Thérèse Lahaie

Light installation artist and open water swimmer Therese Lahaie keeps track of the tides and seabirds as she swims in the San Francisco Bay. Lahaie studied Fine Art at Emmanuel College, glass technology at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, and art history at Richmond College, London, England. Her training led her to custom lighting design and an expertise in LED architectural lighting technology that informs her fascination with the medium of light.


Lahaie’s light sculptures and installations have been exhibited nationally and internationally. They are in public and private collections, including the SalesForce Tower Art, performances, in San Francisco, CA, and works in the permanent collections of the Corning Contemporary Museum of Glass (NY), the Glassmuseet Ebeltoft (Denmark), Crocker Art Museum, (CA), and the Di Rosa Collection, (CA), the Cafesjian Art Trust, (MN), Fuller Art Museum, (MA), and a public art installation, Crossing Signal Mosaic, (CA).


Her work has been reviewed in publications that include the New York Times, Sculpture Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, Leonardo Magazine, and Architectural Record magazine. Lahaie lives and works in the Emeryville Artist Cooperative in Emeryville, CA, a small city that  supports its artist population.

As a practitioner of light, my recent work employs sunlight and optical mirrors to reflect “Lightbird” forms that fly with the sun's arc. First, they fly across the architectural sky canvases of building walls. Then, when the sun has set, these “birds" take new forms from a second light source, as their video images are projected from optical mirrors onto building walls for an enchanted nighttime migration for interior and exterior installations. People describe the reflections as birds, fish, x-rays, and celestials that have come down to earth to speak to us humans in soft voices.  This series began as light elegies for the immense loss of diving seabirds, the Common Murres, impacted by warming oceans. 
 

CONTACT THÉRESE

1986   B.F.A. Glass Sculpture, MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF ART, Boston, MA

1980   BA  Fine Art, Cum Laude, Distinction in Art – EMMANUEL COLLEGE, Boston, MA

1979   Junior Year Abroad – RICHMOND COLLEGE, London, England

AWARDS / VISITING ARTIST

2023   SalesForce Tower Art,  Skyline soaring Lightbirds, curated by artist  Jim Campbel, SF, CA Playa Art & Science Residency, Summer Lake, OR

2023  Visual Arts Grant, City of Emeryville, CA, Exterior Lightbird sun and optical mirror reflection flies on a 200’architectural sky canvas, Huruff Street, Emeryville, CA

2017   Featured Artist, International Glass Exhibition, Sebastopol Art Center, Sebastopol, CA

2015   LuciteLux JUST IMAGINE – National Design Award for “Crossing Signal Mosaic”

2013   Tyler School of Art Resident Artist, Glass Dept. Philadelphia, PA

2010   Djerassi Resident Artist Program Honorary Fellowship, Woodside, CA

2008   Djerassi Resident Artist Program Honorary Fellowship, Woodside, CA

2006   Djerassi Resident Artist Program Honorary Fellowship, Woodside, CA

California State University, Visiting Artist, Sculpture Dept., Sacramento, CA

City of Emeryville-Purchase Award 1st Place, Emeryville, CA

2004   International Kinetic Sculpture Competition

2003   Encoding Altruism: SETI Workshop, Paris, France

EYAP Grant, Solar Mural Project, Emery High School, Emeryville, CA

2002   Fellowship Award, Kala Institute, Berkeley, CA

2000   Merit Award, High Touch/High Tech, Kala Institute, Berkeley, CA

1999   Premier Visiting Artist Award, Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1992   Silver Award Winner, Kristallnacht Competition – Artists Confronting the Inconceivable

2019   Fuller Craft Museum Acquisition, Brockton, MA

2015   Crossing Signal Mosaic – Emeryville, CA Art in Public Places, LED Art and Technology Project: Parc on Powell, Emeryville, CA.

2013   Glassmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark – “Forgotten Ocean”, Video Projection through architectural glass, 10’ h x 18’ l x 10’d

2012   Crocker Art Museum – acquisition of “Quiet Two Departure:” – A wall installation glass wings with shadows activated by the movement of sunlight through the museum windows

2009   Olive 8-Hyatt Hotel, Seattle, WA, Permanent Sculptural Installation

2009   TMG Partners, 650 Townsend Street Lobby, SF, CA, Permanent Installation

2006   Emeryville City Hall, Purchase Prize City of Emeryville, CA

2005   Corning Museum of Glass, Corning NY

2004   di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA

2000   65th Street Development, Emeryville, CA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023  Vargas Art Gallery, Mission College, Santa Clara, CA

2009   Longing for the Background, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, CA

2009   Sensorial Literacy, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007   Verge, Heller Gallery, New York, NY

2005   Breathing Lessons, Heller Gallery, New York, NY

2001   Making A Wake, Somarts Gallery, S.F., CA

1999   Pollinations, Gallery 371, Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

1997   Markers: Kinetic Sculpture Installation, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1992   Markers of the Invisible Contours, Open Arts Circle Gallery, Oakland, CA

1986   Bundling, University of Vermont Art Gallery, Burlington, VT

Light Works, Lillian Immig Gallery, Boston, MA

2019   Multiverse, George Lawson Gallery, Mill Valley, CA

Kinetics: Art in Motion, Museum of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CA

2018   Kinetic Energy, Museum of Neon Art, Glendale, CA

2017   International Glass Exhibition, Featured Artist, Sebastopol Art Center, Sebastopol, CA

2015   Shattered: Defying Expectations in Glass, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, CA

2014   Glass Today: 21st-Century Innovations, New Britain Art Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT

2013   Machine Muse, Lois Lambert Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Ocean, Glassmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark – Traveled, Kastrupgaardsamlingen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2012   Her Elegant Universe, Gregory Kondos Gallery, Sacramento, CA

2011   Glass Canvas, Glazen Huis Museum, Lommel, Belgium

75th Anniversary Exhibition, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA

Outlandish, Bedford Regional Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA

2010   H2O, Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA

Cynosure, Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Just Add Water, Solana Beach, CA

Adelante, Eileen Braziel Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Ephemeral, Heller Gallery, NY, NY

2009   Altered States, Di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA

Technopia, Skyline College Gallery, San Bruno, CA

Vetri//Alt,The Baron & Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk,VA

2008   New Directions Winston Wachter Gallery Seattle WA

Ginny Ruffner and Therese Lahaie, Ochi Gallery, Sun Valley, ID

Places Between– Diablo Valley College Gallery, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA

Glass Concepts, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015

Balancing Perspectives, Arts and Consciousness Gallery, JFK University, Berkeley, CA

Bicoastal Love, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, CA

2007   Area, Blurring The Lines, University Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA

Shattering Glass: New Perspectives, Katonah Museum, Katona, NY

DuoPolis, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary

2006   2 Feet Up, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA

This Is Glass, Heller Gallery, New York, NY

Global View, Heller Gallery, New York, NY

Lucid, Contemporary Quarterly Project Space

2005 Cafesjian Art Trust Museum, Roseville, MN

2003  The Invisible Thread, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY

Fresh!, Heller Gallery, New York, NY

2002   Bay Area Currents, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA

Kala Fellowship Exhibition, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA

Orange, !hey! Gallery, Oakland, CA

2001   6 -35 Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA

2000   High Touch/ High Tech, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA

Disparities II, Philabaum Gallery, Tucson, AZ

1999   Quality of Light, Museum of Art, McPherson Center, Santa Cruz, CA

1998   Glass America, Heller Gallery, New York, N.Y.

Art & Digital Technology, Santa Clara County Fair, Santa Clara, CA

1997   Glass America, Heller Gallery, New York, N.Y.

Calido, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ – Traveled: Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS

Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA

Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI

Finding the Fulcrum, Minna Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA

For, By and With Women, Morgan @Mendelson Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA

1996   Glass Linking Art & Science, M.I.T., Compton Gallery, Cambridge, MA

A Case for Art, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA

Glass, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA

1995   The Art of Light and Glass, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA

Anonymous Arrangements, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA

1994   New Images, Center for Visual Arts, Oakland, CA

Glass, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

World of Maps, Anchorage Museum of Art and History, Anchorage, AK

Artist’s Shedding Light on Science, San Francisco State Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Wunderkammer, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA

North by Northeast II, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA

Truth in Glass, Philabaum Gallery, Tucson, AZ

1993   The Living Room Show, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Filler, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA,

Blue Sky Thinking, Opts Events Gallery, San Francisco, CA, Interactive Sculpture Performance

Light Escapes, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, CA

The Known and the New, Philabaum Gallery, Tucson, AZ

Art and Physics: Ylem Exhibition, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA

1992   “Mapping,” Open Arts Circle: Oakland, CA, Dance Co. Collaboration, 4th Annual B.C. Glass Exhibition, Hong Kong Bank, Vancouver, BC

Mass Art Glass Show, Sandwich Glass Museum, Sandwich, MA Therese Lahaie

Art and the Cosmos, YLEM Exhibition, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA

California Design 92, Contract Design Center, San Francisco, CA

New Views, Philabaum Gallery, Tucson, AZ, “Featured Artist

L x H x W, Main Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA

1991   National Glass Invitational, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI

7Th Annual Juried Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

West Coast Glass Show, California Craft Museum, San Francisco, CA

1990   Bay Area Glass, Soco Gallery, Napa, CA

National Glass Invitational, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI

1989   Buoy Woman, York Street Studios, S.F., CA, Glass installation

Glass Fashion Show, Art Zone, Toronto, Canada

National Glass Exhibition, University Art Gallery, San Bernadino, CA

1987   Bay Currents, San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum, San Francisco, CA

Crossing Signal Mosaic featured in Architectural Record Magazine, December 2015

Baker, Ken, Reviews: Sensorial Literacy, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco Chronicle, February, 2009

Genocchio, Benjamin, Reviews: Shattering Glass, Katonah Museum of Art, The New York Times, Dec, 2007

Spicer, Jakki, Reviews: Duopolis, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, East Bay Express, Dec. 2007

Barclay Morgan, Ann, Reviews: The Invisible Thread, Newhouse Center
for Art, Sculpture Magazine, September, 2004

Mc Elroy, Joseph: Reviews: The Invisible Thread, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Shambhala Sun, March, 2004

Baker, Ken: Making A Wake, Somar Gallery, San Francisco Chronicle , Feb.2001

Uhlin, Craig: Disparities II, Arizona Daily Wildcat, November 1999

Chambers, Karen: Glass America 1997, Review, p. 24-25, January 1997

Rinaldo, Ken, Article: “Integrated Hemispheres: Women Art and Technology”.

Leonardo, vol. 30, no. 1, p. 4 -5, Color and B & W reproductions, April 1997

Calido: Tucson Museum of Art, Calido Exhibition Catalog, 1997

American Craft, featured PORTFOLIO, p. 64, color reproduction, June-July,1997

Lahaie, Therese, Lecture, “Emerging and Diverging Artists Using Glass in the Bay Area,” published in Glass Art Society Journal, 1994

Marsden, Guy, “Motion Sensor Applications for Artworks,” Marquette, p. 18, Dec, 1994

Sherman, Ann Elliott:”Glass Act, “San Jose Metro Guide, p. 49, Oct, 20-26, 1994

Glowen, Ron: Wunderkammer, Glass, Spring/ Summer 1994

Regan, Margaret:”New Views,” The Tucson Weekly p. 26, Feb. 19-25, 1992

PUBLIC LECTURES

2023
Leonardo Art & Science Rendezvous,  Warming Murres, Sunlight and optical mirror reflections on the impact of warming oceans on Common Murres
CODAsummit, Skyline Artist panel discussion, Jim Campbell & Therese Lahaie,  San Jose, CA 

2022 CODAsummit, Artist Showcase Speaker, Denver, CO

2021 Artist Showcase, CODAsummit, Scottsdale, AZ

2019   Kinetics: Art in Motion, Artist discussion with curator, Museum of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CA

2017   International Glass Exhibition, Featured Artist, Sebastopol Art Center, Sebastopol, CA

2015   L.A.S.E.R. Leonardo Art & Science Rendezvous, Sa – Permeability and the Icons that Govern Our Movement

2013   Visiting Artist – Tyler School of Art, Glass Dept. Philadelphia, CA

2012   Best of LASER, Swissnex, SF, CA

2011   Leonardo Art and Science Lecturer, Longing for the Background, SF, CA

2010   Living Glass History, Video Interview, Corning Museum, Alberta College of Art. Canada
California College of the Arts – Instructor – Glass Dept.

2008   Meet the Artist, Artist Lecture, Corning Museum, Corning, NY

2007   “Verge,” California College of the Arts

1999   “How I Learned to Breath,” Alberta College of Art, Calgary, Canada

“How I Learned to Breath” 20th Yuma Symposium, Yuma, AZ

1995  “Navigating with Walt the Solar Subversive,” Tuesday Artists Series, San Jose State University

“Navigating with Walt the Solar Subversive”, Exploratorium, SF, CA

“Navigating with Walt the Solar Subversive”, 20th Anniversary, Summervail Symposium, Colorado Mountain College, Vail, CO

1994   “Emerging Artist Using Glass in the Bay Area” GAS Conference,Oakland, CA

“Artists Lecture Series “, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Oakland,CA

Artists in “GLASS” exhibition, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA

1991   “3 Dimensional Drawing with Glass,” Urban Glass, NY, NY

1986   Traveling Lecturer, “American Glass Programs,” Tama University, Tokyo, Japan