Image: The Baker Museum, Naples
The Baker Museum in Naples will open 'The Passion of Collecting: Stories in Glass and Ceramics from the Sibrack Collection' on January 10, 2026, presenting a major gift to the museum’s permanent collection from longtime Artis—Naples supporters Dr. Laurence and Rita Sibrack. The exhibition will remain on view through November 1, 2026 and will be located on the second floor of The Baker Museum.
Artis—Naples says the Dr. Laurence and Rita Sibrack Collection of Contemporary Glass and Ceramics comprises 74 works by 60 different artists, reflecting more than 30 years of collecting by the Naples-based couple. The museum describes the gift as transformational and notes that it highlights the collectors’ interest in form, color, texture, shadow and negative space, as well as glass and ceramic art’s capacity to tell a story. The exhibition is organized by Artis—Naples, The Baker Museum and curated by Courtney McNeil, museum director and chief curator.
The installation brings together work made through a wide range of studio glass methods, from flame-worked to blown to cast, alongside ceramics described by the museum as striking figurative and abstract works. Among the artists named in the collection are Lucio Bubacco, Dale Chihuly, Amber Cowan, Dan Dailey, Michael Glancy, Judith Schaechter, Preston Singletary, Matthew Szösz, Loretta Yang and Toots Zynsky. The museum frames the gift as a broad survey of contemporary glass and ceramics rather than a single-school or single-medium display.
The exhibition also places the collection within the history of the studio glass movement, which originated in the 1960s as artists across the United States developed new ways to use glass for original artistic expression. The museum’s text contrasts that movement with earlier industrial models of glassmaking, noting that studio artists were able to experiment at a more intimate scale in their own workshops. That context is central to the show’s presentation of works that move between technical process and sculptural expression.
Selected works listed on the exhibition page include Dan Dailey’s 'Madeleine' from 'The Individual' series, made in 2010 in blown and acid-etched glass; Clifford Rainey’s 'Only the Atoms are Immortal, No. 2' from 2014; Judith Schaechter’s 'A Play About Snakes' from 2013; Preston Singletary’s 'Eagle Warrior' from 2011; Hidenori Tsumori’s 'Remains of the Day' from 2012; and Laura Donefer’s 'South Jersey Winter Amulet Basket (White and Gold Explosion),' circa 2014. The museum also offers artist statements, process notes and additional background on the makers featured in the collection.
A related exhibition lecture, 'Contemporary Ceramics from the Sibrack Collection,' is scheduled for September 24 at 2 p.m. in the Ubben Signature Event Space. Jennifer Scanlan, executive director of the James Renwick Alliance for Craft, is listed as the speaker. According to the museum, the presentation will explore selected works in the exhibition and the artistic innovations, cultural significance and stories behind contemporary ceramics in the collection.
The exhibition is supported by a generous grant from the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass.
