The Salmon School: Class Session
Photo by C.B. Bell.
The Salmon School is presented as a temporary sculpture of up to 600 mirrored glass forms suspended in air to compose a school of fish. First exhibited in the Pacific Northwest at Bellevue Arts Museum, The Salmon School aims to shed light on maritime and riverine environmental DNA projects and salmon conservation. This exhibition has traveled internationally and been exhibited in such places as Balmoral Castle and the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UN COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland in November, 2021. Through its travels, The Salmon School has created strong partnerships between arts, cultural, and environmental organizations.
Host Katie Buckingham (Curator, Museum of Glass) interviews artist Joseph Rossano (Founder, The Salmon School) and Ben Cobb (Hot Shop Director, Museum of Glass; Production Director, The Salmon School).
JOSEPH GREGORY ROSSANO
Joseph Rossano (American, 1962) is a multidisciplinary artist, environmentalist, and outdoorsman. His work explores themes of natural history, extinction, taxonomy, and conservation in the genres of assemblage and installation art. Rossano is known for manufacturing environments incorporating wood, photography, technology, and glass. Through the creation of collectives, including artists, scholars, scientists, and industry, Rossano presents contemporary histories, revealing human interaction with species throughout recorded time.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.
BEN COBB
Through 25 years of working in glass, Benjamin Cobb has honed his mastery of glass, traveled across the globe, and worked with hundreds of artists. Cobb has been a demonstrating artist at glass studios as far afield as Sweden, the Czech Republic, Italy, and France. He is a recognizable leader and voice in the glass community and has contributed to the success of countless works of art. Cobb is the long-time director of the Museum of Glass Hot Shop.
In his own work, Cobb draws inspiration from the natural world and scientific process. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Glass, the Museum of Northwest Art, and in galleries across the country.
KATIE BUCKINGHAM, HOST
Katie Buckingham is Curator at Museum of Glass and would argue that she has one of the best jobs at MOG: developing exhibitions, researching collections, and coordinating the Visiting Artist Residency Program. She supports our local museum community as the past President of the Washington Museum Association.
Photo courtesy of Katie Buckingham.