“These glass works from the beginning of Joel Philip Myers’ influential career will be displayed in conversation with a variety of other examples, all curated from the Museum’s permanent collection,” said John Farley, HMA Senior Curator / Exhibition Designer. “This exhibit is occasioned by a generous gift that the Huntington Museum of Art received in 2021 of 13 early glass works made by Joel Philip Myers. Primal and experimental in nature, each reflects the artist’s time in West Virginia as he first learned to manipulate this challenging medium.”

Myers studied in Copenhagen, Denmark, before earning a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. In 1963, he was hired as Director of Design at the renowned Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia. Captivated by the drama of this thriving glass factory, he learned glassblowing through observation and practice.

In 1970, he established the nascent glass department at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, where he served as Distinguished Professor of Art until he retired from teaching in 1997. He is an Honorary Life Member of the Glass Art Society, a Fellow of the American Crafts Council, and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. His work is represented in prominent museum collections around the world, including The Art Institute of Chicago; The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague; and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan.

This exhibit is presented by The Reed Foundation.

This exhibit is presented with support from the City of Huntington Mayor’s Council for the Arts.

This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.