Seattle, WA – May 13, 2005 – Seattle artist Cappy Thompson, known for her luminous stained glass and painted vessels, has been selected as the tenth artist to receive the Libenský Award. Thompson will receive the award during a black-tie dinner benefiting Pilchuck Glass School at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville on Friday, June 24, 2005.

Thompson was selected by a committee of her peers to receive this year’s Libenský Award for her important contributions to the American Studio Glass Movement as well as to Pilchuck Glass School. Her work marries the ancient forms of painting on stained glass and on glass vessels with imagery equally rooted in antiquity and modernity to create masterful picture-poems. Colorful, richly imaginative, and drawing on influences ranging from Aesop’s fables to elements of her daily life, Thompson’s works are in private collections and larger-than-life public installations. One recent commission, a 33-foot by 90-foot window wall comprised of 53 panes of hand-painted glass entitled I Was Dreaming of Spirit Animals . . . . , greets millions of travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s new south concourse with its image of a couple asleep under a night sky populated with the animal constellations described by the ancient Greeks.

“You know,” Thompson reflects, “it has been exciting to be a part of the Studio Glass movement.” Thompson downplays her influence on the growth of this movement. “Glass is such a profound medium. Its potential has yet to be exhausted by artists. Glass will continue to inspire artistic creation, just as artistic creation will continue to inspire us.”

A Washington native who was graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, in 1976, Thompson’s influence as an artist reaches well beyond the Pacific Northwest. She has taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology, the California College of the Arts, the Canberra School of Art in Australia, the Centro del Arte Vitro in Monterrey, Mexico, Pilchuck Glass School and Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. In addition to her public commissions, her work is held by the Museum of Arts & Design (New York), the Corning Museum of Glass (Corning), the Tacoma Art Museum, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth.

Pilchuck Glass School, Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, and renowned Czech artists Stanislav Libenský (1921 – 2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová established the Libenský Award in 1997. Designed as a prestigious prize in the world of contemporary glass art, the Libenský Award distinguishes extraordinary artistic talent and acknowledges high achievement. Pilchuck Glass School, with its expertise in contemporary glass art and extensive contacts within this community of artists, coordinates the determination of the next award. Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery provides sponsorship for the vintner’s dinner held in its corporate dining room. Previous Libenský Award recipients include Dale Chihuly, William Morris, Lino Tagliapietra, Ginny Ruffner, Dan Dailey, Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick, Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, Italo Scanga (1932-2001), and Richard Marquis.

Dale Chihuly, with the support of patrons Anne Gould Hauberg and John H. Hauberg (1916-2002), founded Pilchuck Glass School in 1971. Chihuly envisioned a retreat that would offer artists an opportunity to work with and learn about glass. Amid the spectacular beauty of the Pacific Northwest, Chihuly’s vision became a shared reality for thousands of artists and patrons throughout the world. In just thirty-five years, Pilchuck has become the largest and most comprehensive international educational center for artists working in glass.

For more information about or to purchase tickets for the Libenský Award Gala dinner, contact Pilchuck Glass School at (206) 621-8422.

To learn more about Cappy Thompson and her artwork, please visit her Web site at www.cappythompson.com.

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