When Jerry Catania served in the Peace Corps, he was teaching art in the West Indies one day when he ended up in a workshop he attended while off duty. It was a workshop on glass, and that was all it took to fascinate him and lead him to a never-ending love for the art of glass that has lasted a lifetime. Upon his return to the United States, Jerry was among the very first students o the Pilchuk Workshop in Stanwood, Washington — now an internationally-renowned glass school that has hosted Dale Chihuly and Fritz Driesbach as faculty members. The rest is history.
Now, the Stevensville native who founded Benton Harbor’s Water Street Glassworks with his wife, Kathy, will be showcased in a major new exhibition at the ARS Gallery in the Benton Harbor Arts District called “Jerry Catania: Art and Inspiration.”
On Friday, November 9, from 6 to 8 pm, ARS Gallery will host an opening reception for the new exhibition which will feature mixed media sculptures that combine cast glass with found objects. The event will include small bites, wine, and a chance to meet artist and arts educator Jerry Catania.
Once he returned back home to Michigan those many years ago, Jerry continued his love for and work with glass. He constructed an outdoor studio known as “Fiasco Glass” in Stevensville, where he offered glassblowing workshops and classes, and later moved the operation to a farm in Glenn. In 1985, Jerry began a 30-year stretch teaching glassblowing and casting at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency in Saugatuck, where he founded the glassblowing program.
Along the way, Jerry met his wife, Kathy, who started her glass career at Fiasco Glass and became his glassblowing assistant, colorist, and teaching assistant. They married in 1991, and their creative partnership has continued through many studios, including Water Street.
Regarding the upcoming show at ARS Gallery, Jerry says, “The pieces in this show reference my interest in the underlying source of an artistic creation.” He notes, “In my search, I look to artists whose motivation is unaffected, natural, and unschooled. This includes the imagery and form of prehistoric art, tribal art, children’s art, and cultural symbolism as well as the many early modern artists, who were also inspired by artwork that comes from these authentic, intuitive and subconscious sources.”
Kathy Catania says, “In a 1975 interview, Jerry offered up a quote that still reflects his personal philosophy today: ‘Life is a piece of art; live creatively.’” She adds, “As his partner in life, as well as art, I can wholeheartedly say that he has done exactly that.”
In 1997, as demand for glass classes grew, the Catanias were among the first investors in the Benton Harbor Arts District when they purchased the condemned 1898 Hinkley Building for $4,000. After seven years of extensive renovations, Water Street Glassworks opened its doors in January 2004 for classes, hosting students from Southwestern Michigan College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and through a partnership with the Krasl Art Center.
The Catanias also shared their passion for glass with area youth through FIRED UP!, an after-school program designed to impact the lives of Benton Harbor teens through the medium of glass. Since its inception in 2004, FIRED UP! has garnered recognition and funding, including being ranked among the nation’s top 50 after-school programs in 2009. In a “full-circle” turn of events, Eli Zilke, a FIRED UP! graduate, returned to Water Street Glassworks this year as core glass instructor and studio manager, allowing Jerry to fully retire from teaching glass.
At the ARS Gallery-Arts & Culture Center, owner Anna Russo-Sieber says, “We couldn’t be more honored to pay tribute to Jerry’s amazing career as an artist and arts educator.” She says, “He’s made such a lasting impact in so many ways – by making his name in the glass community, by sharing his passion with countless students, and by helping to make the Benton Harbor Arts District what it is today.”
“Jerry Catania: Art and Inspiration” will be on display at ARS Gallery through Tuesday, January 15th. For more information, call ARS Gallery at 269-277-5090, or visit www.annarussoart.com.
The ARS Gallery/Arts and Culture Center is located at 147 5th Street in the Benton Harbor Arts District, and provides a community art center offering visual arts, arts education, cultural language classes, and outreach to local youth. ARS is the home of the “I Am The Greatest” project and has offered arts programming to hundreds of local youth. For more information, visit www.annarussoart.com.
