2024 Paperweight Convention, Providence, Rhode Island

By Toni Chambers

Another PCA Convention has come and gone, and new glass treasures are decorating homes in the US, the UK, Europe, Pakistan and Australia. We convened at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island May 15-18, 2024. Cold and rainy weather did nothing to dampen the lively atmosphere or the enthusiasm of the artists, dealers and collectors who attended. 

The action kicked off on Wednesday with an optional all-day bus tour of the Newport, Rhode Island mansions which included a visit to The Breakers, the “summer cottage” of the Vanderbilt Family. Back at the hotel, artists and dealers spent the day setting up their exhibits in the Plaza Ballroom. 

Wednesday evening, we gathered for the Opening Reception and Artists Fair. Each artist had a table display of examples of their latest work, giving us an advanced peek at what they had brought to sell. We enjoyed light refreshments as we chatted with the artists and admired their work. 

Finally, the doors to the main event – the Paperweight Fair – opened. There was the usual small stampede to be first through the doors. Thousands of sparkling paperweights awaited at the artists’ and dealers’ exhibit booths. Artists in attendance were: Mike and Sue Hunter, Gordon Smith, Dave Graeber, Alison Ruzsa, Stephen Boehme (murrine and marble artist), Melissa Ayotte, Cathy Richardson, William and Joyce Manson, Mayauel Ward, Clinton Smith, Chris Sherwin and Damon MacNaught. The dealers were Ben Clark of L.H. Selman, Eric Jump, Paul and Karen Dunlop, Alan Kaplan and William Pitt. Bill Pitt has announced this would be his last convention. This was the first convention for Stephen Boehme and the Mansons.

Three special exhibits were featured. Allan Port and Dana Reneau curated an exhibit of New England Paperweight Makers which included weights ranging from Mount Washington Glass weights to work by current New England artists. Gordon Park curated another special exhibit, The Work of Rick Ayotte, which celebrated Rick’s work over the decades as well as his 80th birthday. In addition to these special exhibits, Melissa Ayotte created an immersive video installation that provided a deep look into creativity and paperweights. This multimedia experience ran every 30 minutes concurrent with the Paperweight Fair.

Following a delicious buffet breakfast on Thursday morning, President Gordon greeted one and all with a special welcome to 29 first-time attendees. Board members were introduced, and then the speaking presentations started.

Melissa Ayotte presented a special tribute to her father, A Creative Odyssey: Rick Ayotte’s 60 Years in Glass. She outlined his career from when he blew industrial glass and made little animals to eventually making over 1000 designs including hundreds of birds. A young Melissa began to work with him in the basement of their house, and now they work together in her studio.

Kirk Nelson presented Mount Washington and Pairpoint Glass. He traced the history of Mount Washington Glass which eventually became Pairpoint Glass. The New Bedford Museum of Glass (once the home of the President of Mt. Washington Glass) houses a large collection of fine cut glass, tableware, blown glass vases, ewers, etc., and decorated enameled glass. Kirk lives on the third floor of the museum.

Michael Hunter presented Murrine, Art in Weights and 50 Years in Glassmaking. He described his journey as an artist from his earliest days at Wedgwood Glass to owning his own studio, Twists Glass. He showed us his process in making his lifelike picture cane murrine using his Aunt Florrie’s cane as an example.

Clinton Smith, who is celebrating 25 years in glassmaking, presented The Evolution of Marbles Throughout My Career. He outlined his journey from making marbles in a shed at his mother’s to making lampwork paperweights, and now back to making marbles. He currently makes very detailed lampwork marbles, some with two sides, each telling its own story.

Joyce Manson presented My Life in Glass,: Celebrating 50 Years in Glassmaking. Joyce was the glassmaking assistant to her then-husband, William “Willie” Manson. Now she works in a similar capacity with her son, William Manson, owner of Manson Glass. Her roles in the studio included setting up lampwork designs prior to encasement, assisting with cane placement and weight-making, and cane-making. Neil Diamond bought one of their fish paperweights in San Francisco, and they gave a paperweight-making demonstration to Queen Elizabeth II.

Victor Trabucco (who joined us via Zoom) and Barb Elam of The Bard Graduate Center presented On the Art and Inspiration of the Blaschkas. The Blaschkas, father and son glass artists, created the extremely delicate collection of glass flowers at Harvard University’s Museum of Natural History. Barb related the history of the Blaschkas and how they ended up creating the collection. Victor, who was inspired by the Blaschkas, related his efforts to figure out how they got the glass so thin. He showed us his technique for doing that (hint: wires are involved). Of his own work, Victor is most proud of his giant lizard paperweights.

Friday was field trip day. We had a choice of three tours. One group opted for the day-long trip to Harvard University to see the Blaschka glass flowers (and marine invertebrates). Another tour went first to the Sandwich Glass Museum and later to the Black Stone River Glass Center for the PCA artists demonstrations. The third group chose The New Bedford Museum of Glass and later went to the artists demonstrations at the Blackstone River Glass Center.

The Blackstone River Glass Center has a beautiful riverside setting, so we were able to step outside for some fresh air when things got warm in the hot shop. Our PCA artists paired up as usual for the demonstrations. Mayauel Ward and Gordon Smith worked together on a vase. Gordon made rose cane centers for Mayauel’s flowers Tragedy was narrowly averted when the hot vase was dropped – but it was saved by a fast-acting Michael Hunter with no damage except, perhaps, to Mayauel’s nerves. Stephen Boehme and Damon MacNaught created a marble featuring a skull on a background of hearts. William Manson and his mother Joyce collaborated on a paperweight with a blue sting ray and a starfish over a sandy seabed. Clinton Smith and Chris Sherwin made a paperweight with red newts on a leafy forest ground. David Graeber worked solo to create a weight with root-like figures reaching for an apple. Alison Ruzsa did a great job of narrating all the action. All the paperweight items created at the demos were entered in a silent auction with winners announced at Saturday’s banquet. Also Rick Ayotte made small Pyrex figurines similar to what he made before making paperweights. Some were given away at the demos and the others were door prizes.

The Saturday program started with a showing of Paul Stankard: Flower and Flame. This is a fascinating and very moving documentary about the life and career of Paul Stankard. The film was later screened for members of the public during the Paperweight Fair. At the ID Clinic, several paperweights were identified by the panel of experts while others remain a mystery still.

Saturday’s Paperweight Fair was opened to the public. Attendance was excellent thanks to good advance publicity. Entire families came with children of all ages. Having had no prior knowledge of the glass paperweight world, they were properly impressed with what they saw, held and even bought.

The closing banquet was the final event of the convention. Silent auction winners were announced, and door prizes were given. This year’s table favors (miniature paperweights) were made by French artist Mickael Hingant of Reunion Island. He created 4 floral designs, each with a different flower and colored background, encircled with tiny millefiori canes. I received a pink fuchsia on a green background.

I’ve said it each time, and I’ll say it again: this was the best PCA Convention ever! Members can deepen previous friendships and make new friends. We saw amazing museums and heard wonderful presentations. Best of all, we went home with an incredible piece (or more) of glass art.

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