Millville's arts district finally lives up to name

Millville's downtown was named the Glasstown Arts District to celebrate the city's rich glassmaking history.

Aside from a few shows and the occasional piece on display, however, glass as an art form has been relatively absent from the district.

Today, two galleries specializing in glass art will open, giving the arts district permanent showcases for several glass media.

Tucked away in the Village on High, Diane Brunetta showed off the evolution of 15 years of experience in stained glass art hanging on her wall. Although her work often incorporates designs of traditional stained glass, she said she would categorize herself, if she has to, as a modern stained-glass artist.

A piece on the wall at the Cedar Creek Stained Glass Gallery - one, like all the others, that she conceptualized and mapped out in a laborious process - incorporates positive and negative space to create a sort of three-dimensional effect.

Another piece, a cascade of geometry, is an abstract building, another looks like a landscape. Still other pieces incorporate the uniform symmetry that is common among traditional stained glass art.

Brunetta was content with working out of her home studio but at the urging of friends decided to open a small gallery to showcase her art.

"I enjoy doing it. I'm putting it out there, and I think people do want to see it," she said. "I'm dead beat but excited. I've gotten really good feedback, and there's been a lot of positive energy."

She also is excited that her location is opening alongside another High Street glass gallery.

The thing about glass art, Brunetta said, is the variety: There is stained glass, blown glass, kiln glass, glass jewelry, glass marbles and countless other glass forms that artists create.

Just a few blocks down the street, friends of Scott Meyer worked on the cosmetic features of his new gallery and glass workshop. The space is called Glasstown Art Glass and will feature Meyer's work as well as well as the work of other artists.

The gallery will be open to guests today during Third Friday but will not celebrate its grand opening until September. The space includes a workshop with everything Meyer needs to create glass art, including a furnace that reaches 2,400 degrees and can hold as much as 200 pounds of molten glass.

Meyer's brother, Mike Meyer, has been helping him get ready for the opening. He was surprised to find that glass art has not been more prevalent downtown.

"This is the first time there's actually going to be a glassmaker downtown in the Glasstown Arts District," he said.

Wheaton Arts, a popular tourist destination, produces glass art. Some of its artists have become world-renown for their work, which has included glass paper weights, ornaments, vases and other decorative items. Wheaton Arts, however, is far removed from the downtown.

Brunetta said the addition of two glass galleries downtown will add to the area's appeal. She said people are drawn to the color and the craft and the style of glass art, as she was.

As a child growing up in Millville Brunetta learned from Pat Witt, Millville's reigning artist laureate. Throughout the years, she has painted and even spent time as a potter. When she left the business world and moved to Cape Cod 15 years ago, however, she found her passion lie in stained glass.

Opening a gallery is the culmination of her years of work, she said: "This really is a life dream of mine."