Seattle,
WA - March 25, 2008 Ralph Bufano has been
retained as interim executive director of Pilchuck
Glass School, effective May 2008. He will succeed
executive director Patricia Watkinson, who retires
from the position May 16. Bufano is a 38-year veteran
of museum and arts management - he led Seattle's Museum
of Flight to great success from 1991 to 2005.
Patricia Wallace, president of Pilchuck Glass School
Board of Trustees, also announced the selection of the
executive search firm, DHR International, to conduct the
search for Watkinson's permanent successor. Ms. Wallace
said "Ralph Bufano will oversee Pilchuck's operations
while we search for the next executive director. We are
delighted to have someone of his caliber and experience
to guide us through this transition and to continue the
great work that Patricia Watkinson has done."
A former program director for Corning Glass Center and
Museum, Bufano was the director/curator of the Paine Art
Center and Arboretum in Oshkosh, Wisc. for 12 years.
Subsequent positions included vice president of the EAA
Aviation Foundation, president of the Kansas City Museum
and executive director of the Ward Foundation Museum.
Bufano studied fine arts at the University of Minnesota
and attended Harvard University's Institute in Arts
Administration. In 2005 Mr. Bufano started Bufano
Management Company to consult for museums and other not
for profit organizations.
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Founded in 1971 by Dale Chihuly, Anne Gould Hauberg and
John H. Hauberg (1916-2002), Pilchuck Glass School is an
international center for glass art education. Located on
a former tree farm in Stanwood, Washington, Pilchuck
sponsors three-week workshops each summer in a broad
spectrum of glass techniques as well as residencies for
emerging and established artists working in all media.
Pilchuck welcomes over 500 artists annually as the world's
most comprehensive school for artists working in glass.
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Pilchuck Glass School receives generous annual support
from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Washington
State Arts Commission, PONCHO, The Paul G. Allen Family
Foundation, the Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation, the
Corning Incorporated Foundation, the Jean K. Lafromboise
Foundation, the Laila Twigg-Smith Fund of the Hawai'i
Community Foundation and many generous individuals.
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