Press Releases 2005
Marble Weekend!
CONTACT: Janet Peterson, Marketing and Public Relations DirectorTEL: (856) 825-6800, Ext. 108
FAX: (856) 825-2410
E-MAIL: jpetersonwheatonvillage.org
Over 80 dealers, artists and craftspeople from across the country will be exhibiting in the Event Center both days. A wide selection of handmade and machine-made antique marbles, contemporary marbles and marble related memorabilia will be available for sale. Throughout the weekend, nationally known marble artists will demonstrate their skills at the tank and at the torch in the Glass Studio. Special exhibitions, a special auction and games on the Village’s marble courts add to the weekend experience.
Ro Purser, Marble Weekend featured guest artist, first began blowing glass in the late 1960s. He is credited with making the first marble of the contemporary marble movement in 1973. Purser and artist, Richard Marquis, worked together in the 1980s under the name, Noble Effort Design. Together they produced a line of Studio Art Glass that was sold at art galleries, museums and prestigious craft shows at the Smithsonian and Philadelphia Art Museum. The Noble Effort line of glass included the well-known “Murrini Sphere” that Ro continues to improve and produce in limited numbers today.
During his 35-year career in glass, he has explored many facets of the art, production and history of glass. He has designed product lines and produced cast metal molds for the Art Glass industry, combined glass, metal, and wood for custom architectural applications, and performed E.P.A. funded studies on the problem of how to use post-consumer recycled glass. He has personally produced such varied items as Studio Art Glass, editions of Early American style commemorative flasks, glass floats for his mentors in the fishing fleet, pressed glass window tiles, Egyptian style Core Vessels, marbles, and the Murrini Sphere.
From his Marble Shooter to his Flyball, Purser continues to expand the boundaries of classic marble designs and techniques with the excellence that comes from his years as a studio glass artist. Purser's work can be found in many of the finest galleries in the United States, and in the private collections of some of the most prominent collectors of contemporary glass spheres and art glass in the nation, as well as the Marble Collectors Society of America’s permanent collection.
Weekend registration includes
a Friday evening special demonstration by Purser followed by a private reception for all
artists, dealers and registered collectors. The sales floor is open 7 to 9
p.m. Also, registrants attend a “Breakfast with the Artists” on June 25,
from 8:30 to 10 a.m. The Village glass artists join the participating marble
artists in a collaborative session to create a one-of-a-kind glass piece.
The finished piece will be auctioned on June 26.
Show hours: June 25, 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m., and June 26, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission: $10.00 Adults; $9.00
Seniors; $7.00 Students; and children five and under are free. Full weekend
registration: Adults $50.00 and Students $20.00 (six to 18 years old). Full
weekend admission includes Friday evening’s artist demonstrations and
networking reception, Saturday morning’s artists demonstration and
breakfast, and all additional activities. The cost is to attend the Friday
evening reception only is $10.00 per person.
visit on the web at www.wheatonvillage.org.
Wheaton Village strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to all persons
with disabilities. Provide two weeks notice for special accommodations.
Wheaton Village received a general operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of Cultural Affairs in the Department of State. Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
Photography Available
