Mark your virtual calendars! August 22 Open Studio Tours goes ONLINE! See what the artists in the Gateway have been doing over the past months
WGS studio artists have been working during the lockdown in an artist bubble.
Mark your virtual calendars! August 22 Open Studio Tours goes ONLINE! See what the artists in the Gateway have been doing over the past months!
Mark your virtual calendars! August 22 Open Studio Tours goes ONLINE! See what the artists in the Gateway have been doing over the past months!
The Washington Glass School is a unique educational program in the Nation’s Capital area.
The Washington Glass School prepares to reopen the studio- and have outlined new COVID-19 procedures, based on CDC guidelines. Click HERE to jump to posting.
Proper Face Masks must be work to enter the studio and school.
Dr. Fauci ceremoniously presents the golden thermometer to WGS Co-Director Erwin Timmers as the reopen protocols for the Washington Glass School are announced. After the ceremony, all scrubbed up for 20 seconds and social distancing was returned. Image by C. Montague, esq.
The announcement of new Covid Protocols garnered much fanfare and attention! Dr. Fauci – Tony – swung by to give it the “thumbs up”.
This guidance is intended for our visitors, artists and instructors who want to ensure the cleanliness and safety of the Glass School. Re-opening of the Washington Glass School & Studio requires all of us to move forward together by practicing social distancing and other daily habits to reduce our risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. In general, the reopening the country also strongly relies on public health strategies, including increased testing of people for the virus, social distancing, isolation, and keeping track of how someone infected might have infected other people.
The HUGE DMV art fair Artomatic has gone virtual for 2020! The 20th anniversary of Artomatic will be celebrated online with virtual artist profiles, live opportunities for performing artists, enriching workshops, and more!
The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) is hosting a number of events during the Artomatic 2.0 – the zoom events below start tomorrow!
Register online : https://www.jra.org/artomatic.
Friday, July 24th @ 7pm
JRA Awards Presentation
The James Renwick Alliance has selected to highlight 10 artists from Artomatic 2.0 for their excellence in the craft field. Awards will not be announced ahead of time, so tune in to find out who won!
Wednesday, July 29th @ 7pm 
The History of Craft in Washington, DC
The JRA presents an online ZOOM discussion on the history of art and craft in Washington DC by some of the leading experts on the subject: Brett L. Abrams, Rebecca Cross, Jaimianne Jacobin and Jack Rasmussen.
Wednesday, August 5th @ 7pm
What Makes a Piece of Craft Exceptional?
The JRA will moderate an online ZOOM panel conversation on how craft collectors decide what makes a piece of art exceptional enough to add to their collection. The Conversation will have artists Rebecca Ravenal, Chris Shea, and Tim Tate, arts collectors Jere Gibber and J.G. Harrington and Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein and Dr. Judy Chernoff. This event will be moderated by arts supporter Chris Rifkin. Chris currently serves on the board of The South Shore Art Center and the Fuller Craft Museum, and is a Founding Chair of CraftBoston, a juried biennial exhibition of well-known and emerging artists in the United States.
Register for these events online : https://www.jra.org/artomatic.
The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) is an independent national non-profit organization that celebrates the achievements of America’s craft artists and fosters scholarship, education, connoisseurship and public appreciation of craft art. The JRA is made up of art enthusiasts, collectors, artists, educators, students and art professionals who share a passion for contemporary American craft. Founded in 1982, the Alliance fulfills its mission through public programs, educational trips, publications, recognition of craft artists, and financial support of museums and other non-profit organizations, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
ARTOMATIC 2.0: A VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE . Since we can’t gather physically, for now, the 20th anniversary celebration is online – July 20 – August 20, 2020
If you have been around the DC area for a while, you have probably experienced Artomatic in some form, either as a participant or visitor. Please consider showing your artwork this year. There is a suggested $20 entry fee. For that, you’ll receive your own page with 5 images, your bio, a paragraph about your work, and links to whatever you want. The James Renwick Alliance – a group of collectors, artists, educators, gallery and museum professionals who share a passion for contemporary American craft will be giving out awards to media specific work again this year & we hope to see your work among the pieces for consideration. Artomatic is such a great community building event and we would love you to be a part of our special family.
Artists! Sign-up online – click here to jump to Artomatic artist page!
If you register for Artomatic 2.0, be sure to share on social media. Tag @jracraft and #jracraft so they can see you!
CLICK IT! Featured Artist: Joseph Ivacic
Joseph Ivacic is a Chicago based glass artist. Since receiving his BFA from the University of Illinois at Champaign, Urban, he has been showing in group and solo shows throughout the country. Joseph’s work challenges the viewer to see things differently, both from a subject and content point of view, as well as the fact that, while his work is made from glass, it certainly doesn’t look like traditional glass.
Joseph started using the moniker PARADIGM SHIFT to experiment with different themes in his art. “The narratives of these pieces are inspired by contemporary life, inviting the viewers to place themselves within the work. My compositions of faux installations are filled with text and imagery providing the viewer with subtle hints that the work is not what they perceive. Our modern day truths are what we say they are and our sense of reality is skewed based on our perspective.”
In 2018, Ferd Hampson of Habatat Galleries declared Joseph to be a “Top Ten Trend in Contemporary Glass” for his recent street inspired work – where all elements are glass, including the labels on the cans.
Washington Glass School blog catches up with Joseph as his work is part of the WGS Contemporary online exhibit “CLICK-IT!” and also in the “Artists For Racial Justice” exhibit/fundraiser.
Washington Glass School (WGS): Describe your artwork method/process.
Joseph Ivacic: I am a contemporary sculptor who uses glass as my primary medium. I combine a variety of techniques to create my groupings. The spray paint cans are blown and hot sculpted in the hot shop. Labels that are on the cans are Ceramic Decals and are applied to the glass cylinder prior to it being assembled hot. The elements that appear to be steel are created a by sifting powdered glass on to sheets of glass and then are slumped and fused at temperatures as high as 1450 degrees.
Joseph Ivacic, “Summit”; Glass; 12″x6″x4″
WGS: Describe your work in the show and highlight aspects that the viewers should understand about the work.
Joseph Ivacic: My work in these two shows vary and I am excited about both. The smaller pieces with the spray paint cans and the faux steel are continuations of my larger installations but are intended for newer collectors, people with small niches, or would like to own my work but it doesn’t work with there budget. This body of work is loaded with content and some of the topics are urban decay and the beauty in aging. I don’t want to share too much about the pieces because I want the viewer to come up with their own conclusion.
Joseph Ivacic, “Echoes”, Glass, wood, 14″x15″x29″, 2020. Featured in WGS Contemporary “Artists For Racial Justice” exhibit.
The piece in the Social Justice show titled “Echoes” is a narrative piece about protest and the long term benefits of standing up for your rights and beliefs. The Megaphone is made of glass and is assembled hot. The soap box is intended to look like a found object but I made that as well.
WGS: How have you handled the COVID-19 lockdown? How have you adapted?
Joseph Ivacic: The Covid lockdown has been tough. I really miss social interaction and engaging through a screen is not the same. I usually work at a public access glass studio for my blowing needs which has not been open to the public since the middle of march. During all of this craziness my family has also moved houses and I have moved studios. I am excited about my new studio, but it still has a long way to go before its operational. My creative outlets have been painting a working digitally on a tablet. I will be incorporating these new techniques in to the new pieces I am working on. As a glass artist, I feel we always need to adapt our vision with the properties of the material. As we evolve our relationship with glass, we understand what rules we can bend and what rules we can break.
WGS: What artwork/event has moved you and got you thinking about your own work?
Joseph Ivacic: During this time, I have been most moved by the social equality movement around the Black Lives Matter. I have spent a lot of time researching and trying to understand how be a better human and how to communicate this through my work. I think in the next year we are going to see a lot of art with this as the subject matter.
Joseph Ivacic checks out the street art as the street art checks out Joe.
WGS: if you were not an artist – what would you be?
Joseph Ivacic: I have a background in teaching and would probably work with high school students. I don’t know if it’s possible for me not to be an artist.
WGS: Do you do a lot of planning in your work – or is there an element of chance while working?
Joseph Ivacic: YES! My work requires tons of planning. I usually start with message and move to imagery from there. At that point in need to figure out scale and how to break the piece up into shippable pieces. Each of my panels needs to be fired at a minimum of 3 times and usually if something is going to break it will happen on the 3rd firing. Also anytime I want to incorporate a new color I need to do a sample with every other color I use to make sure that the new color expands and contracts at the same rate as the other colors. If the new color doesn’t the entire piece breaks.
Joseph Ivacic, “Propoganda Spray Can” 24″H; glass. The cans of spray paint draw parallels, positive and negative, between spray paint as art and as one of the oldest forms of social communication while layers of vibrant colors and text provoke further examination of the subtle details.
WGS: What is your rule of thumb in determining when a work is finished?
Joseph Ivacic: The rule of thumb on when the piece is finished… The piece is usually finished 2 days before the due date. :)
Joseph Ivacic at work in the hotshop.
Click HERE to jump to Joseph Ivacic’s work in CLICK-IT!
Click Here to jump to the Artists For Racial Justice exhibit.
Works by Jennifer Caldwell & Jason Chakravarty, Jeff Zimmer, F Lennox (Lenny) Campello, Teri Bailey and Steve Wanna.
We’re down to the final week the “CLICK-IT!” online exhibit!. Showing works by these talented artists (Teri Bailey, F. Lennox Campello, Jennifer Caldwell, Jason Chakravarty, Cheryl P. Derricotte, Sean Donlon, Sean Hennessey, Joseph Ivacic, Michael Janis, Carmen Lozar, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Steve Wanna, & Jeff Zimmer) to the public and hearing the wonderful feedback has been so rewarding. It means a lot to us that we can share their world with the world and an appreciation for the works/sentiments/technical brilliance can be appreciated.
Works by Sean Donlon, Michael Janis, Jennifer Caldwell & Jason Chakravarty, Joseph Ivacic and Tim Tate.
Those who have yet to visit the exhibition should grab the chance to see these truly wonderful works online – click HERE to jump to online exhibit!
Works by Cheryl Derricotte, Sean Hennessey, Erwin Timmers, Jennifer Caldwell & Jason Chakravarty and Carmen Lozar.
“Artists For Racial Justice” exhibit and fundraising for non-profits that can help with equality with art as a tool for healing and peace to help at this time.
Click HERE to jump to the fundraiser arts page.
Want more than just visual …stimulation? click on link below and get the official “Click It” themesong – music by Donovan Lessard.
CLICK IT! Featured Artist: Teri Swinhart
Teri Swinhart
Teri Swinhart is a multimedia artist holding a BFA in Glass from The University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and an MFA from The Ohio State University. She thrives in learning, pursuing opportunities to expand her understanding of material at institutions such as Penland School of Crafts, the Corning Museum of Glass, Pilchuck Glass School and the Chrysler Museum of Art. Teri currently lives and works in Washington D.C. as the Studio Coordinator for the Washington Glass School and the Director of WGS Contemporary.
Teri Swinhart teaching pâte de verre technique at the Washington Glass School.
Washington Glass School blog catches up with Teri as her work is part of the WGS Contemporary online exhibit “CLICK-IT!”.
Washington Glass School (WGS): Describe your artwork method/process.
Teri Swinhart: The forms for the Sanctuary Series are constructed by precisely layering thin glass strands to imitate weaved textile patterns. The glass strands are lightly melted together and then heated until they slump over a hand-made mold. Each mold is uniquely carved out of a soft plaster mixture that is removed after firing, creating a negative space within the glass sculpture. I also create a charcoal drawing of my inspiration (a child hiding under a blanket) to help guide the viewer and add visual variety.
Teri Swinhart, “Sanctuary Among Fragility”; Kilnworked Glass, Flat Glass; 6”x7”x4”; concept sketch above finished work.
I combined an assortment of processes to create Seeking Home. This piece includes a hand sculpted figure as well as a glass quilt square. I made the square by sifting ground up glass powder (called frit) through a stencil onto a larger sheet of flat glass. I then fired the sheet and fused the pattern onto the surface.
Teri Swinhart, detail, “Seeking Home”; Glass, Poly-Vitro, Wood; 18”x20”x6”
Delicate Revolution is an installation of over 400 eyehooks that have been corseted together with layers of silk ribbon. This installation changes every time it is presented and is dependent on the space around it.
Teri Swinhart, Detail “Delicate Revolution”; Stainless Steel Eyehooks, Ribbon, Wood; 2’x8’x1′
Defiance (in Artists for Racial Justice Fundraiser) is a deep red glass casting of a human neck with its chin raised. The chin proudly jutting out, even though it is fractured and worn. The mold for the piece was made by painting body safe rubber mold material onto my model’s neck, waiting for it to try, then removing the mold and pouring wax into it to create a reproduction. The wax neck is then covered in plaster-silica to create a kilnproof mold. The wax is melted of out the mold and the negative space that it leaves is filled with cold chunks of glass and heated up in a kiln until they melt.
WGS: Describe your work in the show and highlight aspects that the viewers should understand about the work.
Teri Swinhart: The work in this show highlights many of the different processes and materials that I enjoy working with. All of these works highlight my fascination with textiles and their role in the home. Similar to artists like Mary Cassatt, I am drawn to exploring the beautiful intimacy within the home and the personal.
WGS: What artwork/event has moved you and got you thinking about your own work?
Teri Swinhart: The two biggest things influencing my work (and much of the world) right now are COVID and the BLM Movement. So much of the inspiration for my work comes from the emotion and vulnerability of the extremely personal. I am painfully empathetic, so to watch this many people die so brutally leaves me fluctuating between heartbroken, terrified, and enraged. I don’t think I could keep emotions this intense out of my artwork even if I really tried. It has shown me that I need to take a stance on things I have been privileged enough to avoid in the past and use my voice to spread love and promote change. No pressure…
Here’s your coffee… & thank-you for wearing a mask!
WGS: if you were not an artist – what would you be?
Teri Swinhart: A psychologist… or a barista.
WGS: Do you do a lot of planning in your work – or is there an element of chance while working?
Teri Swinhart: Definitely a little bit of both. I feel like I spend 75% of the time in my sketchbook working through each element of an idea before I begin making, then when I feel comfortable with the plan I begin bringing it to life. I am flexible throughout the process and lots of things change as I lay the materials next to each other and work through the installation… it keeps me on my toes!
Click here to jump to Teri Swinhart’s work in CLICK-IT!
Teri’s work is part of the companion exhibit/fundraiser – “Artists for Racial Justice” Click HERE to jump to the show.
