Chrysler Museum’s Glass Exhibition Focuses on Sand and Stories

Atelier NL (founded 2007), Lonny van Ryswyck (Dutch, b. 1978), Nadine Sterk (Dutch, b. 1977), Portrait of the artist-designers Atelier NL, 2017, Courtesy of Atelier NL, Photography by Mike Roelofs, © Mike Roelofs

NORFOLK, Va. (Aug. 8, 2022) – The Chrysler Museum of Art is pleased to present To See a World in a Grain of Sand, an exhibition showcasing the expanding, crowd-sourced art project about sand and glass led by Nadine Sterk and Lonny van Ryswyck of the Dutch design studio Atelier NL, which will be on view August 12, 2022, to January 22, 2023.

With this exhibition, Atelier NL poses the question, “Have you ever truly looked at a grain of sand? Imagined it as a small part of the world, coming from somewhere, going someplace, with its own story to tell?”

For over a decade, Sterk and van Ryswyck have invited people from all over the world to send them a small amount of sand, gathered from a place that holds personal meaning. The designers turn the sand into glass by heating it at very high temperatures, revealing colors and textures that are linked to the geological source of each sample.

This global collaborative project showcases both the richness of the Earth and its potential to yield incredible beauty from the simplest materials. The warm colors of the gathered sands—yellow, red, brown—contrasts with the cool colors—blue, green, aqua—of the glasses that were melted from this raw material. “Glass is naturally tinted blue-green because of the impurities present within its raw materials,” explains Carolyn Swan Needell, Ph.D., the Chrysler’s Carolyn and Richard Barry curator of glass. “While natural sand contains the major building block of glass (silica), it also contains varying amounts of iron and other metal oxides that give glass a particular, subtle range of colors.”

Atelier NL focuses our attention on sand and glass as a way to make visible the intimate relationships people have with the Earth and their local environments. For each sample of sand that is gathered, the designers ask contributors, “What gives this sand meaning for you? Why is it important?” The personal stories that people have shared are as diverse as humankind. Topics touch on the emotional, social, cultural, historical, or environmental significance of a place. Contributors also share a photo of each gathering spot, providing an additional layer of connection and creating a deeper sense of place.

“From students and scientists to neighbors, children, and artists, we bring people into our process. By becoming part of our work, they begin to appreciate the wealth of local areas in new ways and thus identify more deeply with their surroundings,” Sterk and van Ryswyck have said.

The act of gathering sand, and reflecting upon the significance of the material, allows Atelier NL to raise awareness that it is one of the most quickly disappearing natural resources in the world. Their project serves as an archive, with each sand sample being carefully labeled and preserved.

The Chrysler Museum of Art’s exhibition will display examples of glass and glassware created by melting sands collected from around the globe, as well as magnified photographs of sand grains that draw attention to microscopic details of color, shape, and texture to demonstrate the extraordinary diversity of sand as a material.

The exhibition will notably feature some local Virginian sands. With the help of community partners and the authorization of local agencies, including Fort Monroe National Monument, Jamestown Rediscovery, Naval Station (NAVSTA) Norfolk, the Portsmouth Department of Museums and Tourism, and the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, the Chrysler team has gathered several samples from locations within the region for this exhibition to contemplate and celebrate the places we call home. Photographs of the locations where the sands were collected, and personal stories about the significance of these sands, will accompany a display of the actual sand samples and glasses melted from them. All sands were collected with great respect for the environment and adherence to local regulations and with the approval and permission of local authorities. The exhibition will also include experimental glassmaking debris and tools from the Chrysler Museum’s Perry Glass Studio after hosting Nadine Sterk as part of the 2022 Visiting Artist Series from August 18–21.

To See a World in a Grain of Sand is organized by the Chrysler Museum of Art. The exhibition is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the consulate General of the Netherlands in New York and with funds from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass and the Netherlands-America Foundation. The Visiting Artist Series with Nadine Sterk is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the consulate General of the Netherlands in New York and is sponsored in part by the Rutter Family Art Foundation and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.

Programming

Tickle My Ears
Thursday, Aug. 18 at 10:30 a.m.
Free, Recommended for ages 2-5

Imagine if you gathered all of the sand that gets stuck in your shoes after a day at the beach and planted it. What would grow? Join a girl and her brother and explore the possibilities during a reading of Sibylle Delacroix’s Grains of Sand. After the story, look at artwork in galleries and make your own craft.

2022 Visiting Artist Series: Nadine Sterk of Atelier NL

In conjunction with the exhibition, To See a World in a Grain of Sand, Dutch designer Nadine Sterk, of the collaborative duo Atelier NL, will visit the Perry Glass Studio. Using Sterk’s recipes and under her guidance, the Studio team will melt batches of glass made with local sand. With this glass, the team will create works based on Atelier NL’s designs. Sterk’s visit coincides with the United Nation’s declaration of 2022 as the International Year of Glass to celebrate the scientific and artistic sides of the material.

Glass After Dark
Thursday, Aug. 18 at 8 p.m.
$12 for Museum members, $15 for non-members

Hot glass and live music come together for memorable evenings during the Glass Studio’s monthly program, Glass After Dark. Sterk will join the Studio team to explore and demonstrate some of the most fascinating properties and phenomena of glass, including Prince Rupert’s drops, cellophane glass, and fiber optics.

Glassmaking Demonstrations
Friday–Sunday, Aug. 19–21 from 10 a.m.–1p.m. and 2:30–5 p.m.
Free, donations encouraged to support the Visiting Artist Series

Live at the Perry Glass Studio, watch Nadine Sterk of the Dutch design studio Atelier NL work with the Chrysler’s Studio team to melt and blow glass. They will use local Virginia sand, sourced from Hampton under the guidance of Fort Monroe National Monument.

Lecture with the Artist
Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. In-person or via Zoom
Free for Museum members, $5 for non-members

Learn more about the design projects and environmental investigation of earth materials by Atelier NL during a lecture by Nadine Sterk.

Get tickets for Glass After Dark and the lecture online or by calling the Glass Studio Welcome Desk at 757-333-6299.

The Visiting Artist Series with Nadine Sterk is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the consulate General of the Netherlands in New York and is sponsored in part by the Rutter Family Art Foundation and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.

Collecting and Analyzing the Natural World
Saturday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m.
$5 for Museum members, $10 for non-members, Free for students with a valid ID

Join Carolyn Swan Needell, Ph.D., Carolyn and Richard Barry curator of glass and Lloyd DeWitt, Ph.D., chief curator and Irene Leache curator of european art for a dynamic discussion exploring the surprising and illuminating points of connection between the exhibition To See the World in a Grain of Sand and a new gallery installation re-interpreting the historic “cabinet of curiosities.” The designers of Atelier NL collect sand from around the world to compile human and environmental stories while the “Collector’s Cabinet” installation seeks to decolonize collecting tendencies.

To See a World in a Grain of Sand Gallery Talk
Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m.
Free

Tour the exhibition with Carolyn Swan Needell, Ph.D., Carolyn and Richard Barry curator of glass. Discover the beautiful variations of glass objects created from sand that has been collected worldwide, and consider human relationships to place and the environment.

ABOUT THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART

The Chrysler Museum of Art is one of America’s most distinguished mid-sized art museums, with a nationally recognized collection of more than 30,000 objects, including one of the great glass collections in America. The core of the Chrysler’s collection comes from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., an avid art collector who donated thousands of objects from his private collection to the Museum. The Museum has growing collections in many areas and mounts an ambitious schedule of visiting exhibitions and educational programs each season. The Chrysler has also been recognized nationally for its unique commitment to hospitality with its innovative gallery host program.

The Perry Glass Studio is a state-of-the-art facility on the Museum’s campus. The studio offers programming for aspiring and master artists alike in a variety of processes including glassblowing, fusing, flameworking, coldworking and neon.

In addition, the Chrysler Museum of Art administers the Moses Myers House, a historic house in downtown Norfolk, as well as the Jean Outland Chrysler Library. For more information on the Chrysler Museum of Art, visit chrysler.org.

###

For more information, interview assistance, or a high-resolution image suitable for publication, please contact Jordan Fontenot at The Meridian Group at (757) 340-7425 or jordanf@themeridiangroup.com.