February, 2018 | Washington Glass Studio

ACC Names New Director: Sarah Shultz! Meet her at the Baltimore ACC Show!!

Posted on February 20, 2018 by admin |

For more than 75 years, the American Craft Council (ACC) has championed craft. Founder Aileen Osborn Webb recognized the significant impact craft has on individuals and communities, and established a nonprofit to preserve, cultivate, and celebrate this communal heritage. The ACC’s efforts span the nation, promoting the handmade through a resource-rich website and award-winning magazine, American Craft.

New Executive Director of the American Arts Council, Sarah Schultz. photo by Lightsey Dars

The American Craft Council has today announced that Sarah Schultz has been named its new executive director. Sarah, who has more than 25 years’ experience in arts leadership, fundraising, and education, succeeds Chris Amundsen, who left the organization in September.

“The ACC has a remarkable history of celebrating and supporting craft in America,” Sarah says. “I am thrilled to be working with the board and staff as we expand the reach and engagement of the organization to the incredible diversity of practices and artists working today.”

Most recently, Sarah was interim vice president of public programs and education for the Friends of the High Line in New York City and a visiting curator for Mural Arts Philadelphia.

When Sarah begins as executive director April 2, it will be a homecoming of sorts: She spent more than 20 years at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, including 14 as director of education and curator of public practice. Sarah earned a BA in art history from Bucknell University, an MBA in arts administration from SUNY-Binghamton, and an MA from the University of Minnesota in art history and American studies.

Sarah has been an outspoken proponent of innovation, networking, teamwork, and community building.

Sarah will be at this weeks Baltimore ACC show – a great opportunity to meet her!

The American Craft Show returns to the Baltimore Convention Center. This is the nation’s largest juried indoor craft show showcasing the work of more than 650 of the country’s leading contemporary artists.

Show Dates
February 23: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
February 24: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
February 25: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Baltimore Convention Center

1 West Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Posted in AAC, american craft council, american craft magazine, sarah schultz

Syl Mathis’ New Work

Posted on February 17, 2018 by admin |

Syl Mathis; “Mesa”; 24″w x 10″h x 4″d; cast and carved tempered plate glass; oxidized steel; local cut rock base

Artist Syl Mathis was one of the Washington Glass School first students and later instructor. For 22 years, Syl was Director of the Voyageur Program at St. Albans School and the National Cathedral School. In 1996 Syl focused on his glass artwork as his alternate career, working in carved and cast glass. The pieces in his Boat Series were inspired by the shapes, colors, places and emotions that came from his adventures on the water.

In 2016, Syl retired from St. Albans and moved to the mountains of Colorado. Above is one of his latest glass sculptures, “Mesa”, currently on display at the Western Colorado Center For The Arts. This piece reflects the view Syl has from his studio of the Colorado National Monument and the beautiful rock formations. The artist said he formed the top edge of the glass to echo the mesas of the monument.

Posted in syl mathis

Artist Mary Van Cline’s Love Letter Portrait Project to the Glass Art Community

Posted on February 16, 2018 by admin |

Mary Van Cline; The Floating Sea of Time;
Photosensitive glass, pate de verre, 24 x 20 x 5 in.

Mary Van Cline artwork blends pâte de verre elements with photographic images creating a new quality in dimension. Recently she has focused on the photography aspect to create “The Documenta Project,” which she hopes to build an archive of life-size photographic portraits that capture the unique personalities of the major glass world figures.

Mary Van Cline has been known for her artwork combining photography and glass since 1978.

Since early 2017, she’s been traveling the U.S. to take photographs of glass artists, prominent dealers, collectors and critics in an effort to document and immortalize the unique artistic ecosystem that defines the Studio Glass world. Mary’s goal is support to capture the spirit of the people who enabled and contributed to the glass community using life size photographic images where their gestures and presence will be preserved on large format B&W film, and high-resolution color digital files.

Glass Artist Laura Donefer captured by Mary Van Cline

Mary said that she has taken some 10,000 photos. From each session alone, she took at least 400 photos with the digital camera.

NYC Uber collectors Susan and Fred Sanders

Though almost entirely self-funded so far, Mary hopes that others who appreciate her project and the progress she’s made on her own might approach her with offers of support. This year the project has been invited back to SOFA and, in April, Van Cline hopes to bring it to Detroit during the Flint Museum opening and the Habatat International.

The fact is that such an ambitious project is costly and donations are needed in order for it to continue. The Tacoma Art Museum has agreed to accept nonprofit donations on behalf of Van Cline, and transfer any funding directly to the project with no fee.

WGS Glass Artists Michael Janis & Tim Tate documented for the Documenta Project

Donations can be mailed to the Tacoma Art Museum at the following address:

Tacoma Art Museum
Rock Hushka, Curator
Attention: Documenta Project
1701 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, Washington 98402

For any questions, contact Mary Van Cline at: mary@maryvancline.com

Posted in documenta, mary van cline, studio art glass, studio glass movement

If you say you love me, my glass heart will never break

Posted on February 13, 2018 by admin |

Happy Valentines Day to All!

Washington Glass School’s Cast Glass Heart and Flora

Posted in cast glass, valentines day

Abraham Lincoln Was a Science Champion

Posted on February 9, 2018 by admin |

In honor of the birthday of the 16th President of the USA – Abraham Lincoln – and the recent awesome Spacex Falcon Heavy launch, we present the following heroic post:

Abraham Lincoln is best known for abolishing slavery and keeping the United States together through the Civil War, but he also helped the country become the scientific and engineering powerhouse we know today.

For example, Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in 1862, creating a system of land-grant colleges and universities that revolutionized higher education in the United States, notes famed astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson. “Known also as the people’s colleges, they were conceived with the idea that they would provide practical knowledge and science in a developing democratic republic,” Tyson, the director of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in New York City.

Notable land-grant institutions include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, the University of Florida, The Ohio State University, the University of Arizona and the schools in the vast University of California system.

Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, also chartered the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1863, establishing the august body that advises Congress and the president about science and technology matters to this day, Tyson observes.

Spacex Starman Heads Towards Mars & Beyond

Posted in abraham lincoln, president, president's day

WGS Studio Artist Kyle Crosby Featured in Washingtonian Magazine

Posted on February 7, 2018 by admin |

Film producer Kyle David Crosby joined the Washington Glass Studio family in 2016. Since he joined the studio, Kyle and his Pictureshow Productions has worked on a number of great films, including 2017’s The Confidential Informant – where Kyle worked with writer/Executive Producer George Pelecanos. George is known for his DC-focused crime novels and gripping work on HBO’s The Wire and The Deuce.

Kyle David Crosby @ The Washington Glass School.

The two are currently making an anthology film, titled DC Noir, filmed around the stories locations set in the DC area, with George Pelecanos in his directorial debut.

Washingtonian Magazine has a story in the February 2018 about the two filmmakers and how important it is to George Pelecanos to have the movies about Washington, DC be filmed in DC. Written by Rosa Cartagena and photographed by Evy Mages, the article give great insight to what it takes to bring a written story to life on film.

George Pelecanos and Kyle David Crosby. Washingtonian photo by Eve Mages

George Pelecanos and Kyle David Crosby. Washingtonian photo by Evy Mages.

Posted in kyle david crosby, pictureshow productions | Tagged george pelecanos

From Super Bowls™ Class to the SUPER BOWL!

Posted on February 6, 2018 by admin |

The glass artist that started our popular Super Bowls™ class instructor – Audrey Wilson – appeared in the 2018 Super Bowl! Kent State University created a 30-second spot that touts the “boundless innovation” on the Ohio campus and features shots of students participating in science, fashion and art programs during the 2018 Super Bowl game. The same ad will also run during the Opening Ceremonies of the PyeongChang Olympics. Great to see Audrey as she gets her MFA at Kent State! The Super Bowls™ class continues at the Washington Glass School with Laura Beth Konopinski at the helm.

Our Miss Audrey featured walk-on as glass instructor in Kent State’s 2018 Super Bowl ad.

Audrey Wilson appears 20 seconds into the televised spot, supervising Steven Edwards as he works hot glass in the hotshop. See the full video in the link below:

Posted in audrey wilson, super bowls

Happy Groundhog Day!

Posted on February 1, 2018 by admin |

Groundhog, Design by Taf Lebel Schaefer, lead crystal, 2011

Groundhog, Steuben Glass (Design by Taf Lebel Schaefer), lead crystal, 2011

In the 18th and 19th centuries, young ladies attending dances employed porcelain, marble, and glass eggs to cool hands, heated by the excitement of the evening. Steuben Glass created a line of crystal hand coolers that modernized the design into intricate works of glass art that nestles in one’s palm.

Steuben Glass was founded in 1903 by renowned English glass master Frederick Carder, who named it for Steuben County, where Corning is located.

In 2008, 105 years after it was founded, the Steuben division was sold by Corning Incorporated to retail conglomerate Schottenstein Stores. On September 15, 2011, Schottenstein announced it was shutting down Steuben’s Corning factory and Manhattan store, ending the company’s 108-year history.

The Corning Museum of Glass acquired the Steuben brand in 2016 and the factory was torn down to make room for an expansion of the museum. Now, Steuben Glass pieces are once more on display — and available for sale — at the museum.

Posted in corning museum of glass, steuben glass