Glass pumpkins offer innovative designs

Bloomington residents perused a whole new variety of fall decorations Saturday while live performances and activities from the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival echoed from Third Street Park.\nThe Bloomington Area Arts Council took over the front lawn of the Monroe County Courthouse, offering more than 1,200 hand-blown glass pumpkins priced from $40 to $200 for the Glass Pumpkin Patch Festival.\nCalifornia-based David Camner and the artists of Blind Dog Glass presented the pieces.\nBlind Dog Glass is a nonprofit group that raises money for art scholarships and artistic education programs.\nLiz Larson, a volunteer from the arts council, said she was pleased with the outcome of the event.\n"People seem much more willing to contribute money and buy a pumpkin because of the worthy cause that they are donating to," she said. \nThis was the first time Blind Dog Glass has put on an event like this in the Midwest, said Bloomington artist Jeremy Sweet, who works in collaboration with Camner and Blind Dog Glass.\n"I think we're all pretty pleased that (the organization) decided to start here in Bloomington," Sweet said. "This is a perfect weekend for an event like this, and we've gotten a lot of positive feedback about the quality of the pieces from viewers."\nDiana Humphrey, a professor at the Kelley School of Business who was downtown this weekend for the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival with her family, said she couldn't help but stop by and browse through the pumpkins.\n"I was surprised to see some of my students who came out to look around," she said. "These pieces are truly innovative."\nBlind Dog Glass created more than 1,200 hand-blown pumpkins on which artists use between 1,500 and 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit of heat, Sweet said. While the glass is still hot, artists blow it into an "optic mold" which makes ribs in the glass. The pumpkins take 15 to 30 minutes to make depending on the size and amount of color, though making all of them together took almost a year and a team of three to four artists.\nRepresentatives from Blind Dog Glass will take their exhibit to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis on Friday for a private viewing. Pieces will also be publicly displayed from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday in Nashville, Ind. at the Salt Creek Golf Retreat Fall Festival.