functional art glass

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in Marine, 2025


Mary Jo Van Dell STUDIO EVENT
FRIDAY December 5, 10am-7pm
SATURDAY December 6, 10am-4pm

JUDD STREET EXCHANGE, Van Dell Studio
above Marine General Store
101 Judd Street
Marine on St Croix MN

maryjovandell.com

Mary Jo Van Dell, a wonderful Minnesota painter, is also an inspiring exhibition partner.
This year, Al was guest host at her Marine on St. Croix gallery for a weekend in March, and guest artist at an April open house and for artOPENer 2025 in June.

Last Spring, artist John Kaul was on hand to take photos on delivery day at the gallery. John’s postage-inspired art is pictured here, along with sculpture by Don Gahr, some of Al’s favorite glass works and Mary Jo’s large canvases.

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Holiday 2024 NEWS

New Studio! Over the summer, Al unpacked the glassblowing equipment that waited for decades in the backyard studio, getting it lit in time to make the annual batch of holiday suncatchers. Going forward, he’ll be adapting the space for more complex work and considering ways to open for visitors.

The new studio will be Al’s focus in 2025, so this holiday season will be the last at the Center City showroom. We’re grateful for almost four years at the bright and spacious location that accommodates Al’s entire inventory of glass.

All are Welcome to stop in for a moment with light & color before we go!

SATURDAYS noon-6pm through December
and happily by appointment: alanhonnglass@gmail.com

ALAN HONN GLASS 320 Summit Avenue, Center City MN

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in Door County

Seeking beaches and fish boil, we went up to Door County, Wisconsin last autumn, finding Idea Gallery in Egg Harbor along the way.

Al is happy to have a collection of glass included in the 2024 season at this expansive, repurposed small town space, along with fantastic pieces by regional artists in a variety of media.

Explore more at ideagalleryart.com

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Art in Bloom 2024

For April’s Art in Bloom at Minneapolis Institute of Art, Al created a golden dragon assemblage for floral artist Richard Raiche’s interpretation of Humility Brings Prosperity Gate. This was the third year Al was commissioned by Richard, an 18 year veteran of the annual show.

Below: a Georgia O’Keefe inspired work from 2023 and a multipart recreation of Notre Dame Stadium from 2022. Read more HERE

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new font

Late winter, Al created and delivered a new baptismal font and ewer to Excelsior United Methodist Church. He is honored to have received the commission, and that his work will serve in the good glass company of Dieter Spahn’s Resurrection Window and a hundred-year-old rondel from the church’s original building.

For the story of a 2023 collaboration with artist John Sterner on a font for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis read HERE and HERE

And, here’s the bowl used for Sun’s backyard baptism in 2002

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dedicated

Crafted over time, a new baptismal font commissioned for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis was dedicated in the sanctuary in May. Minnesota sculptor John Sterner envisioned and created a gravity defying bronze foundation for the expansive basin realized by Al and a team of artists at Foci – Minnesota for Glass Art. Find details on the session HERE.

In early March, Al and John met at Anurag Studio in Stillwater, where the bronze was cast, to fit bowl and base together before transporting the work to the church.

Holy Trinity is home to many handcrafted art and liturgical pieces, historical and contemporary. The decommissioned font that served the church for a century will be repurposed.

See more about Holy Trinity at htlcmpls.org and about John Sterner at johnknifesterner.com