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‘National Treasure’ Chris Shea is featured with a glossy spread in the fall issue of Modern Luxury Magazine. The magazine article focuses on the extraordinary craftsmanship of Chris’ arthropod inspired chairs, recently acquired for the permanent by the Smithsonian Museum. The beautiful wrought steel and cast glass chairs have been featured in the blog previously, with a short photo narrative of Chris’ process.
Click HERE to jump to the article in Modern Luxury.
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Roche Constructor’s webcam located opposite the Bethesda Safeway site caught Evan Morgan and Erwin Timmers installing the cast recycled glass and metal framework into the facade of the new building.
The installation of Safeway Supermarket’s Bethesda store public art is nearing completion. WGS’ “green artist” Erwin Timmers has been putting the final touches on the outdoor sculpture with Evan Morgan as the contractors race to compete construction of the LEED certified building in time for the scheduled October 13, 2011 ribbon cutting. The public art project, using cast recycled glass – including glass salvaged from the original building and refrigeration displays – was designed to respond to the LEED certified architecture it is now integrated.
Susan Lomuto and Erwin Timmers salvage glass from the demolished Safeway freezer units.
The cast bas-relief glass motifs of fresh herbs were designed to meander organically across the building’s façade, working as a counterpoint to the rhythm of the strong stone piers, while relating to aspects of the building’s use.
Cast recycled glass inside the kiln. The glass has been fired into one-time molds at 1500° F and annealed. Next, the bas-relief panels will be cut and the glass tile edges polished.
The artglass color palate ranges between clear, amber and a blue-shift color. Areas of within the grids are left open to allow air and establish a connection between the interior and the busy streetscape.
Erwin Timmers touches up the steel frame finish.
The design and progress of the cast recycled glass has been mentioned in earlier postings on the school blog.
The Safeway architects, builders and design team admire the transformative quality the glass gives to the interior.
Other media outlets have been covering the Safeway supermarket design- including the DC area real estate blog DCMud and NewsChannel 8’s TBD.com has covered the supermarket-as-art curator aspect.
Artist Erwin Timmers can be seen silhouetted thru the glass.
The supermarket is excited about their addition to both the Bethesda retail scene and their first foray into the art world. We will post pix and coverage of the store’s celebrity filled vernissage this October.
UPDATE: Click HERE to jump to photos of the finished project.
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100 Artists of the Mid-Atlantic E. Ashley Rooney with Foreword by Charles Yoder; Schiffer Books
Zenith Gallery hosts “VISUAL VOICES” – an exhibition of DC area artists profiled in the new book “100 Artists of the Mid-Atlantic” by E. Ashley Rooney. The show at Zenith Gallery will open with a Book-signing Party with the author and artists, on Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 – 8:30pm, and remain on display through October 29, 2011.
Visual Voices – featuring works by: Alan Binstock, F Lennox Campello, Joan Danziger, Julie Girardini, Margery Goldberg, Robert Jackson, Michael Janis, Joan Konkel, Ann Marchand, Donna McCollough, Davis Morton, Carol Newmyer, Marc Rubin, Barton Rubenstein, Sica, Ellen Sinel, Betsy Stewart, Cassie Taggert, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Paul Martin Wolf, Joyce Zipperer.
Book Party, Meet the Author and Artists
Wednesday September 21, 6 – 9 PM
Exhibition: September 21 – October 29, 2011
Zenith Gallery at Chevy Chase Pavilion, second level next to Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Pavilion, 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20015
Accessible by Friendship Heights Metro Stop
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NOTE – PREMIER POSTPONED
for more info – click HEREThe Bettmann Dances performance, titled “Quis Custodiet ” refers to the Latin phrase “Quis Custodiet Ipsus Custodet,” meaning “Who Shall Watch the Watchers Themselves”. Tim’s videos create the backdrop for the dance.
Bettmann Dances’ Juan Michael rehearses (Katherine Frey/Washington Post)
According to Rob Bettmann, Artistic Director, the performance is intended to create a conversation about “what security means to us and how we pursue it.”
The dance, in three sections, starts with a retelling of the Adam and Eve story, comparing Eve to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and examining the question of too much information made public can be dangerous.
“I am not trying to moralize one way or the other” Bettman says, “I don’t understand how terrible things happen. As an artist, it’s easy to describe a problem. It is harder to suggest a solution.”
Premier of Quis Custodiet by Bettmann Dances
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004
Friday September 2 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Tickets are $25, $15 for students and teachers. To purchase online visit http://quis.bettmanndances
Dance by: Michelle Maleh, Caroline Yost, Juan Michael Porter II, and Susan Steinman;
Videos by Tim Tate;
Costumes by Amy Carr-Taylor;
Quis poster by Johanna Mueller
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Gateway Arts Center and The Brentwood Arts Exchange feature a number of WGS artists in shows opening this weekend.
WGS’ photographic dynamic duo of Alison & Pete Duvall are each featured in the “The Sky’s the Limit, the 2011 Prince George’s County Juried Exhibition“, presenting art in all media that incorporate photographic techniques. Juried by Michael Platt, the exhibition features purchase prizes by the Prince George’s Ars Councial and The M-NCPPC Prince George’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
Arrow of Potential, Robert Kincheloe 2011; cast and torchworked borosilicate glass
Robert Kincheloe – our head of the lampworking department – will be the first artist showcased in the Brentwood Arts Exchange’s new ‘Feature Artist’ program. Rob will be presenting many of his cast borosilicate glass artworks. His work will be exhibited in the Crafts Showroom area.
Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 10, 5-8pm
Exhibition Continues:
September 5 – October 31
Brentwood Arts Exchange @ Gateway Arts Center
3901 Rhode Island Avenue
Brentwood, MD 20722
301.277.2863
Upstairs @ the 39th Street Gallery
WGS artist Debra Ruzinsky, and ceramic artist Novie Trump are two of the of the artists curated by Phil Davis for the 39th Street Gallery show ” Trade. An art exhibition based on exchange portfolios.”
Joan Belmar, Serena Perrone, Debra Ruzinsky, Justin Strom, Jon Swindler, Laura G. Thorne, Novie Trump, and Tom Wolff.
“Trade” is exchange; it means “commerce” and “profession.” The exhibition Trade at the 39th Street Gallery intends to be all of those things. It’s about working in the arts, meant to be transparent about placing the gallery and the Gateway CDC are at the center of all the things galleries do: supporting artists, building relationships, creating discourse, and yes, funding the continuation of those efforts. Based on the concept of an exchange portfolio and curated by Phil Davis, Trade brings together eight artists to each create a new edition of 12 artworks. Every artist will receive one work by each other artist, becoming one another’s collectors and inevitably also one another’s promoters. The remaining four works in each edition are available for sale – all at the same price of $250. It’s a rare opportunity to collect work by established artists at such an affordable level. Proceeds go directly to the artists and also benefit the Gateway CDC, which in turn supports arts programming in the 39th Street Gallery as well as work to continue developing the Gateway Arts District.
39th Street Gallery
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Above grid includes work from top, L to R: Allegra Marquart, Jennifer Lindstrom, Jackie Greeves, Robert Kincheloe, Evan Morgan, Dave Cook.
As mentioned in a posting earlier this year, the Washington Glass School’s will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary with the creation of a collaborative artwork that will be mounted on the front facade of the glass school.
WGS Director Tim Tate organizes and sets out the artwork tiles into the steel grid framework.
Copper & glass panel is collaboration between metalsmith Chris Shea and glass artist Don Daniels.
Glass panels made by filmmakers Jon Gann and Kerri Sheehan.
Proposed artwork location at the front of the glass school. The author of this article is depicted as leaving the studio.
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It’s National Waffle Day!
Waffle Day is the holiday that you can waffle on issues and decisions. And, it certainly is a day to eat waffles.
The “holiday” marks the anniversary of the first U.S. patent for a waffle iron, which Cornelius Swarthout received on August 24, 1869.
13th Century A.C. – Ancient Greeks cook flat cakes between two metal plates. These early waffles were called obleios and were primarily savory in nature, prepared with cheeses and herbs.
1620 – The pilgrims bring Dutch “wafles” to America.
1735 – The word “waffle” – with two “f”s – appears in English print for the first time.
Late 1800’s – Thomas Jefferson returns to the U.S. from France with a long handled, patterned waffle iron.
1869 – Cornelius Swarthout patents the first U.S. Waffle Iron.
1953 – Frank Dorsa’s Eggo Frozen Waffles are sold in Supermarkets for the first time. (A dark day)
1964-65 – Brussels restaurateur Maurice Vermersch brings his wife’s Brussels Waffle recipe to the World’s Fair in New York. The fluffy yeast-infused waffle becomes a huge hit and becomes known as the Belgium waffle.
And how bad do you want a waffle right now? Be sure to honor the waffle today.
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Safeway Bethesda site construction photo August 22, 2011
Earlier posts on the Washington Glass School Blog featured the design and fabrication of Safeway supermaket’s first public art project – located here in Bethesda and created by the Washington Glass Studio.
Installation of the public artwork has begun. The cast glass panels were made from recycled glass taken from the original supermarket during the demolition phase, and the salvaged glass was cast in a bas-relief method to create translucent panels that referenced fresh herbs – perfect for a new LEED Certified building that would house the trendy Safeway supermarket.
Erwin Timmers installs the cast glass & steel panels.
Evan Morgan affixes the glass panels to the steel framework.
Interior view of the artwork – looking out towards Bradley Ave. Bethesda, MD.
The concept of the panels was to have the artwork allow openings to allow the interior and exterior blur – approx 25% of each building bay is open to allow air flow.
Hardware still-life.
Roche Constructors are the builders of the project – and they have a Safeway webcam. Click on the link and at the top is a time-lapse feature that allows one to see the project’s demo-to-current construction status. Click HERE to jump to the Roche webcam site.
UPDATE: Click HERE to jump to finished project images.
>Kris Coronado’s article about Erwin Timmers and his eco-art that uses recycled glass and salvaged components for his artwork and the classes he teaches was in the Washington Post magazine this weekend.
Kris writes more about the experience and has more images on her blog – click HERE to jump to her blog.
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The Washington Post Sunday Magazine has a great article about how Erwin Timmers is able to source artwork from ordinary cast-offs. Washington Post writer Kris Coronado interviewed Erwin for the “Closer Inspection” column of the magazine, and spent the day at the school with photographer Ben Tankersley, wanting to know the story of seemingly every piece of glass they found.
Washington Post’s Ben Tankersley sets up an impromptu photo studio for Erwin Timmers work
Kris writes: “Erwin Timmers, artist and co-founder of the Washington Glass School in Mount Rainier, has taken recycling to heart. “That’s my carbon footprint,” he jokes, pointing to a depression of his boot set in the large slab of repurposed green glass hung on the wall. “I like using objects that everybody recognizes that are everyday, common items,” he says, “that people don’t really realize what value they have … until they end up in the trash heap.”
Washington Post Magazine “Closer Inspection” Sunday, August 21, 2011