For Robert Frost

32″ x 46″ 1/4″-clear glass
Enameled
Liberty Museum “Glass Now” 2002

Every year the Liberty Museum in Philadelphia holds a glass auction as a fund raiser.  Noted glass artists from around the world are invited to submit works.  This is a piece I donated for the auction in 2002.

The text around the perimeter is from the last speech given by John F. Kennedy on the occasion of the opening of the Robert Frost Library at Amherst. 

"When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment. The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state."

Kennedy was a an extraordinary man.  No politician would dare to repeat this speech today.