It’s Saturday night inside the pristine confines of Jon Kuhn’s downtown glass gallery. Normally, the site serves as Kuhn’s artistic sanctuary — a relaxed refuge where the glass-master can bring his visions to life. Tonight though, the setting is anything but relaxed, as an animated crowd begins to swell within the studio’s gallery space.

Gleaming with anticipation, the audience’s eyes continuously shift to the gallery’s back corner. That’s where, hidden beneath a red cloak, Kuhn’s latest masterpiece waits to be unveiled.

Finally, the moment arrives. The master of ceremony gives his cue and off flies the red veil, revealing an elegant grand piano shimmering with Kuhn’s world-renowned glasswork. Some of the crowd clap in approval, some gasp in wonderment, some even shed tears in awe. But Kuhn, who’s been cautiously detached from the ceremony to this point, stands contently still. After countless hours of planning, coordinating, grinding, and polishing, he can finally take time to enjoy his accomplishment.

“My staff and I work so hard to make these pieces,” Kuhn says, “it’s just so rewarding to sit back and admire them when they’re done. I can finally say ‘good job, everyone … we did it.’ ”

Like most of his masterpieces, the piano first existed solely in the orbits of Kuhn’s imagination. Five years ago while passing through a piano showroom, Kuhn came across a series of art-case pianos (or pianos enhanced by artists). Always seeking new mediums for his art, Kuhn envisioned his glass adorning a piano.

Soon after, he began researching models and meeting with companies to share his vision. Initially, the businesses he contacted had lukewarm interest in collaborating with Kuhn. That all changed, however, when he spoke with representatives from Bösendorfer.

Much like Kuhn, the workers at Bösendorfer have a commitment to handcrafted perfection, devoting small eternities to each of their pianos. This tireless attention to detail ensures each piano is unmatched in quality and tonality. “Bösendorfer and Jon Kuhn were really a natural fit,” says Eric Johnson, the Eastern regional sales manager for Bösendorfer. “We’re always thrilled to try different things, and this was about as different as you can get.”

While the original Kuhn-Bösendorfer piano will remain in Kuhn’s downtown studio, others will be commissioned and sold to collectors. Each model will feature Kuhn’s glass inlaid along the piano’s surface. Also, each purchaser will have his or her name engraved beneath a layer of glass on the fallboard.

With Bösendorfer’s reputation and Kuhn’s brilliance, the piano is already generating a buzz among the art community. Considering the nature of Kuhn’s work to date, the surging popularity should come as no surprise.

Reflections
Jon Kuhn’s path to world-class glass artist began approximately 30 years ago. Interestingly, it was his fascination with meditation that first drew him to the art.
“When I discovered glass, I discovered a material that was just like meditation,” Kuhn recalls. “Unlike surface-oriented material — paint, clay, wood — glass holds its information within. That really resonated with me.”

His early glass art revolved around an earth-oriented form. Kuhn’s signature creation was a series of double-faced rocks. One side of the work showed an ordinary stone, much like something you’d find at the edge of a creek. Flip it, however, and the stone’s inner-workings are revealed under a sheath of glass.

For years, Kuhn worked in this landscape style of glass. While other artists were creating elegant blown-glass pieces, Kuhn’s work focused on the world within, the contrast between rugged earth and refined beauty. His free-flowing, uncensored style mirrored his own young, carefree existence.

His style would undergo a cosmic shift a few years later, however, when Kuhn met his wife, Sharon. Suddenly, his work became more structured, more complex, more detail-oriented.

“My wife will tell you that I was an encrusted soul before I met her,” jokes Kuhn, who’s now a father of four. “She likes to think she polished me up.”

Shortly after his marriage, another event solidified his artistic shift. During a meditative session, Kuhn envisioned a woman who was transitioning from one life to the next. This “next life” featured an architecture form that was mystically stunning and “unlike anything imaginable,” Kuhn explains. “I don’t pretend to understand everything I saw that day, but I remember the architecture had a warm, golden, beautiful quality to it. I knew then that I wanted my work to emulate that.”

Since the vision, which happened in the late 1980s, Kuhn has evolved from obscure artist to one of international acclaim. The Smithsonian, the White House, and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art are just a few of the locations where his work can be found. In addition, Kuhn has hand-delivered pieces to dignitaries such as Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, among others.

The popularity of his work can be traced to its uniqueness. Because Kuhn uses cold glass, as opposed to blown glass, his creations have an unrivaled ability to absorb light and cast it back into the surrounding space. The result is a luster so brilliant, it seems that a thousand miniature light bulbs are flickering inside each piece.

But despite the beauty and international appeal of his art — which spans to nearly 40 museums worldwide — Kuhn remains relatively, and curiously, unknown within his own city limits.

A Hidden Glow
It’s likely that most of Winston-Salem has driven by Kuhn’s studio without even realizing it. The three-story structure, which sits unassumingly at the northern edge of downtown, contains no street-level windows, no signs or décor, nothing that would clue the average passerby into the brilliance hiding within.

Inside the studio, a staff of 27 artisans works diligently to make Kuhn’s visions a reality. Machinists, polishers, grinders, and engineers not only create the glassworks, but also their mounting structures.

The staff is managed by James Baldwin, who brought 30 years of machine-shop management experience to Kuhn’s studio when he was hired. “I have a tremendous crew here,” Kuhn says. “They free me up to focus on the creative side of things, to just be the artist.”

The bottom floor of the studio houses heavy machinery used to grind the glass. The top floor contains lighter machinery with a focus on hand-grinding and hand-polishing. The middle floor is devoted predominantly to Kuhn’s gallery, where his art is on display.

The works all contain price tags, which range from $1,000 to several million depending on the size and intricacy of the creation. The aforementioned piano carries a price tag of $1.2 million, and future Kuhn-Bösendorfers could skyrocket into the $5 million range.

Because of the high costs, Kuhn says that “walk-in” traffic is virtually nonexistent.“The gallery is a destination,” Kuhn says. “The people who come here are already aware that I’m here. It’s not really the kind of place where people come in off the street and buy something.”

Perhaps it’s this lack of foot traffic that’s led to Kuhn’s low local profile. Perhaps, even, it’s Kuhn’s choice to remain somewhat anonymous. Whatever the reason, those who are familiar with Kuhn and his work know how valuable he is to our community.

“Jon is really part of the fabric of this city,” Mayor Allen Joines says. “He brings an international recognition to Winston-Salem that’s immeasurable — it’s something you can’t put a price tag on. We’re so extraordinarily fortunate to have him here.”

While Kuhn undoubtedly appreciates the praise, he seems perfectly content with remaining somewhat of a secret. After all, he’d much rather his work be revered than his name recognized.

This became increasingly evident in 2001, when Kuhn began working on a piece for the Forsyth Regional Cancer Center. The work — fittingly titled Hope and Healing — is an outburst of dancing light and color that centers on symbolic ribbons. The ribbons represent each of the different cancers, contrasting the dreaded disease with a rainbow-like montage. It’s a creation that brings undeniable joy to thousands of grief-stricken patients.

“My artwork, in a way, is a reflection of my personal spiritual journey,” Kuhn says. “I didn’t start out trying to create art that will make others smile necessarily.
“With that said, if my art gives people a sense of joy, then that’s the most rewarding thing I can ever ask for.”

With a spirit that’s forever engaged and a style that’s eternally evolving, Kuhn continues to create work that’s both robustly bold and breathtakingly beautiful. And while he might not ever be a household name, it’s inevitable that his art will instill a sense of hope and healing to all who encounter it.

For more information about Jon Kuhn and his work, call 336-722-2369 or go to http://www.kuhnstudio.com.