Nick Kekic, Chester glass artist, chosen for annual Smithsonian Craft Show D.C. show highlights finest North American crafts people
Cynthia Prairie | Apr 23, 2024 | Comments 4
Opaque works by Nick Kekic. All images courtesy Nick Kekic of Kekic Glass.
By Cynthia Prairie
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC
Kekic working in his studio.
Only one other Vermont artist was chosen for the show and she also works in glass. Randi Solin of Brattleboro is a return artist to the Smithsonian show. Some of her work is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and in the White House’s permanent collection as well as in nine U.S. embassies.
Kekic is known for his brilliantly colorful, delicate and functional pieces including pendant lights, water pitchers, opaque bowls and vases and frosted works.
Following a devastating fire in 2017 at his Chester studio, Kekic moved his work space to a former paper mill in Bellows Falls that runs on hydroelectric power. On his website, Kekic writes, “I invested in an electric glass furnace, moved equipment and built a new studio in a groovy renovated industrial space. I now use renewable energy from the Connecticut River to melt and cool my glasswork, shrinking my carbon footprint and reducing energy costs while continuing to make refined beautiful art glass from raw earth materials.”
Kekic told The Telegraph that he has applied to be part of the show “in years past but (had) never gotten in. … It’s a juried show, with lots of applicants” but only 120 are chosen.
Kekic with one of his works at recent show.
With the theme of this year’s show ‘Creating Joy,’ Kekic believes his art is a great fit. “My work is generally colorful and retains a certain playfulness that might fit their theme this year. … my glass work is known for its bright festive colors, its refined forms that are elegant in their simplicity and many with a root in functionality.”
As for being chosen for the Smithsonian show, Kekic says, “This is a world class show … I think the Smithsonian is one of the highest honors.”
He added, “It’s not hard to have some degree of expectation. As an artist, we are always looking for some degree of validation” whether it is praise or purchase. Kekic said that even though he was worked in the field “every day for 30 years … you also go into any show wondering if your work will be accepted or not. … I’m also working very hard at it and stressed about it. I’m dealing with a shoulder injury because I have really thrown myself into this.” He’ll continue to work hard since he is figuring to take 60 to 75 pieces “in varying sizes and price points” down to D.C.
Kekic is a third-generation glassworker, who “grew up around glass.” His grandfather, he says, “was a glass technician at GE in Cleveland, Ohio, and my father (who died in 1984) was the first glass teacher at RIT in Rochester, N.Y. I … started working with it myself when I was 19 years old.”
To honor his family’s legacy, Kekic decided to change the name of his studio from Tsuga Studio to Kekic Glass. “I’d like to think my dad would be super proud of me,” Kekic adds.
The Smithsonian Women’s Committee produces the annual event, which celebrates the finest in American contemporary craft and design, to help fund Smithsonian museums, galleries, research facilities and the National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute for projects that could otherwise not take place. Says show co-chair Nancy Newkirk, these Smithsonian projects “support innovative education, enhance knowledge, research and outreach in areas of culture, arts, mysteries of the universe, biodiversity and the American experience.”
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Congratulations, Nick. So well deserved. You are very talented and your accomplishment speaks for itself. Enjoy your time in D.C.
Lynn and John Russell
Congratulations Nick, so happy to hear you were accepted into this very prestigious juried show — a well-deserved honor. Your beautiful pieces will WOW those attending the show. I’m sure you won’t have much packing up to do when the show ends. I wish I had gotten to see your new studio before we moved. So happy for your continued success.
Best regards to a brilliant artist.
Kathy Pellett
Congratulations Nick. This well deserved recognition. Bonnie and I hope you do well. the Smithsonian is an awesome place.
Wish we could see it again.
Congratulations Nick – Well deserved inclusion in the Smithsonian show! I hope you sell out!