Glass Art Magazine Profiles Audrey Wilson

Our Audrey Wilson is an unstoppable force of nature! The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) had awarded her with their Visionary Scholarship – with it, she has gone to Penland for intensive workshops. Glass Art Magazine also features our Audrey Wilson with a great profile in the July/August issue!

Congrats Audrey – your work merits all the attention and awards!

Glass Art Magazine features Audrey Wilson in the July/August issue

Glass Art Magazine features Audrey Wilson in the July/August issue

Call to Artists! 2018 CGCA Fellowship

cgcaThe Creative Glass Center of America (CGCA) at WheatonArts offers fellowships to artists working in glass and has serviced glass artists and the arts community for over thirty years. Over 300 professional and emerging artists have been recipients of a CGCA fellowship, from the U.S. and over 26 foreign countries. Artists are encouraged to use their fellowships to develop and refine their work, while experimenting with both traditional and innovative glassmaking processes.

The 2018 CGCA Fellowship Application for the three-month and project-based residencies at WheatonArts and Cultural Center are now available online. Artists are welcome to send in proposals, due December 2, 2017.

For Project Based Application – click HERE

For Three Month Fellowship Application – click HERE

The CGCA Fellowship Program provides 24-hour studio facilities, technical resources, housing and a stipend; allowing artists the opportunity to spend a concentrated period of time devoted exclusively to their work. Many emerging artists have used the Fellowships as a stepping-stone to a successful career. For mid-career artists, it offers an opportunity to redefine direction and renew creative energy. The collaboration and exchange of ideas among the Fellows enhances a productive climate, supporting the discovery of new vision and resources for each.

For more information about the CGCA Fellowship, visit their website

Call for Glass Artists: Momentum Juried Competition

The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo invite glass artists to submit work for a juried competition/exhibition entitled, Momentum, taking place in downtown Toledo Ohio, beginning September 8, 2017. Works will be judged by nationally recognized experts in glass and artistic communities and $10,000 will be awarded in prizes.momentum toledo ohio

Summary
Artists working in glass, glass related materials, or materials referencing glass are invited to submit work for a juried competition/exhibition taking place in downtown Toledo Ohio, beginning September 8, 2017.  The competition/exhibition is presented by The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, in conjunction with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, ProMedica Health System and Toledo’s philanthropic community as part of Momentum, a three-day festival of music and art in the city’s downtown with a focus on the revitalizing waterfront.  The goal of the event is to celebrate Toledo’s rich artistic history, its promising and evolving forward trajectory, and to draw thousands to the city.

The festival will take place September 15-17, 2017 with the Momentum competition/exhibition taking place September 8 – October 14, 2017.  The festival will also include a downtown wide music event and a festival of art, music and public art in Promenade Park.

Curating Jurors:
Michael Killoren – CEO Morean Arts Center
Jennifer-Navva Milliken – New York based independent curator and writer whose work aims to serve as a catalyst for intriguing conversations between local traditions and new approaches in art, craft, and design.
Raul Paredes – Director of New Product Development and Design at Owens-Illinois

Led by The Arts Commission, the Momentum exhibition/competition will activate three floors of Toledo, OH’s historic downtown Secor Building located a few blocks from the waterfront.

The conceptual framework of the exhibition is as follows:
With a deep background in commercial production and the birthplace of the studio glass movement, Toledo has served as a nexus between art, industry, and innovation through its historical connection to the material of glass. Momentum seeks work that celebrates this unique narrative and work that evolves it.  Jurors will be selecting entries that exemplify:

  • Experimental or interdisciplinary works using glass as a material, in the spirit of the innovative technological developments in Toledo’s glass industry, and the cooperation and curiosity that drove the first Experimental Glass Workshop, precipitating the Studio Glass Movement.
  • Artworks utilizing glass that connect to industrial glass processes, or utilize industrially produced glass materials.
  • Artworks that have been informed by one’s personal affiliation or history with the Toledo, OH area.

Eligibility
Any size and medium of work will be considered including two-dimensional, three-dimensional works and installation.

Entries must have been completed after January 1, 2015.

All entries must be original. No giclees of canvas art, photographs reproduced on canvas (gallery wraps), copies of artworks, or reproductions will be accepted.

With the exception of Video entries, up to 5 individual works of art with a total of 10 images may be entered. (If you are submitting three-dimensional works or installations, please offer multiple views and details within the 10 image limit.)

Video entries are limited to a total of 3.

Deadline to apply: July 17, 2017

Click HERE to jump to “Call for Entry” site application.

Washington Glass School Welcomes Laura Beth Konopinski!

Washington Glass School (WGS) is proud to announce the hire of Laura Beth Konopinski as Studio Coordinator. Laura Beth will coordinate the projects and classes of both the Washington Glass School and the public art projects of the Washington Glass Studio, as well as acting as the liaison for the Studio Artists and Residency Artists that are part of the WGS Arts Incubator.

Laura Beth Konopinski joins the Washington Glass School as Studio Coordinator and Resident Artist

Laura Beth received a BFA with glass emphasis from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She has taught and worked in facilities such as the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Penland School of Crafts and the Corning Museum of Glass, which has allowed her to explore many methods of the glass making processes. For 3 years, Laura Beth worked as assistant to noted glass artist, Susan Taylor Glasgow.

Laura Beth models Susan Taylor Glasgow's glass chandelier at Chicago SOFA.

Laura Beth models Susan Taylor Glasgow’s glass chandelier at Chicago SOFA.

Throughout her artistic career, Laura Beth Konopinski has kept her material concentration primarily with glass, although uses other mediums including photography and metal.

玻璃艺术雕塑

Laura Beth Konopinski, “Within the chambers of Your Blackened Heart”; Blown and recycled glass, sculpted, enamel, preserved organic materials, mixed media.

Arising from her interests with environmental conservation, Laura Beth repurposes used materials and integrates carefully preserved organic compounds into sculpted layers of glass. She uses transparent glass as a lens for distortion with great effect to emphasize the ambiguous nature of human emotion. Laura Beth facilitates the idea of comparing reason and sentiment by combining figurative imagery with biological materials.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Laura Beth to our team,” said WGS Co-Director Tim Tate. “She is a bright young talent who will play a critical role managing WGS’ projects and ensuring the quality as we implement our business and artistic ideas”.

Laura.beth.konopinski.artist.glass.washington_glass_schoolLaura Beth will start full time at the Glass School in August – be sure to stop by and welcome her to DC!

Read a great profile about Laura Beth by Missouri’s Columbia Daily Tribune – click HERE

GlassWeekend ’17 @ WheatonArts Opens Friday!

GW17-Web-Banner-1-1024x424New Jersey’s WheatonArts opens GlassWeekend – an International Symposium and Exhibition of Contemporary Glass. Begun in 1985, GlassWeekend brings together the world’s leading glass artists, collectors, galleries, and museum curators at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center for a three-day weekend. Proceeds of the event support the fellowship program of the Creative Glass Center of America and the educational programs of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, both of which are not-for-profit organizations. GlassWeekend takes place every other summer in odd years. GlassWeekend ’17 will take place June 9, 10, and 11, 2017.

Tim Tate "The Secret Garden"; 36 x 36 x 2; Cast poly-vitro, video

Tim Tate “The Secret Garden”; 36 x 36 x 2; Cast poly-vitro, video, at Habatat Galleries

In addition to the featured artists, other artists, collectors, curators, and galleries are present for a program of exhibitions, lectures, gallery sales, artists’ demonstrations, and social events. Some of the world’s leading galleries in the field of contemporary studio glass exhibit works from dozens of the field’s premier artists. The Creative Glass Center of America, a division of Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Inc., was formed in 1983 to provide fellowships to emerging artists working in glass. Since the beginning, over 150 fellowships have been awarded to both emerging and mid-career artists.

Michael Janis "Spirit Animal" Kilnformed glass, glass powder imagery, steel 35”W x 19”H x 3”D

Michael Janis “Spirit Animal”, Kilnformed glass, glass powder imagery, steel; 35”W x 19”H x 3”D at Maurine Littleton Gallery.

For this GlassWeekend, demonstrating artists will be Matthew Szosz, Rik Allen, and Shelley Muzylowski Allen. The keynote speaker will be Susie Silbert, the new Curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass. WGS artist Michael Janis will also be presenting a talk on his works on Saturday June 10 from 1:00pm-1:40pm and again from 2:30pm-3:10pm.

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center
1501 Glasstown Road
Millville, NJ 08332

Audrey Wilson Leaving for MFA @ Kent State

artist audrey_wilson.glass.sculptor

All good things must come to an end. Join us at we toast Audrey Wilson’s Washington Glass School journey.

Today we announce that WGS Studio Coordinator, Audrey Wilson, is leaving Washington Glass School this summer; she has been accepted to Ohio’s Kent State University MFA program. At Kent State, Audrey plans to explore glass as both a material and an idea, pushing the boundaries of glass within the broader context of contemporary art.

audrey.wilson.washington.glass.school.studio.art.sculptureOver the past five years, Audrey has been an integral part of the studio and her engaging personality has helped the Glass School become a stronger and more inclusive organization. 

Audrey works Laura Donefer's 2013 Glass Fashion Show at the JRA Spring Craft Weekend.

Audrey works the runway modeling her glass during Laura Donefer’s Glass Fashion Show held as part of the 2013 JRA Spring Craft Weekend.

Since Audrey’s hiring in 2012, she’s worked on many of the school and studio initiatives. Audrey was the often the public face for the glass program. Her own work has developed and she now exhibits at SOFA Chicago and Art Miami. Her work will be the subject of a special profile in an upcoming issue of Glass Art Magazine.

Audrey Wilson solo exhibit

The (now former) Executive Director of the American Craft Council Chris Amundsen documents Audrey Wilson’s 2014 solo exhibit. Chris Amundsen’s last day at the ACC is August 4th.

It is amazing how work became fun with Audrey around. She was not just a colleague but a very good friend too.

Audrey Wilson appeared in Tim Tate's video "On The Calm Black Water Where The Stars Are Sleeping"

Audrey Wilson appeared in Tim Tate’s glass & video artwork: “On The Calm Black Water Where The Stars Are Sleeping“.

It may be hard to say good bye. But the good with it is a promise of something better.

Audrey Wilson glass mold queenPlease join us in wishing Audrey all the luck of the world and lots of success as she goes forward into a great future!

American Craft Magazine photo of the Washington Glass Studio crew by Julie Hanus

2013 American Craft Magazine photo of the Washington Glass Studio crew by Julie Hanus.

Audrey’s last day will be August 1, 2017.

Update: Here is a link to story about Ms Wilson’s Glass Art Magazine article – http://washingtonglassschool.com/glass-art-magazine-profiles-audrey-wilson