6. the Houston Glass Artists Association

In 1977, Gene Hester, a friend who does stained glass (and now fused glass) and Marc and I co-founded the Houston Glass Artists Association.  The way this came about was Gene was offered exhibition space at a bank downtown but he didn’t have enough work to fill the space.  So he came to us and another artist and we planned an exhibition.  We thought it would sound more professional and impressive if we had a fancy name so we called it the HGAA.  We did framed panels and somehow hung them in the space.  We did this another year and the third year we decided to open the exhibition to other glass artists in the area.  Thus began our co-presidency with Gene that lasted til around 1982 when the members had a revolt and wanted to elect their leaders.  The stained glass retailers took over and we left it to them.  It wasn’t that we weren’t interested if we couldn’t be in charge, it was that the focus of the group changed.  They sponsored several more exhibitions but I think the group finally petered out in 1985.