Author Archives: Chip Montague

Installation of Safeway Supermarket Public Art Project

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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.

Posted in architectural application glass, cast recycled glass, erwin timmers, evan morgan, LEED certified art, matthew duffy, safeway, safeway bethesda, sustainable design

CMOG "New Glass Review 33": A Call for Entries

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Corning Museum of Glass has posted its annual Call for Entries in the museum’s New Glass Review publication.All glassmakers, artists, designers, and companies are invited to participate in New Glass Review 33. Only glass designed and made between October 1, 2010, and October 1, 2011, may be submitted for this annual survey.



From CMOG’s website:

Each year, The Corning Museum of Glass conducts a worldwide competition to select 100 images of new works in glass. A committee drawn from designers, artists, curators, and critics makes the selection. The publication is intended to keep its audience, which includes museums, artists, libraries, collectors, scholars, and dealers, informed of recent developments in the field. Objects considered excellent from any of several viewpoints—such as function, subject matter, aesthetics, and technique—will be chosen. The objects selected will be published in color with the names of the makers and brief descriptions of the pieces.

Participants are requested to complete the entry form, submitting a total of three digital images illustrating one work per image. Slides and transparencies will not be accepted. Three images of different pieces are preferred, although participants may send multiple views of one or two pieces. Digital photographs, which should be made using the highest-resolution setting on the camera, must be of actual objects designed and made between October 1, 2010, and October 1, 2011.

The New Glass Review competition will be judged in early December. All entries, accompanied by a $20.00 USD entry fee, must be postmarked no later than October 1, 2010, and sent to: New Glass Review Curatorial Department The Corning Museum of Glass, One Museum Way Corning, New York 14830-2253, USA.

For more info – click HERE.

For a look at some of the winners of New Glass Review 31 – click HERE.

Posted in cmog, corning museum of glass, new glass review

The Process: Setting Up a Museum Solo Exhibition

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As part of an ongoing series, we focus on the process of an event or artwork as the basis for the blog posting. Today, the blog posting is a two-fer where the photo documentation is both about Michael Janis’ creative process and info about Michael Janis’ solo show at Fuller Craft Museum, opening this Saturday, August 6, 2011.

The Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts

The lead time for a museum show is very long – the Fuller Craft Museum contacted Michael in 2009 requesting a solo show at the museum in 2011, so Michael has been planning some aspect of the work for well over a year and features twenty five of his glass artworks. This posting will focus on his site specific sculpture in the show – titled “Unpredictable Factors”.

To help visualize the space, images of previous exhibitions and a floor plan of the gallery space within the museum were sent to Michael to help plan out the show.



Floor Plan of Fuller Museum’s Tarlow Gallery



Marc Petrovic’s exhibition in Fuller’s Tarlow Gallery 2007.



Michael said that he wanted to create a large scale work for the museum show, and had focused on using one of the 8′ wide floor-to-ceiling window areas as the location, with the idea that the light and view beyond could be integrated into the work.


Concepts for the sculpture were sketched by Michael, and details of the steel work were outlined.



Sketches were integrated with photos of the gallery as the studies advanced.

Michael focused on the design with a central image sculpture and proceeded forward with creation of the other artwork pieces for the show. Working with noted metalsmith Chris Shea, the architectural metal work for the large sculpture was created.


Firing of separate layers of the components within the sculpture and the fitting to the metal framework took place in late spring of 2011.

In August, all 25 works by Michael Janis were crated and packed for shipping to the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton – about 20 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts.

Upon arrival at the Fuller Museum, the artwork is opened, inspected and cataloged by the Museum staff.



Fuller Registrar Donna Eleyi inspects the incoming work.



The condition of each piece is noted and the packing is documented. Here Donna Eleyi photographs the unpacking by Preparator Jason Ram.



The works are placed to allow for the arrangement by Fuller Museum curator Perry Price.



Installation of the steel framework for Michael Janis’ large sculpture “Unpredictable Factors” proceeds.



With completion of the wall mounting the artworks, the remaining tasks for the museum show are to install wall text for the show and artwork wall labels.

The exhibition opens Saturday, August 6, and there is a public reception August 7, from 2-5 pm. For more info on Michael’s lecture at the museum- click HERE.

Michael Janis: A Lighter Hand

August 6 – November 6, 2011

Reception Aug 7, 2011, 2-5pm


Artists & Websites

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>There is no denying that getting your creative work noticed online is HARD. Art galleries as they now exist, are the old fashioned way of selling art. The competition is vast and ever growing. Every day more and more artists add their artwork to the enormous selection of artwork already available online. How can one even begin to make a dent in that mountain of content and be noticed? Every artist needs their own website, and every artist needs to get their own website now. Every artist needs to become conscious of the new way people are viewing and experiencing art. There are literally billions of people out there who don’t know that you or your art exists. They associate your subject or medium with artists who show up on search engines. They don’t care about what gallery you may be associated with, they care about who shows up on the Web. If you don’t start showing up on the Web very soon, not only will no one know who you are, they won’t even care.

Susan Lomuto – the writer of Daily Art Muse – research diva, an ex-non-profit executive director, a lover of contemporary fine craft has been working with artists and their careers for some time now. Susan had worked an internship here in the DC area’s Gateway Arts District this year to focus on defining how artists work and interact with each other and the community. Susan had just put out a new book and course that deals with artists and defining themselves online.

In Artist Online – a 12-week program, Susan walks you through the confusing maze of choices, answer your questions and teach you the basics using a combination of conference calls, screencast tutorials, handouts, forum posts, email and live online instruction.
Click HERE to read more about the course.

Susan’s also has a new book – The Cool, Calm & Collected Guide To A Better Artist Website: Tools and tips to help you create a website without raising your blood pressure or breaking the bank

Inside the book you will find:

  • Susan’s number one tip to make your website rock.
  • 8 steps to help you activate the tip.
  • More than 30 resources to help you create and maintain a professional website for your art and increase the efficiency of your business workflow.
  • Filled with beautiful images and quotes to inspire you on the journey, this guide will help you create a website while staying cool, calm and collected.

Click HERE to jump to info on the book.

Posted in calm, collected, daily art muse, susan Lomuto, website

Still More Glass Fun Facts: Is Glass Solid or Liquid?

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We have often been told that old European cathedrals glazing show glass is still moving in a semi-solid state as the stained glass panels thicker at the bottom – right? Yes and no – but not for the change in the thickness of the glass.

Way back in 2008, this NY Times Science article delved into the nature of glass –

“…The (cathedral stained glass) tale contains a grain of truth about glass resembling a liquid, however. The arrangement of atoms and molecules in glass is indistinguishable from that of a liquid. But how can a liquid be as strikingly hard as glass?

“They’re the thickest and gooiest of liquids and the most disordered and structureless of rigid solids,” said Peter Harrowell, a professor of chemistry at the University of Sydney in Australia, speaking of glasses, which can be formed from different raw materials. “They sit right at this really profound sort of puzzle.”

“…scientists still disagree, with some vehemence, about the nature of glass.”

“Scientists are slowly accumulating more clues. A few years ago, experiments and computer simulations revealed something unexpected: as molten glass cools, the molecules do not slow down uniformly. Some areas jam rigid first while in other regions the molecules continue to skitter around in a liquid-like fashion. More strangely, the fast-moving regions look no different from the slow-moving ones.

Meanwhile, computer simulations have become sophisticated and large enough to provide additional insights, and yet more theories have been proffered to explain glasses.”

“The glass transition does not occur at a single, well-defined temperature; the slower the cooling, the lower the transition temperature. Even the definition of glass is arbitrary — basically a rate of flow so slow that it is too boring and time-consuming to watch. The final structure of the glass also depends on how slowly it has been cooled.”

The (very tech) article includes discussions what would happen with “cooling at an infinitely slow rate” – so not going to happen in this busy studio.

Click HERE to jump to the 2008 Kenneth Chang article in the NY Times.

Previous Glass Fun Facts postings:
 Glass Fun Facts: Gaffer/Composer

More Glass Fun Facts: Bullseye Glass

Float Glass Fun Facts

Glass Fun Facts – Shattered Glass Predicts Weather

Why is Glass Transparent?

Posted in fun facts, glass fun facts

Michael Janis’ Solo Exhibition @ Fuller Craft Museum

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Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts

Founded as a traditional fine arts museum and cultural center, over the past four decades the Fuller Craft Museum has transformed itself into a collection devoted entirely to crafts, one of only eight such museums in the US.
New England’s only museum of contemporary craft presents A Lighter Hand: The Glass Drawings of Michael Janis, on display Aug. 6 – Nov. 6, 2011.

One of the new works Michael has made for the exhibition is a site-specific sculpture that measures 8′-0″ and will be installed in floor to ceiling window of the exhibition space.


Michael Janis Unpredictable Factors
3′-0″W x 8′-0″H x 4″ fused glass, glass powder imagery, steel

Michael Janis Unpredictable Factors (detail)
3′-0″W x 8′-0″H x 4″ fused glass, glass powder imagery, steel

From the Fuller Craft Museum press release:

,,,”Janis’ work is the result of a laborious and challenging process. Similar to sgraffito, where a design is scratched through a colored ground revealing another color beneath; to produce the image Janis sifts black glass powder onto sheet glass, scraping away the powder to produce the detail. The image is suspended between layers of sheet glass and fired in a kiln to fuse the constituent pieces together. In this manner any number of images can be combined to produce complex juxtapositions. The result is a collage produced entirely in glass, built from a time-consuming process allowing for an extended contemplation of his subjects.
Building on the legacy of Surrealist artists of the early 20th century, in particular Giorgio de Chirico whose paintings juxtaposed disparate objects in moody and indistinct landscapes, Janis is able to construct a contemplative feeling from the layering of seemingly inanimate objects and ambiguous characters. His images in glass, particularly those examples in a tall and narrow format, also allude to the narrative quality of stained glass.
The juxtaposition of text, symbols, and figures seem to imply a hidden message or meaning, but like an ink blot or word association Janis leaves the viewer to provide their own conclusions.
Janis lives and works in Washington, DC, where he is Co-Director and an instructor at the Washington Glass School. He first began working with glass as an architect, evident in his dedication to sheet glass and the precision draftsmanship in his drawings.

Fuller Craft will celebrate the opening of A Lighter Hand, with a public reception August 7 at 2 p.m. at the Museum. The reception is free for members and free with museum admission for all others.”
A lecture by Michael Janis precedes the public reception – click HERE for more information.

The Fuller Museum is located at 455 Oak Street, Brockton, MA 02301

Posted in a lighter hand, boston area, brockton, fuller craft museum, glass art, michael janis, sgraffitto

Book Release Party for "100 Artists of Washington, DC"

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This weekend, the book release party was held at the beautiful Conner Contemporary Art Gallery in Washington, DC. As the Mid-Atlantic sweltered in record-breaking high temperatures, the cool crowd was in force at the book reception. The book is incredible – the production quality is very high and the selection of the artists represented and the artwork included all contribute to a fantastic compendium of the best of the DC area art scene. Though I understand the first set of books from the publisher is already sold out at places like Amazon Books, more books are due soon.

Artist/Author F Lennox Campello at his book release, held at Conner Contemporary.

The crowds braved the heat to get their first look at the book.

Tim Tate waves a jaunty ‘hello’ to this intrepid reporter.

Posted in 100 washington artists, f lennox campello, Lenny Campello, one hundred washington, schiffer books, schiffer publishing

26th Annual Penland Auction

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>The 26th Penland School of Crafts Benefit Auction takes place August 12-13, 2011. This gala weekend in the North Carolina mountains featuring the sale of more than 200 works in books, clay, drawing, glass, iron, letterpress, metals, painting, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. The Penland auction is one of the most important craft collecting events in the Southeast and a perfect opportunity to support Penland’s educational programs, which have helped thousands of people to live creative lives. Work by WGS Director Tim Tate is featured in the auction – and one of the works is previewed below.

Focus on Materials: Glass in This Year’s Auction

Glass is an wonderfully versatile material that has a long been a part of functional craft and decorative art and, in the past half-century, has become increasingly important as a sculptural material. Although glass is rigid and unyielding, it is worked as a liquid or a semi-solid, making it receptive to almost any form. It can be transparent, translucent, or opaque, and it can be made virtually any color. Naturally shiny, it can be sandblasted or acid etched to produce a matte or frosted surface. Glass can be manipulated directly with tools or well-insulated hands; it can be poured, blown, or melted into molds; it can be shaped after being selectively heated over a torch. It is a material capable of seducing both the maker and the viewer.


Tim Tate Four Seasons
Blown and cast glass, electronic components, original video
18 x 36 x 8 in.
For some years, Tim Tate has been developing a unique sculptural form that combines intricate glass castings and continuous video loops (displayed on tiny monitors) enclosed in glass bell jars to create what he calls “electronic reliquaries.” Through these pieces Tim has explored social issues, autobiography, cultural artifacts, and his observations of life. In this suite, he has created gentle evocations of each of the four seasons. “The piece works as a crossover between 20th and 21st century aesthetics,” he says. “The lost-wax casting is very intricate and complex, using hundreds of individually cast components. This is contrasted by the very direct and compelling video selections.”

Click HERE to jump to the full Auction Catalog.

For More info: call 828-765-2359, ext. 40 or email: auction@penland.org

Posted in benefit auction, penland school of craft

ISGB Opens July 27.

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The Glass School Gang celebrates Rob Kincheloes birthday at Franklin’s Restaurant.

L-R: Michael Janis, Tim Tate, visiting artist Melissa Stern, Erwin Timmers, Robert Kincheloe, Sean Hennessey & Nancy Donnelly. Photo by Chip Montague.

The Washington Glass School had lunch at nearby Franklins to:

1). Celebrate Rob’s Birthday.

2) Wish Rob well at the International Society of Glass Beadmakers (ISGB) Gathering in Louisville, KY, opening the 27th. Rob will be presenting at the conference, and he promised photos for to post on the school blog.

Looking forward to the postings!

Posted in international society of glass beadmakers, isgb, Louisville, robert kincheloe

Fun Weekend Events

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>A couple of events take place this weekend –

The Capital Fringe Festival continues its July Festival performances. Capital Fringe Festival is the only major unjuried, self-producing, open-access Festival in the Washington, DC area and occurs in July each year. The Fringe Festival provides all artists, whether new or established, a venue to express and develop their talents and artistic visions in total freedom.

One of the events is MatchGame DC – where area celebrities have agreed to sit on the answer panels for a live version of the classic TV Game Show presented live on stage. Proceeds to benefit 3 local charities: Food & Friends, The DC Film Alliance and The Washington Literacy Council. Our Tim Tate is one of the artists performing in the silly, naughty fun. Go see Match Game DC, no matter how you feel about game shows, DC celebrities, or improv-based, audience participation-filled semi-theater, because in the end, it supports three really important causes.

Where:Studio Theater, 1501 14th Street NW, Washington DC

When:Saturday, July 23rd, at 9 p.m & Sunday, July 24th, at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets: $17 and can be bought online at capitalfringe.org

More info on MatchGameDC – click HERE.


The 100 Washington, DC Artists book should be available at most DMV area bookstores very soon and a book release party will be held this Saturday, July 23rd at Conner Contemporary in DC. The book release party is by invitation only, so please RSVP to lenny@lennycampello.com if you’d like to be added to the invite list or RSVP on Facebook here. Most of the artists will be there, so this is your chance to get your copy signed by them. You can bring your own copy or a very limited number of books will be available for sale at the party. The book is also available online at the usual sites (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, etc.) or directly from the publisher. If you want to support your local bookstore, you can have them order it for you here.

Book Details ISBN: 9780764337789

Size: 8 1/2 x 11 Illustrations: 735+ images

Pages: 224 Binding: Hard Cover

Conner Contemporary Art
1358 Florida Ave, NE, Washington, DC
Date: Saturday, July 23, from 3-5 PM

Posted in 100 washington artists, one hundred washington