April 2013, Page 57

Whitlatch Exhibit Depicts Search For Peace

THE WALLS OF the Jerusalem Fund Gallery in Washington, DC, sparkled with reflective light from the wall sculptures of glass artist Corinne Whitlatch. Titled “Visual Musings on a Search for Peace,” the exhibition reflects her thoughts on peace, musings she contemplates during the many hours she twists, solders and mounts the components of her intricate sculptures. Many of the works contain glass, iron and pottery shards she acquired while traveling in Palestine and the Middle East. She incorporates symbols and icons of the region to speak to universal truths, such as in the piece titled “Bethlehem.” The center of cobalt blue was blown and stamped by the Nitshce family glass-blowing factory in Hebron. The pottery pieces are from the rim of a bowl from Jerusalem’s Balian Armenian pottery studio, with the outer blue rim from a plate made in Hebron. The intertwined stars are a traditional Arab design motif, and the grey glass border reflects the wall that surrounds Bethlehem.

Whitlatch retired in 2007, after serving as executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 20 national Chris­tian organizations in Washington, DC for 21 years. A Quaker craftsman in a church-window production shop in Des Moines, Iowa taught Whitlatch the traditional skills of making stained glass windows in the early 1970s. The Whitlatch exhibit will be on view in the Jerusalem Fund Gallery from April 19 through May 24.

—Dagmar Painter

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