Glass art sparkles at Peter Mac
01 June 2022
Sun streams through the windows at Peter Mac and illuminates cabinets filled with beautiful contemporary glass art – the light bouncing off the vibrant rainbow colours. The new exhibition was made possible by Andrea Comerford who sold candles for more than five years to raise funds through the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and contribute to Peter Mac’s art collection. “The art at Peter Mac has provided so much solace and comfort to me throughout my time coming to the building and I wanted to contribute to that is some way,” Mrs Comerford says. “The beauty of art has the power to bring happiness to people who are perhaps not feeling so good. The colours of glass are exciting….the sun coming in and reflecting off it is stunning.” A glass collector since her teens, Andrea worked with one of her favourite studios, the renowned Gordon Glass Blowers in Red Hill, with a view to their creating a special collection for Peter Mac. She then contacted Peter Mac’s Art Curator Svetlana Karovich who collaborated with the studio to select final pieces for the hospital collection. “I would like to thank Andrea and everyone who supported her to bring this wonderful project to life,” Ms Karovich says. “There is a timeless quality and enduring appeal in glass whose traditions and techniques have changed little over the centuries yet it remains one of the most exciting and dynamic artforms today.” Glass display cases for the project were purchased with generous support from the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund. To celebrate the installation of the display Mrs Comerford met with Ms Karovich and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre FoundationPhilanthropy and Fundraising Director, Carl Young, where she saw the results of her fundraising efforts. The collection is on display on level two at Peter Mac’s Parkville headquarters – next to outpatient pathology. 
