#32 Sunday broadcast; Jan. 30, 2011 (play this episode)

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JOANN LOCKTOV  is known to her friends as an avid but gentle exponent of beautiful mosaic and tile surfaces, and maybe even better known as passionate about matters Italian - especially Venetian.  (her twitter profile says, Venetophile!)

JOANN LOCKTOV in Venice
Who knew she's been a movie producer and development director? Anyway, her personal enthusiasms have translated into a professional practice: Bella Figura Communications, a boutique PR firm in Mill Valley, CA. She tells the story of that evolution and gives promotional guidance - especially for designers and artists - in the course of our conversation. A "teaser" is available in the form of a 5-minute takeout section of the Mosaic of Art web site. (scroll down about half way on the page)
SARA BALDWIN of New Ravenna
JoAnn is a maestra of synergy among activities, interactions, products and attitudes. Her sage counsel about organization is well worth a listen, even if her personal methods - neat piles of paper on a big table and an "old-school" paper calendar - are not for everyone. By no means a luddite, JoAnn has immersed herself in social media and offers lots of do's and don't's - recognizing that everyone needs to find their own style. HerTileista blog is read by thousands.

Also on the show: While managing international exhibitions for the DALE CHIHULY STUDIO , independent curator JENNIFER LEWIS  has witnessed the medium of hot glass undergo major transformations of character and gain a critical measure of visibility - if not total acceptance - in the fine arts establishment. 
DALE CHIHULY Persian Sea
DALE CHIHULY, Red Sea at Norton Museum of Art
She will participate in a panel discussion at the Society of American Mosaics conference in Austin to consider the parallels between blown glass and mosaics in terms of their status as mediums worthy of consideration by the arbiters of artistic value.
DALE CHIHULY, Red Sea detail
Here are a few quotations from our conversation: Chihuly was an early student of Harvey Littleton, and his thought process was informed by the early studio glass movement - heroic in intention but not very interesting to look at.  ... it was not until 80s when Chihuly brought Italian maestros from Venice to show secrets of technique that the Americans were able to incorporate technique into all that expression and risk-taking. It was the meeting of Italian bravura technique and American bravado.

Europeans have a myth of the hero artist; the Japanese don't have it. In Japan the conversation about art and craft was not important. They were assumed to be one and the same.
DALE CHIHULY - Fairchild Tropical Garden Installation
You have to have a Peter Voulkos and a Dale Chihuly to move a mundane material into the transformative.
The public wants to be moved and to see things that are outside what they understand they could make themselves.
You have to shatter all preconceptions before people will accept that it's something outside their experience. 
DALE CHIHULY, Neon Tumbleweed; Architect, ALBERTO ALFONSO
BTW, one of JoAnn's clients, the architect, Alberto Alfonso, designed the The Chihuly Collection in Saint Petersburg, Florida -  the only building designed specifically for Chihuly’s art. Bit of synergy there!
Please tune in on Sunday, 3-4pm EST to the Mosaic of Art on Blogtalkradio.
 
If you register first here on Blogtalkradio, you can join the chat room to comment and see the switchboard (kidding:) 
 
Warmest regards,
George
 
You can also find the link on facebook:  www.facebook.com/MosaicOfArt. Generally updated late on Thursdays.
If you've missed previous episodes, just click here to find links for downloading shows into your iPod or iPad.
To see  a slide show of images from Dale Chihuly's sculptures at Miami's Fairchild Tropical Garden and from JoAnn's clients click here.