I'm Haylie Robinson, and I'm a former fair queen full of wanderlust.

I explore art, culture, community, heritage, history and more.

One festival at a time.

I invite you to join me in finding festivals.

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Toledo.

More than you ever imagined.

Learn more at visittoledo.org.

Toledo is known as The Glass City.

And on the third weekend of September, they come together to celebrate the local art scene at Momentum.

And this year is an International Year of Glass.

Since 1888, Glass has been manufactured in Toledo, Ohio, and the city is recognized as the epicenter of the industry, celebrating the essential role Glass has in our society.

2022 was declared the United Nations International Year of Glass.

Who better to learn about the glass industry from than the manager of business development at Pilkington?

Kyle Sword.

What exactly is this?

It's glistening all around us.

But where are we?

Kyle Sword: What you see behind us is our call it field.

So this is a lot of the broken glass that we can't make into Regular windshields or regular windows will break.

We'll bring it back out here, and then we reenter, introduce that into the furnace as a raw material once it's done.

Haylie Robinson: Okay, so this is raw material or it was once in the furnace and now it kind of just gets repurposed.

Yep.

Kyle Sword: Yeah.

So we recycle 100% of the glass that we can't use internally.

We put it into the furnace and use it as a raw material.

Haylie Robinson: Now, Toledo has a sub name of the Glass City.

And we're celebrating the International Year of Glass.

But how long has Toledo been making glass?

Kyle Sword: So Edward Drummond Libby came here a few years prior to Edward Ford.

I don't know the exact dates, but like 1870s or something like that.

And since that time, you know, dozens of different glass companies have actually started right here in the city of Toledo.

A lot of the businesses there started were actually accidents.

You know, they were trying to make something else.

And by accident, they created this thing and then it started this into an entire other industry.

So really, the foundations of glass manufacturing and technology innovation are really deep within the city here.

Haylie Robinson: I it sounds like it.

So there's a lot of experimenting.

If you're having mistakes, turn into successes.

Right?

Right.

That doesn't happen in every industry.

Know.

Now, you had mentioned before filming that glass from here can be seen all over the country.

Kyle Sword: Yeah.

So glass from this factory.

You know, when we started here making float glass actually was plate glass.

And the 18 1898 plate glass was one of the three things that you needed to make high rises.

So you needed elevators, you needed air conditioning, and you needed a plate glass.

Plate glass was required because it was strong enough to withstand the wind loads at high elevations.

So from 1900 to 1960, essentially the glass from this building is in about one in three buildings that were built during that time.

And then for vehicles, we were instrumental in the development of the windshield.

We developed the laminated glass process right here in Toledo, and we sourced about three quarters of the vehicles that went into World War Two with all the glass.

I mean, three quarters of the vehicles from the World War Two came out of this plant.

It was as crazy when you think about the scale of all the things that have happened here.

Haylie Robinson: There was there's a lot of vehicles used in that war.

Right.

So and it was all made here.

In addition to, you know, we learned previously that we had Jeep being here, too.

So you guys kind of work together.

And Play-Doh was just manufacturing the vehicles used in that time.

Yep.

Kyle Sword: That's very cool.

Yeah.

And people just finding a way to create new ideas, come up with innovations, get things done, make products create for the world.

I mean, that's what we're known for.

But, you know, a lot of people today, what I found is they're just not familiar with the history.

They know it's called the Glass City, but they don't know why.

So that's why when the U.N. announced that 2022 was going to be the International Year Glass, I thought this is the perfect opportunity for the city.

Literally, UN is taking our product and putting it on a platform.

So how can we not celebrate this?

People look through glass and they take it for granted because it's transparent and it's invisible.

And so most of the value that gets created, people are just like, Oh yeah, you know, it's just glass.

You don't realize all these amazing things that actually happened because you have glass, all these different products in life.

So again, it's a really nice opportunity just to say let's celebrate the value that we create for the world.

So there's a great opportunity for the city and for our company.

Haylie Robinson: Absolutely.

And it even went a little further because our local art festival kind of honed in on that.

And we're celebrating glass for momentum, right?

Kyle Sword: Yep.

And we created a program that's called Momentum Intersection as a part of that, and that's a collaboration between our company and the art commission in the city where we give artists our glass and say, create something cool with it.

People from all over the country are coming here to figure out like, what sort of innovation can they do with our products?

And honestly, I'm blown away every year at the level of talent and the detail that they come up with on these creative creations.

Haylie Robinson: Wow.

So they get to kind of come and see how their medium is made so that they're they're even inspired more.

So, yeah.

Kyle Sword: It's funny because I never realized that.

But like the the access that artists have to glass a lot of times can be limited to blown glass.

There's lots of things that they can do with that.

But just general glass products that used for industrial applications aren't readily accessible to artists.

So what we do is we give them an opportunity to say whatever glass you want to play with, whatever size you want to play with or help get you access to it.

And the benefit for us is we get to see glass through new eyes.

How are they looking at it?

What are they trying to do with it?

How are they creating?

And maybe that helps, you know, spark our new innovation.

That's a lot of how our city has been built and our companies developed technology over the years.

Haylie: I love that.

It's kind of a path forward.

So you kind of built a dynasty through the mistake and the experimentation, but now you're like, All right, let's help the next group of people, the next generation, get inspired and do the same thing and create the universe.

Kyle Sword: Yeah, absolutely.

So it's really fun, super great community event, great for our employees and great to have collaboration with a lot of creative people.

Haylie: After taking a tour of the Plant Safety first and learning more about the manufacturing process.

Wow, 3000 degrees there.

3000 degrees.

That's why it's time to discover the transformation from everyday use to works of art.

Sophie on from the Toledo Art Museum got me up to speed with this year's momentum Sophie Ong: We're standing in the glass pavilion of the Toledo Museum of Art, and this is a special building in Toledo, but also worldwide.

It was opened in 2006 and designed by the architecture duo Shauna, and they actually won the Pritzker Prize, which is kind of the most important prize in architecture.

Following this project.

And it is a building constructed out of glass.

And the glass came from energy.

Pilkington And it complements the museum's glass collection, but is a testament to the importance of innovation to the museum, but also to Toledo as a city.

Haylie: And so when it comes to the momentum intersection, is that something that's always done in tandem with momentum, or is it specific to the International Year of Glass?

Sophie Ong: So this Project Momentum intersection started in 2018.

This year we have two, three artists and of course in conjunction with the International Year of Glass that has taken over the Momentum Festival.

But this is a project that does happen on an annual basis and it is such an exciting project and the kind of the connection between art and industry is at the core of the project, but it's also at the core of the glass world in America and the foundation of the American Studio Glass movement, which started here at the museum in 1962.

Haylie: Really, I don't know that that's so the art glass art started here in Toledo, in this in this area, in this building.

Sophie Ong: Yeah.

So intersection is inspired by these workshops that happened at the museum in 1962.

The Toledo workshops were the first step in realizing glass on an individual scale.

We have three pieces on display for Momentum Intersection.

Haylie: Who are the artists behind them?

Sophie Ong: The 2022 intersection artists are Alex Rosenberg, who's based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brian Corporation, Hastings, Nebraska, and 210 song who actually was.

He was born in China but lives here in Toledo, Ohio.

Now, what's interesting about all three works is they engage with light in very different ways, and Brian's in particular changes dramatically with how the sun moves.

Haylie: So it's not only just using the material to create a piece of art, but it's also using the natural elements like light to again manipulate into the art in the creation.

That's really cool.

Yeah, there's a lot of science that went into that.

Sophie Ong: There certainly is.

And Brian considers himself an artist working with Light as his primary material.

Now we have another piece that's done by a more well-known artist, a famous artist out of Philadelphia.

Sophie Ong: Yes, We have one piece by Alex Rosenberg, who Alexander Rosenberg, many know he was on the reality TV show Blown Away.

He has made it pretty incredible piece that is dealing with a technology that actually dates back to the 17th century and then gained popularity in the 19th century.

And it's part of these magic lantern shows.

So he's created using Pilkington glass, some glass slides and then constructed this light show.

And it incorporates trash that he found in his in his city.

Haylie: And then also turns on.

Right.

Sophie Ong: It turns on.

So it is a kind of choreographed light show.

So it's on for 5 minutes and then it will turn itself off and then be off for a little bit and then turn back on again.

The third work in the show is a piece by Glass artist to turn song and two.

Chen grew up in China and that upbringing is clearly evident in her work.

Glass is certainly at the heart of this museum and of course, at the heart of the glass city of the city of Toledo.

Haylie: While her creation is stunning in person, I wanted to learn more about the artist herself, too.

Haylie: Chen shared her inspiration behind her momentum intersect and piece.

What got you into doing not only this technique, but working with glass as a medium?

Chuchen Song: Hm First of all, I been drawing for a long time because while my parents, their art teacher, and they both are artists, so I kind of, I think drawing since I was little and I want to why I was undergrads I was in ceramic major after I was in a third year in ceramic.

And then I my friends actually took me to the glass conference.

So I saw a lot of artists and a lot of glass artwork there.

So I fell in love with the glass.

Haylie It sounds like you kind of married your interest in both painting and working with glass as a medium, and you're kind of able to do this enamel thing and really hone in on both those skills that you've acquired.

Chuchen Song: Oh, thanks.

Haylie: I couldnt do this.

I can't even color my numbers.

So you're doing far better than I could ever do.

And now where did this image come from?

Was it what inspired you to create this?

Chuchen Song: So I'm from China, so I've been growing up and the Chinese culture environment, most of my work, I use the symbolic imagery into my work.

So so I for example, in this work I use frog and some plants like grapes and squash and pomegranate.

And so they are all the symbolism like elements from Chinese culture, and they all means fertility.

So my words mostly talk about women's situation.

Haylie: So this this kind of speaks to the fertility she of of being a woman.

And in regard to how that speaks to society.

Chuchen Song: Yes and no.

Haylie: Okay.

Chuchen Song: So so I use a lot of I use a lot of like symbolic imagery, like talking about fertility, but I use it as a sarcastic way.

My generation growing up and like in the time period, cut one child policy.

So yeah, it's only happened in my generation.

So what I was trying to say is like back in the time and the society or the garment, they don't want you to have more kids.

But now society encouraged you to have more kids and also in America.

So like this piece is kind of how I feel.

After thousands of years, women are still, like, not struggling, but we're still surrounded by the the problem to have the right for our own body.

It's a great thing for this project.

The Momentum project is because I was able to utilize the glass.

This is the glass is called Mirror View Glass.

So the whole glass is actually a mirror, but it can fire in the kiln.

So that's the glass I pick is like more perfectly for my idea because the problem, this invisible.

Haylie: Kind of backtracking to the actual material you used, it's kind of this nod, this political statement in addition to just the passion of creating.

But you're you're kind of showing that, you know, you have to shine light on the issues for them to be visible.

Chuchen Song: Yes.

Haylie: Otherwise, you're just looking at yourself not knowing anything.

Chuchen Song: Yeah.

Yes, exactly.

Haylie: Wow.

To Chen story in art is both inspiring and moving.

On my way to the festival, I came across even more art that moved me.

Isolation is an interactive installation by the urban Congo that uses sight, sound and movement to spark engagement.

And it's really fun.

It has a center in there, so the closer you get to it or the farther away you are from it, you'll make a little noise.

Some of them are a little more interactive than the others.

I can't quite get them all to talk to me, but that little cube over there seems to like to be my friend.

So.

Oh, look at.

It's lit up on the side too.

Oh, my goodness.

Promenade Park is full of vibrant colors and sounds from the Momentum Festival since 2017, the city of Toledo has come together to celebrate art, industry and community.

In September, running into a familiar face, I channeled my own glass creativity.

They say You can't write art, though I'm not sure a little extra time is going to help me here.

I did have fun, though.

Thank you so much.

Okay, perfect.

Drive for about.

Haylie: Two.

Like there it is.

Clearly not an artist, but there you go.

I tried INVESTools, Another glass art form that has fascinated me is glassblowing rather than Fire Nation was able to walk us through the process in the travel studio.

Yeah who knew killed could be portable.

So Fire Nation has been part of the Holland community and even the former nine for the past 20 years.

So what got you into glassblowing?

Rob Dauel: I started at Bowling Green State University when I was in college.

I first went into music and realized I did not want to be a music teacher, so I went into art.

And glassblowing has always once again captivated my watching, and I realized that you could do it.

It was a there was a classes, there was a group of six classes.

You can take three out of the six and glassblowing was one of them.

And I took the beginning class and I was hooked.

And that was in the late eighties, early 1980s.

Of course, that was before the Internet, before you could see this.

So and you can get to a degree in glassblowing from Fiji when it is totally full, has about £400.

So it's a little smaller.

So the process is pretty much all the same to go in there.

We call this a gather.

We actually go inside the furnace grate, spin the pipe and grab some glass out of there.

And then the little flat plate that we have right there is called a marble.

It was actually originally marble, so that's why they would call it a marble.

So Davis will put a little pressure on the pipe and it's called summing up.

He will put a little pressure on there and put his thumb over it and it will automatically expand and blow into a little bubble.

Haylie: This year is the International Year of Glass.

And as an artist who works with glass as a medium, I mean, what does that mean to you?

Rob Dauel: It is awesome that people have that like glass that much.

And especially in the town of Toledo, where the original Studio Glass movement started.

It started here at the art museum and which is so nice that it's come back to back to here where its roots are and it's nice that people are recognized.

The glasses, it's such a part of our life.

I mean, it's such a great material, like, just like, you know, Davis and I have been doing all day.

We make a piece that's made out of clear, we're done with it.

We throw it back in the furnace and it can be re melted in it.

You know, glass touches our lives for so many things.

When we take it for granted out of a drinking bottle or a nice I enjoy a nice good cocktail.

I mean, it's, you know, and the glass compliments the cocktail.

So it's just it's so many things that, you know about glass that it's so nice that people recognize it.

Because I think that once again, people take it for for granted.

But they but now we've come to embrace it and love it as an art.

Haylie: I completely agree, especially when you're talking about cocktails.

I'm like, Gosh, you have the martini glass.

You have the glass.

Rob Dauel: Absolutely.

Haylie: Yeah, the glass makes it all.

Rob Dauel: That's correct.

Haylie: That's correct.

Yes.

Yes.

It makes the experience better.

That's correct.

I have a margarita martini glass.

No, it's not the same.

Rob Dauel: No, it's not the same.

The martini does not taste the same.

Exactly.

Haylie: I could honestly watch glassblowing for hours, but we only have a few minutes left and have so much more to see.

Stained glass in Toledo.

Oh, would you believe me if I said a bike ride could be art?

So this is.

This is a process.

Dessert.

The canopy exhibit gives the thing pedal to the metal a whole new meaning.

I really like all that.

We're going to deflate so quickly.

Whew.

That was a lot of pedaling, which deserves a scoop of ice cream.

So this is the ginger I had just.

I wanted a little spice.

So here we go.

That was very good.

In addition to Glass, Toledo has gotten recognition for being home to the largest mural in the United States.

Project manager Christina Casper and documentarian Nick Corbin shared with me the story behind the massive project.

Where did this all kind of start?

Christina Kasper: Right?

It was actually a day like today on a boat, like one of those, and a couple of women were on the river at sunset with glasses of wine, and they passed that side and they said, we should paint that.

That's a cool canvas.

And eventually called me.

I'm an art consultant by trade, and they thought I might be able to help them.

And that's how it started.

It literally was just it was kind of a dream and it was like, Yeah, that'll be cool.

Haylie: The how long did it take from that initial conversation to now with it being painted for the whole project to come to fruition?

Christina Kasper: So we started painting June 2nd of 2021 and there was about a year of logistics prior to that.

There's so much energy behind this.

It's almost it's not even really an art piece anymore.

It's kind of become a movement.

Haylie: Beyond just having this this piece.

But there's an educational component not just for grade school kids, but even for other artists.

And they can almost have a blueprint for them to bring their projects to fruition.

Christina Kasper: That was our intention and it is available for free on our website with intention.

So it's accessible to all You know, you don't have to go to the right school, you want to be in the right zip code, you have access, anybody has access to it.

Haylie: So it really is a pay it forward program or project, I should say.

That is, Wow.

Yeah, I love that you've documented the entire process of the Glass City River.

Yeah.

What did that look like?

Nick Corbin: I just decided I'm going to email the artist himself.

3 hours later, he emailed me back.

He's an artist from L.A.

I'm thinking, this guy is going to tell me to pound sand, kick rocks, punk.

I'm a big time artist.

I know.

Three, 3 hours later emails me back.

Yeah, man, Let's get on a zoom.

Call me, you and my manager.

So anyway, we really hit it off.

So that's really how I got involved.

Hey, I'm going to do this little, you know, ten, you know, ten, 15 minute documentary thing.

We found out that it was going to be probably the biggest mural in the United States.

Wow.

You're not going to do a ten minute thing on the biggest mural, United States, 16 months or so that I've been out there with.

I mean, nobody was just me, right, attaching GoPros to the lifts as they're going up, setting up cameras like this one here doing timelapse.

Is drone stuff going to like every single event that they had, everything filming every single thing.

It's been insane.

It's far too much work.

I'm nuts for doing it.

I'm still doing it.

No idea how I'm going to complete it, but I'm here.

Haylie: People really appreciated what you put into it.

So the passion and the hard work is seen and that's kind of why I really wanted to talk to you.

I feel like, you know, even as a filmmaker, as a documenter, our art sometimes gets left in the shadows because it's one of those things that's expected, much like glass.

It's part of our everyday.

It's important, but you see right through it, right?

Yeah.

So what is that when you go into especially documenting art like that, I mean, you as an artist have to use your creativity components in order to create the documentary.

So what does that process look like for you?

Nick Corbin: I think in this documentary with this river wall, what is the point?

Right?

I mean, we know we're painting something.

Sure, obviously.

But what's the point of the whole thing?

It's not just about the east side.

It's not just about Toledo.

It's not just about Ohio.

It's about the United States all together.

Right.

We have this unbelievably maligned and looked over side of town that feels like they're recognized for nothing.

And now they're going to be recognized worldwide as being the neighborhood of the largest mural in the United States.

So it's that through line of thought every day.

How do I show that it's not really about the painting, It's about the people who did it.

It's about the neighborhood.

It's about the whole thing.

Haylie: And that's it.

But that part of it is what's important, right?

So those people aren't forgotten, but you're documenting it as well.

Nick Corbin: I think that's the most important part.

Haylie: Putting forth a weekend long stage for creatives to share their passion and be recognized for their hard work is what makes momentum so special.

So before they had this like Cube, they were actually doing the performances through the ribbon or the satin.

I'm not quite sure the official name, but I've always been so fascinated by this performance art form.

It's so cool.

Need a little help, a little assistance.

I like it.

From the industrial history to the celebration of creativity, momentum is so much more than an art festival.

During the International Year of Glass, Toledo was put in the spotlight and reminded us all just how important this material is.

Glass City, we see you.

I look forward to the next festival.

We find you can visit finding festivals dot com to learn more about the series, get updates through the digital newsletter and connect with me on social media where you can access more content on festival fun.

I messed up.

Bah bah bah bah bah.

Try again.

Nick Corbin: You do the play thing Opah yeah, yeah, yeah.

Very, very loud.

Very loud people.

Haylie: You weren't kidding.

That is a long time.

Well, well earned, though, right?

This is great.

Do you need me to help picture your art to sell later?

Whatever does go.

Okay.

I can't get that one to do anything that has festival in it.

Like fun.

You got.

You get a vibe.

Okay.

Before I get yelled at, I'm going to go.

Finding festivals is brought to you in part by Find some Lake Erie Love?

It's a SHORE thing!

Learn how at SHORESandISLANDS.com and start an adventure today.

Toledo.

More than you ever imagined.

Learn more at visittoledo.org.