Enameling — the art of fusing glass to metal through a high-temperature firing process — gained widespread popularity in the United States in the last half of the 20th century. In the first decades of the 21st, artists throughout the country continue to explore enamel in a variety of forms, finding new meaning and rich expressive potential in the vibrant color and layered depth of this time-honored medium. Organized by the Los Angeles-based Enamel Arts Foundation, Little Dreams in Glass and Metal includes 122 works by 90 artists from the foundation’s collection of modern and contemporary enamels. Objects range from jewelry to large enamel-on-steel wall panels. Documented in a fully illustrated publication distributed by the University of North Carolina Press, this is the first nationally traveling exhibition to survey this dynamic field in more than 50 years.

Little Dreams in Glass and Metal is supported by the Windgate Charitable Foundation, the McLeod Family Foundation, and other generous contributors.