By Louise Irvine

The WMODA community came together on July 14th to take part in Chelsea Rousso’s glass project Unity in the Community · Transparency through Glass. The participants created glass art symbolizing their vision of unity which will soon be installed as a curtain of glass. For most of the museum staff, this was their first opportunity to learn the techniques of glass fusing and it was a great team experience.

Chelsea Rousso is well known at WMODA for her wearable glass which starred in our sensational Believe the Impossible fashion shows in Wonderland. Over the years, Chelsea has introduced many aspiring artists to the joys of working with glass at her kiln-formed glass workshops in the museum. When WMODA closed to relocate, Chelsea embarked on a new project to involve a wider community in glass art. Since March, she has held a series of free workshops at her own studio and students have made small glass panels that will become part of a large wall of glass reflecting Unity in the Community. This exciting project has been made possible with support from the Broward County Cultural Division.

Thanks to Chelsea, the WMODA team took a well-earned break from the museum rebuilding process and expressed their ideas about unity. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore new avenues of creativity and absorb inspiration from the museum’s new Hot Glass Gallery which is beginning to take shape. Local glass artists, Anne Orvieto and Lisa Davis, helped Chelsea with the class and prepared all the glass panels for the kiln firing at Chelsea’s studio. We look forward to seeing the results of our team effort when Chelsea creates her curtain of glass.

The Unity in the Community project will be unveiled on September 13 at Plunge Beach Resort in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. The month-long installation of the glass wall hanging will showcase the stunning collection of fused glass art created by members of the community in Broward County.  Plunge into the arts next month and see this communal vision of unity through the transparency of glass.

In October, the Unity in the Community project will come to WMODA and become part of our reopening celebrations. Judging from photos of all the elements created so far, it promises to be a spectacular installation. We will also be planning a new program of Chelsea’s creative glass workshops in the fall. Look for more details in our September newsletter.

Read more about Chelsea Rousso at WMODA.

Read more about Chelsea’s glass fashion shows at WMODA