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Starting in the 1960s, the American Studio Glass movement emerged, establishing the largest creative space and collection market for glass art. In just half a century, this young and ambitious nation, with its strong economic power, built upon the centuries-old craftsmanship inherited from traditional glass centers like Murano, Italy, and developed an extremely flourishing glass art scene.
Harvey Littleton's father worked at the Corning Glass Museum, making his connection to glass seem "predestined." However, during his youth, glass in the United States was merely a material for large-scale industrial manufacturing, with no artistic potential yet realized.
In the 1950s, Littleton visited Murano, an island that had been a glass manufacturing center since the 14th century. He saw some workshops displaying small glass furnaces, performing the blowing process for tourists—glass could be so effortlessly created in individual studios! Littleton was deeply captivated. Upon returning to the United States, he began actively experimenting with and advocating for small personal glass studios. In 1962, with the support of the Toledo Museum, he established his own glass studio and organized the first glass blowing seminar. The Studio Glass movement began in earnest, quickly separating glass from mechanical industrial production and developing a diverse range of artistic possibilities. Littleton is also revered as the father of the Studio Glass movement.
During the Studio Glass movement, Littleton, along with Dominick Labino, a scientist and artist, and others, successfully developed integrated, simple glass kilns. This was of great significance for glass as a medium for individual creation, offering possibilities for addressing issues held by modern artists, such as "the charm of handcrafted work," "respect for individual artists," and "reflections on the alienation brought about by hyper-industrialized society."
Since then, the spirit of freedom, respect for individuality, and the concept of humanized craftsmanship have been promoted in the United States. The combination of simple furnaces and personal studios allowed authors to engage in solitary creation, which became a trend—a significant change. The simplified process made it possible for everyone to become an artist. "In the end, we all blew glass bubbles—like chewing gum," recalled artist Norm Schulman, who was there at the right time.