Kevin Kutch/ Mary Ellen Buxton

Kevin Kutch and Mary Ellen Buxton’s partnership began at Metropolitan State Collage in Denver, where Kevin received his BA in sculpture in 1977 and Mary Ellen hers in Printmaking and Art Education in 1976. By 1978 they had married but both chose to pursue separate careers in the arts. As manager of Blake St. Glass, the Denver studio of artists Kit Karbler and Michael David, Kevin directed his sculptural skills toward mastering cold-glass technology and learning glassblowing. His sculptures combining glass, cold-glass technology and metals were displayed in a number of regional exhibits. Mary Ellen went on to employ her artistic abilities as a teaching artist by developing and implementing an arts curriculum in the Adams County #12 School District Alternative School for disenfranchised students. Meanwhile, she indulged her interests in handmade paper as a print form, weaving and wearable wool felt. Her multi-media wall relief’s combining these elements saw considerable regional and national exposure. The Buxton-Kutches moved from Colorado to New York City in 1991, when Kevin accepted an invitation from the New York Experimental Glass Workshop (now Urban Glass) to be its new studio director. He worked there with some of the world’s leading glass artists – Dale Chihuly, Richard Marquis, Lino Tagliapietra, Danta Marioni and Bertil Vallien among them – and oversaw NYEGW’s move to it’s new Brooklyn home. His responsibilities included training scheduling personnel and managing the 17,000sq/ft. open-door facility as well as organizing special events and public demonstrations with the artists. Mary Ellen continued her teaching at Parsons School of Design, Horizons Craft Program, Brookfield Craft Center and the New York Public Schools’ Manhattan Village Academy while managing the Flickinger Glassworks, a custom glass bending (slumping) firm in Brooklyn. The ultimate partnership was cemented in May of 1994, when Kevin and Mary Ellen proudly opened a studio of their own, joining other pioneering young artists along the decaying Red Hook waterfront of Brooklyn. Here, at the studio, they design and blow thick-walled, multi colored, multiple-bubbled functional glass sculpture. Theirs is essentially a liquid medium and an excellent one for discovery. Through it, artist and viewer alike can enjoy exploring the all-too-human fascination with light and color. With deceptively simple designs, Kevin and Mary Ellen bend light and manipulate perception in fine glass sculpture. Their works are featured in national and international galleries, exhibitions and private and public collections. Kevin and Mary Ellen are versatile artists and have worked together in partnership for over 25 years. For more than a decade, we have been collaborating with our designs creating blown and cut sculpture. One reason for creating gem-like sculpture is our fascination with glass’s ability to reflect, refract, and magnify light. A variety of blowing techniques help us to realize this fascination, and manipulate the glass into each visualized sculpture. Recently we have been developing individual bodies of work with other glass technologies and mixed-medias. These ideas include kiln formed woven structures, and sand-cast cubistic figures. Our work is exhibited in national and international galleries. Commissions are also on display in private homes and public sectors. Mary Ellen Buxton Education University of Tennessee, University of Colorado, University of Denver, Colorado State University 1982-89 (Graduate Work) Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO, BA Fine Art/Printmaking, Art Education, 1976 Experience 1994—Present Pier Glass, Partner, co-owner, Brooklyn, NY (Specialty Art Glass, Public and Private Commissions, Consulting and prototype services) 1993—1995 Flickinger Glassworks, Studio Manager, Brooklyn, NY 1977—1992 Adams County School District #12, Art Educator, Northglenn, CO Developed and implemented a diverse arts curriculum Kevin Kutch Education Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO, Certification, Art Education-Secondary, 1981 Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO, BA Fine Arts/Sculpture, 1977 Experience 1994—Present Pier Glass, Partner, co-owner, Brooklyn, NY (Specialty Art Glass, Public and Private Commissions, Consulting and prototype services) 1991—1994 New York Experimental Glass Workshop (Urban Glass), NY, Studio Director and General Facility Manager Organizing special events and public demonstrations with international artists 1981—1991 Blake Street Glass, Denver, CO, General Manager