Kate Vogel and John Littleton
John Littleton and Kate Vogel’s collaboration began shortly after they met at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Since 1979 they have lived in the vibrant Toe River Arts community that surrounds Penland School in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Their art has taken many directions over the years and at the core of it all is their collaboration and shared lives. Their creations communicate and record their interrelationship with the world, creating powerful works from whimsical to introspective.
“Our years of collaboration have been a journey of discovery: creating pieces together, working to make the sculptures unfold and evolve, and dreaming of the next piece. Our ideas are generated by the flow of making and our shared curiosity and wonder of the world (and people) around us—how it works, changes, and evolves. Collaboration brings our individual sensibilities together to generate something neither of us would have made alone.”
John and Kate lecture at art museums and universities, and have taught at Penland School of Crafts. Their work is in numerous public and private collections in the United States, and throughout the world. They have been included in articles in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, CBS Sunday Morning and NC Weekend UNCTV.
COLLECTIONS
Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, Lafayette, IN
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
Asheville Art Museum – Asheville, NC
Barry Art Museum – Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA
Bergstrom Mahler Museum Neenah, WI
Christian Brothers University – Memphis, TN
Corning Museum of Glass – Corning, NY
Federal Reserve Bank Charlotte, NC
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
Foundation for the Carolina’s, Charlotte, NC
Glasmuseum Ebeltoft Ebeltoft, Denmark
Glasmuseum Frauenau Frauenau, Germany
Guilford College Art Gallery Permanent Collection Greensboro, NC
The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI
Hickory Museum of Art – Hickory, NC
High Museum of Art Atlanta, GA
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
Imagine Museum, St Petersburg, FL
Milwaukee Art Museum Milwaukee, WI
Mint Museum Charlotte, NC
Mobile Museum of Art – Mobile, AL
Musee de design et d’arts Appliques contemporains – Lausanne, Switzerland
The Museum of Fine Art – Houston, TX
Muskegon Museum of Art – Muskegon, MI
North Carolina Museum of History – Raleigh, NC
Racine Art Museum – Racine, WI
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL
The Saint Louis Art Museum St. Louis, MO
The University of Michigan Dearborn Permanent Art Collection, Library – Dearborn, MI
OberGlas Museum Barnbach, Austria
New Orleans Museum of Art New Orleans, LA
The White House Collection, The Clinton Library – Little Rock, AR
SELECTED SOLO COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS
2017 Fused Expression, Sam and Beverly Ross Gallery, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN
2008 Hodgell Gallery, Sarasota, FL
2005 Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston-Salem, NC
2003 Philabaum Gallery, Tucson Arizona
2001 “Clarity Imprisoned”, Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
2000 Collaboration, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC
The Hope Collection, Santa Fe, NM
1998 “Twenty Years of Collaboration”, sponsored by Vogel Bros. Building Co. and Quality Inn South, Madison, WI.
1996 R. Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO.
1994 Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
1993 “Littleton Vogel” Vespermann Glass Gallery, Atlanta, GA, ’88,’90
1992 Art Elements Gallery, Mequon, Wisconsin.
The Glass Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
“A Decade of Collaboration” Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
1989 The Glass Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
1988 The Riley Hawk Galleries, Columbus and Cleveland, OH
D. Erlien Fine Arts Ltd., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1986 “Aqua Flora Series” Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1985 Habatat Galleries, Lathrup Village, MI.
1984 Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1983 “Bag and Shard Series” Habatat Galleries, Lathrup Village, MI.
1980 “Soft Forms” Contemporary Art Glass Group, New York, NY.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Momentum Gallery, Asheville, NC
Horizons, As above, So below, Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA 2019
47th, glass International also 44th, 45th, 46th,, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oaks, MI 2016-19
Sculptural Objects & Functional Art (S.O.F.A.) Chicago, IL 1988-2018
Wisconsin Ideas, Global Influences Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass Neenah, WI
2018 Organic Form: Works inspired by Nature, Blue Spiral1 Asheville, NC
Fire from the Mountains, glass and steel, David McCune International Art Gallery, Methodist
University, Fayetteville, NC
2017 Searching for Excellence, Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass, Neenah, WI 2017-18
From the Fire, Cameron Museum of Art, Wilmington, NC
Fire and Flame, Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC
45th International , Habatat Galleries, Royal Oaks, MI
Making it in the Crafts III, Art Museum of Greater Lafayette, Lafayette, IN
2016 Invitational, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
44th International, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oaks, MI
Artfields, Lake City, SC
2015 Summer Salon, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
“Furnace and Flame”, Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg, SC
“Wax” Toe River Arts Council, Spruce Pine, NC
“Sculptural Objects & Functional Art” (S.O.F.A.)
Chicago, IL 1988-2015 New York, NY, ‘98-‘07,
Miami, Fl ‘94-99 Palm Beach 3, SOFA, Palm
Beach, FL ‘06-’08, Maurine Littleton Gallery
2014 “South by Southeast, Masters of Studio Glass”, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Al
“Spaces Within” Waterworks Visual Arts Center, Salisbury, NC
2013 “Igneous Expressions”, Methodist University David McCune International Art Gallery, Fayetteville, NC
Invitational, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
2012 “Fire on the Mountain”, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
“Global & Local”, Museum of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, FL
“Spark and Flame”, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI
“North Carolina Glass 2012”, The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee,NC
“The Legacy of Littleton and his Students”, Bergstrom-Mahler, Neenah WI
2011 Modern and Contemporary Art, Kennesaw State
University Art Museum and Galleries, GA
2010 Out of the Board Room & Into the Studio, Center for Craft Creativity & Design, Hendersonville, NC
For Real? Art of Deception, The Galleries, Concord, NC
2009 Fall Salon, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
2008 SOFA, New York, R. Duane Reed Gallery
NC Glass, Blue Spiral1, Asheville, NC
2006 Art Miami, R. Duane Reed Gallery, Miami, FL ‘05
2005 Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, Boone, NC
North Carolina Glass The Cutting Edge, Alamance County Arts Council, Graham, NC
Palm Beach 3, West Palm Beach, FL, R Duane Reed Gallery
Western North Carolina Legacy of Glass, Asheville Area Arts Council, Asheville, NC
North Carolina Glass The Cutting Edge II, Alamance County Arts Council, Graham, NC
2004 Power of Excellence, PCI 40th Anniversary, South East Center for the Arts, Winston-Salem, NC
Art Form, and Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL, & Miami, FL, 02-04 represented by R.
Duane Reed Gallery
Gather Round the Table, Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC
Hickory Museum of Art 60th Anniversary Exhibit and Auction, Hickory, NC
Couples, Tobin Hewett Gallery, Louisville, KY
“The White House Collection of American Craft” (touring since 1994): National Museum of
American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Memorial Art Gallery, The University of Rochester ’95,
American Craft Museum, Museum of Fine Arts MA, ’96, Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, Art
Museum of Western Virginia, The Colby College Museum of Art, ’97, Tampa Museum of Art,
Delaware Art Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, The Mint Museum of Craft & Design, ’99,
Decorative Arts Museum, Arkansas Arts Center, ’02, The University of Michigan Museum of Art,
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwest University, ’03, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, ‘04
2003 The Visible Man, Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, Denmark
New 3, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
2002 Featured Artist, Edgewood Orchard Galleries, Fish Creek, WI,
Passionate Collectors, Sonia & Isaac Luski Collection, Gallery of Art and Art & Design, NC,
State University, Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC,
2001 “From Wrought to Raw”, Museum of Early Trades & Craft, Madison, NJ.
Married to Glass, Philabaum Gallery, Tucson, AZ
Fire and Ice, William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, VA
Off the Beaten Path, Glass Artist of the Penland Area, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
1999 “Calido” (touring since 1996) Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ; Mississippi Museum of Art,
Jackson, MS; Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI.
Art in Embassies Program Hong Kong, Gabon, Africa, Muscat, Libreville, Brussels, Belgium ‘96-‘99, ’87 ’89. Bosnia
1997 “Glass Profile ’97” R. Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO.1985
1996 “Artists of Penland” Fine Arts Gallery Kennesaw State College, Kennesaw, GA.”
Southwest Invitational IX: Homo Vitreus” Philabaum Contemporary Art Glass, Tucson, AZ.
“The Glasmuseum: The First 10 Years” Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark.
1995 “Generations: Harvey Littleton, John Littleton and Kate Vogel” Southern Highlands Craft Guild,
Folk Art Center, Asheville, NC.
“North Carolina Glass” Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark.
“Southeastern Glass” Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
“Reflections on a Higher Plane” Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, NC.
“Dancing in A Garden of Light: The Luski Collection” (touring since 1993) Virginia Beach
Center for the Arts, Virginia Beach, VA; Museum of York County, Rock Hill, SC; Hickory Museum
of Art, Hickory, NC; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC; Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC;
1994 “Littleton Homecoming Exhibition” Gallery 323, Madison, WI.
“Gala 94”, National Invitational Art Exhibition, Brenau University, Gainesville, GA (1st Place Award Glass and Clay).
“Collective Brilliance: Contemporary Glass” Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA.
“Glass Today” Edgewood, Orchard Galleries, Fish Creek, Wisconsin (also 1981 1993).
“The Donald and Carol Wiiken Collection”, University of Michigan Dearborn Library, Dearborn, MI.
“Tradition and Transformation: A Dialogue on North Carolina Craft”, Wellington B. Gray Gallery,
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
“North Carolina Glass Reunion”, Blue Spiral I, Asheville, NC. “Tiffany to Ben Tre’:
A Century of Glass”, Milwaukee Museum, Milwaukee, WI.
1993 “New Art Forms” Exhibition, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL,’87-’92.
1992 “Collectors’ Choice” Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL. Mail Box Auction, Archives of American Art,
The Smithsonian Institution, Southfield, MI.
1991 Tenth Annual International Glass Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Boca Raton, FL.
1990 “Translucence: North Carolina Art Glass and Tapestry” Galaxo, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC.
“North Carolina Glass ’90” (also 1988,1986,1984) Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC,
Exhibition toured Germany, Austria, Switzerland, & Holland.
1988 “Small Scale Detail”, Habitat Galleries, Lathrup Village, MI (also 1987).
1987 “Erlesenes Kunsthandwerk”, Museum im Schloss, Bad Pyrmont, Germany.
“Glass”, Galerie Gottschalk Betz, Frankfurt, Germany.
“Liquid Light” Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston Salem, NC.
1986 Second Juried Exhibition of North Carolina Crafts (HONORABLE MENTION), North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC.
“The New Aesthetic Glass”, Habatat Galleries, Bay Harbor Island, FL (also 1985)
National Glass Exhibition, Habatat Galleries, Lathrup Village, MI (also 1980 1985).
1985 Northern Telecom’s Fourth Annual Exhibition of North Carolina Sculpture, Northern Telecom, Research Triangle Park, NC (1984 PURCHASE AWARD).
“Glass America”, Heller Gallery, New York, NY
1984 “Collaborations” Southeast Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, NC.
1983 “Three Generations in Glass”, Heller Gallery, New York, NY.
1982 “Six Directions in Glass”, Heller Gallery, New York, NY.
1980 “Masters and Their Students”, Renwick Galleries, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.
LECTURES/Talks/Interviews (recent)
2019 Morris Art Museum, Augusta, GA,
Portsmouth Cultural Arts Center
Fire Fest, Star, NC,
Habatat International, Detroit, MI
Teleconference, The History, Harvey To Today, Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass
Muse, UNCTV segment on Center for Craft
2017 Cameron Museum of Art, Wilmington, NC,
Center for Craft, Asheville, NC
2016 Art Fields, Lake City, SC
2015 Carder Steuben Society, Corning, NY,
Rembrandt Club, Pamona,CA
2014 Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
2013 Bergstrom Mahler Glass Museum, Neenah, WI
2012 Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
2012 Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA,
SELECTED MEDIA FEATURES
2018 Carolina Home and Garden July 2018
2014 Winston-Salem Journal February 5th 2014.
2013 UNCTV NC Weekend November 7 and 8th 2013
2012 UNCTV North Carolina Weekend May 31st 2012
2008 Featured Artists in The Blue Ridge Parkway- America’s Favorite Journey, Film – 2008,
2007 Art of the Times – March 2007. Florida Design – vol. 17#3.
2004 Weekend extra, Courier Journal, Louisville, KY – Jan. 9, 2004,
2001 Independent Tribune, Concord, Kannapolis, NC – March 7th, 2001
2000 Pasatiempo, The Santa Fe New Mexican – Dec.15th,
American Style. Art in The Embassies – Fall 2000.
1997 Southern Living, Carolina Living section, Dec., 1997
1996 The State Magazine, September 1996
1995 Art Papers ¬October 1995.
Asheville Citizen Times, May 21, 1995
Christian Science Monitor, May 18, 1995
Washington Post, April 27, 1995
CBS Sunday Morning, April 22, 1995
1993 New York Times, December 23, 1993
1992 Winston Salem Journal October 4, 1992
1983 New York Times, April 7, 1983