A little more than thirty years old, Habatat opened in Royal Oak, Michigan, as a space for glass workers to experiment and test the creative bounds of the medium. In 1996 art dealer Karen Echt worked with one of Habatat’s founders to open the Chicago location. The rest is River North history.

The gallery contains two exhibition areas, with light wood floors and white walls that create an airy atmosphere. Hardly the stereotypical array of colorful bowls, the glasswork on display features painterly figures like Robin Grebe’s "Random Moment," a cast glass and paint work that represents a ghostly blue woman with a Madonna-like face. While the leaning figure could have wandered off the canvas of a Chagall painting, she appears more luminous due to the artist's use of glass. Often aptly described as "glowing," the objects tend to reflect isolated elements of (pardon the pun) bigger pictures. The gallery hosts monthly exhibitions featuring sub-genres such as contemporary Japanese glass and blown glass and steel works.

Centerstage Reviewer: Jennifer Berg