoy extended hours at the Museum each evening for the Glasstress Boca Raton exhibition. Mingle with visiting artists, local collectors, curators, and museum members. Thursday, Mar. 16 / 6:00–8:00 pm Music in the Museum - Bob Hanni Jazz Ensemble Premier guitarist Bob Hanni and his jazz ensemble perform the music of George Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Cole Porter with guest pianist and entertaining emcee Edwin Polokoff. Friday, Mar. 17 & Saturday, Mar. 18 / 6:00–8:00 pm Listen to the music of Glasstress while exploring the exhibition Glasstress Boca Raton. Created with audio samples recorded in the Berengo Studio Furnace, this sound project activates the physicality of materials with melody, rhythm, and harmony.

Boca Talk - Petah Coyne: The Art of Materials Petah Coyne is a New York-based contemporary sculptor and photographer. Referred to by Artforum International magazine as the "queen of mixed media", Coyne is known for her large-scale hanging sculptures and floor installations. Working with disparate, and often unconventional materials, her innovative sculptures focus on and celebrates qualities of femininity. In this Boca Talk, Ms. Coyne reveals her experiences at the Berengo Studio in Venice – the challenges and successes.

Experience Glass The day begins with a guided tour of the Boca Raton Museum of Art’s Glasstress exhibition. After which we hop on the bus and enjoy a boxed lunch as we travel to Lake Worth’s Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts, the largest glass hot shop in Florida. Witness the creative process of glass art from beginning to end, starting with a tour of the Center’s current exhibition followed by a narrated glass blowing demonstration by Benzaiten’s Creative Director Rick Eggert and Glass Studio Manager David Peterson, II. Complete the experience with a visit to the Benzaiten Gift Shop before returning by bus to the Museum.

In the 1960s, Studio Glass artists such as Harvey Littleton and Dale Chihuly were responsible for moving glass from functional or decorative wares to becoming a vehicle for contemporary expression. Since the early 1990s, artists working in a variety of media increasingly have employed technically proficient “hired guns” to work the glass to make their ideas a reality. In 2009, Venice’s Fondazione Berengo instituted a groundbreaking series of exhibitions that unite the talents of Murano’s legendary glassblowing community with today’s leading contemporary artists and designers. Davira S. Taragin’s lecture explores the history and importance of the Glasstress exhibitions within the context of the late twentieth- and early twenty-first centuries’ international quest to break down the hierarchies between the different art media.