CU-TV Art in Cambridge: Ely Cathedral
CU-TV presents Art in Cambridge. In this instalment we venture just outside of town to visit Ely Cathedral. The curator of the stained glass museum, Sarah Robertson, joins us to talk about works from the collection.
The Glass Art Society just announced that it is canceling its 2011 conference in Tucson, Arizona, based on its 'fiduciary responsibility'.
The reason for that financial worry, though, is political, and the political hot button is the severe new immigration law in Arizona. The key section of the email -
GAS is not boycotting the state of Arizona but made the decision to cancel the conference because the economics did not support going forward in this political climate. With a Latin American focus for this conference, the controversial issues in the state are particularly poignant. Whether glass artists south of the US border would come; whether GAS would be liable for things that could happen in Arizona for the Latino members; whether GAS could weather the negative economic impact to the organization that this issue could cause; whether in this economic climate the local committee could raise the money needed for the conference; were all issues that the Board needed to consider.
I do feel for them, since GAS is a largely apolitical organization (artistically clique-ish big time, but apolitical). This could not have been an easy decision for them. The tone of the email is one of shock and sadness, not political defiance. That seems about right. I wish them well.
They haven't posted anything on their website about this, but I will provide a link if and when that happens.
[update May 9, 2010 - From Glass Quarterly, an Interview with GAS Executive Director Pam Koss]
The American Glass Guild has posted the registration and lodging info for its July 2006 conference in Albany, NY. The AGG is a new stained glass organization and the people who are involved in it are top quality, so I'm not surprised that the conference schedule is very impressive.
I'd love to go as I personally know many who are participating and presenting, but it's probably not in the cards this year. Maybe I'll get someone to do a guest conference blog...hmmm.