Current & Coming Exhibits
Sibylle Peretti:
Before it Turns to Gold
October 23, 2026 – March 14, 2027
Artist Sibylle Peretti (German, b.1964) explores the discordant relationships between human beings and the natural world, and the challenges associated with achieving unity between the two. Before It Turns to Gold explores Peretti’s fascination with transformation, drawing on memory, dreams, and the natural world to examine the fragile boundary between humans and nature. Through glass, Peretti evokes both the alchemical transformation of raw materials and the possibility of transforming how we understand our relationship to the world around us. Her landscapes and figures inhabit an uncertain space between the real and imagined, inviting viewers to consider belonging, connection, and the possibilities that exist in the moment before transformation is complete
Founding sponsor of Sibylle Peretti: Before it Turns to Gold is Bank of Kaukauna. Additional sponsorship support for the exhibition catalogue is from Art Alliance of Contemporary Glass.
Artist Sibylle Peretti, Artist in Residence at Bullseye Glasss Studio in Portland, OR, 2016
My Hero! – The Multiverse in Glass
Michael Janis & Tony Porto
April 9, 2027 – September 19, 2027
From the collaborative duo of Michael Janis and Tony Porto comes My Hero! – The Multiverse in Glass, an exhibition that reimagines the language of pop culture through kiln-formed, bas relief glass. Using dimensional casting, layered fused glass, embedded print materials, and integrated media, the exhibition explores how heroic archetypes—superheroes, wrestlers, sci-fi icons, animated figures, and toy culture—function as contemporary mythology. Exhibited in the museum’s Wisconsin Gallery.
About the Artists
Michael Janis is a contemporary glass artist whose figurative and narrative works explore identity, memory, and cultural inheritance. Originally trained as an architect, Janis brings structural precision and layered construction to his glass practice, translating graphic imagery into dimensional cast compositions. As Co-Director of the Washington Glass School, Janis has helped expand the dialogue around glass as a conceptual and socially engaged medium. His work is included in major museum collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Fuller Craft Museum, the Tacoma Museum of Glass and the Museum of American Glass, among others.
Tony Porto is a visual storyteller whose work bridges graphic design, collage portraiture, and pop iconography. As co-founder of 3CD, a Chicago-based creative studio focused on content-driven design solutions, Porto has spent more than three decades shaping visual language for brands, publications, and cultural institutions. His creative leadership has resulted in numerous design awards and nationally published projects. Porto holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Alongside his design practice, he creates kinetic collage portraits that explore the individuals and characters who shaped his imagination — from cultural icons to personal heroes.
(Super) Girls’ Night Out, Michael Janis & Tony Porto
Drew Ebelhare:
Where The Flowers Grow
September 11, 2026 – August 15, 2027
Born in 1955, Drew Ebelhare is widely celebrated for his detailed millefiori paperweights. This exhibition highlights a survey of artworks from the artist’s fifty-year career in glassmaking – from early, blown sculpture to explorations in murrine, and collaborations with longtime partner and lampworked Sue Fox (American, 1959-2020). On display in the Mabel R. McClanahan Memorial Study Gallery.
Concentric Millefiori Paperweight, 2007, from the Nostalgia Series, by artist Drew Ebelhare
William Manson:
Shatter The Ordinary
August 7, 2026 – February 7, 2027
William Manson was born in the small town of Wick, Caithness in the far north of Scotland. Growing up, he watched his father create extraordinary works of art from glass. At the age of 14, William tried his hand at lampworking and paperweight-making for the first time. Shatter the Ordinary explores the evolution of the artist’s work while paying tribute to the Scottish paperweight-making tradition.
A Weekend with William Manson
William Manson is the Recipient of the 2025 GLASS Arts Festival First Place Award sponsored by Rosann Baum Milius.
Artist William Manson
Our Time to Shine:
Recent Acquisitions
June 27 – December 31, 2026
Celebrating the completion of the museum’s recent renovation project and in conjunction with the Our Time to Shine campaign, this exhibition features recent acquisitions to the permanent collection. On view in the museum’s Wisconsin Gallery through December 31.