The west coast of sunny Florida is where the glass art scene is hot! This past week, Habatat Detroit Fine Art held a glass extravaganza at the Ringling College of Art in beautiful Sarasota, FL. This was be their 8th Annual Glass Coast Weekend (GCW). This year the event paid homage to the past, present, and future of studio glass. The show featured noted artists, lectures, demos and a reception at the Ringling Museum of Art and the 5th Anniversary event at the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, FL.
Above is a quick video fly-thru of the main show at Ringling College of Art
The Glass Coast excitement continued up the coast – at Duncan McClellan Gallery, where Washington Glass School artists are featured in the groundbreaking “Dreams & Visions” exhibit (thru March 5).
Michael Janis with glass fans at Duncan McClellan Gallery during reception held for Washington Glass School artists.
WGS Artists Tim Tate and Michael Janis were featured at a series of receptions, lectures and demonstrations held at DMG over the weekend.
Artist Tim Tate narrates to the audience on the hotshop what techniques the gaffer is employing to create Tim’s sacred heart glass sculpture.Tim Tate’s blown sculpture gets some heat!Tim Tate’s Sacred Heart sculpture after annealing and cooling. Tim plans on working imagery into the work and presenting a new series of hearts.
Artist Michael Janis had a large audience in attendance for his presentation on “Art in Architecture”, where he talked about his design background and how it influenced his artwork and the public art sculpture made by the Washington Glass Studio.
Michael Janis talks about his pop art work made in collaboration with Chicago artist Tony Porto.Michael Janis (center) with new collectors Steve and Debbie Lang at DMG reception.
Michael Janis, “Allowing Our Past to Become Part of Ourselves” detail, 2022, fused glass, glass powder imagery. Photo by Pete Duvall.
17 national and international finalists have been selected for this biennial exhibition in glass art, featuring newly created, innovative works.
Glass is itself a transformation: created when ordinary sand encounters extreme heat. In this breathtaking exhibition, glass is transformed again, this time by 17 contemporary artists from across the globe. The resulting work pushes the boundary of traditional craft techniques and takes glass from the realm of the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Transformation 11: Contemporary Works in Glass is Contemporary Craft’s 2022 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize juried exhibition. The winning artist and their work will be announced and presented at the public opening of the exhibition on Friday, September 9, 2022, where they will receive a cash prize. The 2022 prize will be awarded in the category of glass, and must meet the requirement that it has been made within the last 12 months and addresses the theme of “transformation.” Seventeen contemporary artists from across the globe explore creative concepts and innovative approaches in their use of the glass medium, with the winning artist sending additional works to demonstrate the breadth of their work.
The 2022 Raphael Prize finalists are: Dean Allison, Pittsburgh, PA; Eunsuh Choi, Rochester, WI; Donald Friedlich, Madison, WI; Michael Janis, Washington, DC; Lauren Kalman, Detroit, MI; David King, Danville, KY; Eriko Kobayashi, Carbondale, IL; Weston Lambert, Tacoma, WA; Patrick Martin, Emporia, KS; Hisayoshi Muto, Yatomi, Aichi, Japan; Aya Oki, San Bernardino, CA; Miroslava Ptackova, Zlín, Zlínský kraj, Czech Republic; David Schnuckel, Rochester, NY; Michaela Spruzinova, Ústí Nad Labem, brná, Czech Republic; Ben Wright, Stanwood, WA; Ayano Yoshizumi, Everard Park, SA, Australia; and Hoseok Youn, Toledo, OH.
The jury for the 2022 prize includes Anna Rothfuss, Project Development Manager, Derix Art Glass Consultants, LLC U.S., Portland, OR; Heather McElwee, Randi & L. Van V. Dauler, Jr. Executive Director, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Alexandra Raphael, enameller, London, England; Catherine Raphael, metalsmith and writer, Pittsburgh, PA; Rachel Saul Rearick, Executive Director, and Kate Lydon, Director of Exhibitions (retired), Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Contemporary Craft, 5645 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Contemporary Craft hours: Mon-Sat: 10 AM – 4 PM
September 9, 2022 – March 18, 2023
This opening is free and open to the public.
ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Contemporary Craft presents contemporary art in craft media by regional, national, and international artists. Contemporary Craft offers cutting edge exhibitions focusing on multicultural diversity and contemporary art, as well as a range of artist-led studio workshops, community engagement programs, and a store. Located at 5645 Butler Street in the Upper Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, visit www.contemporarycraft.org
The Allegany Arts Council Saville Gallery presents Washington Glass School Co- Director Erwin Timmers in a solo exhibition “Reflections in Glass” from February 5 thru February 26, 2022. Recycling, waste, the environment, and the ways in which all three relate to society are recurring themes in his work.
Erwin Timmers cast recycled glass sculpture in the Saville Gallery, Cumberland, MD.
Said Timmers about his body of work on exhibit: “My work revolves around ideas of sustainable design and consumption in the urgent context of pressing societal changes and deepening global ecological concerns. My artwork centers on the craft of design, combining modern and traditional fabrication techniques to develop new material-based knowledge and aesthetics of sustainability. My portfolio aims to spark specific kinds of awareness. “
“The objects I sculpt from recycled materials are moments of intersection and influence. As boundary objects, they play with conventions of form and function, material and method, production and consumption. I work less for the purposes of critique, but rather for the potential to generate open and inviting exchanges. An artist, successfully engaged in creative inquiry, notices, seeks out, or otherwise creates the conditions for novel convergence and the overlapping and dissolution of conventional boundaries. I work at reinforcing metaphors of transformation and change. “
Timmers will also present a talk on how public art transforms communities. The event “Making Our Case For Public Art” is free and open to the public and all are invited to attend. The event will begin with a networking reception at 5:30PM with the program slated to kick off at 6:00PM.
The artists from the Washington Glass School are also on exhibit in a special show, featuring artworks by Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Patricia De Poel Wilberg, April Shelford, Vibha Bhatia and Clayton Lutu.
Timmers is Co-founder and Director of the Washington Glass School and one of the DC area’s leading ‘eco-artists’. Erwin is currently working with architects and designers on several “green” design projects. His work in sustainable design can be seen in some of the large public art projects he has completed, including an award-winning project for the US EPA Ariel Rios South Courtyard Green Infrastructure Project, in Washington, DC, and the public artwork for the LEED certified Safeway supermarket in Bethesda, MD. Montgomery County honored Erwin Timmers as the county’s “Outstanding Artist” in 2018. The Museum of Glass (MOG) in Tacoma, Washington has recently acquired works by Timmers for its permanent collection.
Allegany Arts Council Saville Gallery 9 N. Centre Street Cumberland, MD 21502 Reflections in Glass February 5- 26, 2022
Making Our Case for Public Art Friday, February 25, 2022 • 5:30PM – Cocktail Reception; 6:00PM – Program • Free to attend
Prince George’s County Arts’tination space at 162 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD
Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council (PGAHC) features artwork by artists of the Washington Glass School in “Arts’tination” – their newest art space dedicated to supporting local artists and curating immersive creative experiences – located 162 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD.
Washington Glass School space at Arts’tination.
Featuring works for sale by Washington Glass School artists: Erwin Timmers, April Shelford, Vibah Bhatia, John Henderson, Patricia De Poel Wilberg, Trish Kent, and Diane Cabe – check them out!
Vibah Bhatia’s adorable plates are a steal!!Glass artworks by John Henderson and Diane Cooper Cabe .Erwin Timmers’ cast glass hand sculptures are sure to enchant all!Arts’tination is at 62 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD 20744
Michael Janis and Tony Porto glass/mixed media exhibit has dominated Michigan’s press as the news agencies and tv shows all feature works by the artists and their story.
Detroit News loves the new glass/mixed media works by Michael Janis and Tony Porto!
Local Fox News – Fox 2 – sent reporters into the gallery to interview Director Aaron Schey and get the story on the Not Grandmas Glass (NGG) exhibit and competition as well as an eyeful of the artworks. Click here to jump to one of the three interviews by Fox.
Fox 2 Detroit interviews Habatat Galleries’ Aaron Schey to dish about NGG and works by Michael Janis and Tony Porto.
“Friendship is Magic” and “Say Your Prayers and Take Your Vitamins” glass/mixed media artworks by Michael Janis and Tony Porto are on exhibit at Royal Oak gallery.
Click Here to jump to article about the Janis/Porto exhibit in the Oakland Press.
California’sSeager Gray Galleryspecializes in contemporary fine art with a focus on works that combine content with a mastery of materials. Opening March 3rd, Seager Gray presents their 7th annual Material Matters exhibition – featuring works by WGS artists Tim Tate and Michael Janis.
Michael Janis and Tim Tate; “To the Ends of the Earth”; 2020; 36 x 36 in; cast glass, mixed media
This year’s exhibition features 23 artists working in wood, cast glass, pastel, clay, encaustic, oil, aluminum, weaving, resin, stainless steel, graphite, glass powder, steel, shredded money, paper, glass beads, mica, wire, hand blown glass, beeswax, limestone, photography, thread, cardboard, latex iridescent watercolor and ceramic. Artists include Robert Adams, Dean Allison, Gale Antokal, Adrian Arleo, Kay Bradner, Joe Brubaker, Lia Cook, Stephen Paul Day, Daniella Dooling, Jane Hambleton, Michael Janis, Lisa Kokin, Dana Lynn Louis, Jann Nunn, Emily Payne, Sibylle Peretti, Ross Richmond, Jane Rosen, Liz Stekettee, Susan Stover, Tim Tate, Jessica Williams and Aggie Zed.
Material Matters March 3 – March 31, 2020 Reception for the artists: Saturday, March 7 from 5:30 – 7:30pm
The Baltimore conference is a great place to meet people in the glass arts, to share ideas, techniques and experiences, with the planned glass art auction, artwork exhibition and more. Demos and workshops by international artists including Narcissus Quagliata and Judith Schaechter!– Talks featuring Shawn Waggoner, Tim Carey, Judith Schaecter, Ken Leap and Nancy Gong! WGS Co-Director, Michael Janis, will be a keynote speaker!
The Annual Live AGG Auction raises funds for the James Whitney Memorial Scholarship. Since 2007 the Whitney Memorial Scholarship has handed out over 125 scholarships for glass education. Recipients receive full or partial scholarships for various glass educational opportunities, such as conferences and workshops, or ongoing educational efforts.
The American Glass Guild (AGG) is a non-profit organization whose core mission is to work toward building an environment within the craft that both cultivates novices and facilitates experienced craftspeople and artisans to attain a higher level of expertise. The AGG’s intention is to support and provide speakers for public lectures and seminars, encourage spirited debates, and initiate fact-based research.
The original 2005 design concept – cast glass panels helped define the architectural entrance to the “Adele” development.
Washington Glass Studio began creating artwork options for developments on the site, starting in 2005, when the site first was being developed as a residential development called “The Adele”. After a review and approval by Montgomery County Arts Council, the project languished as the real estate market changed.
In 2013, WGS Studio began working with the developers that purchased that project site, Redbrick LMD. Working with the design team, WGS artists were inspired by the rich mixture of ethnic groups in Silver Spring. Imagery and patterns that were based on the cultural fabric and textiles, as well as indigenous weaving and embroidery patterns for tapestries, wraps, blankets and garments.
Fabrics & textiles of the cultures that make up the Silver Spring neighborhoods was the inspiration of the new artwork design for 900 Thayer.
Artwork on the corner column made up of backlit glass panels would be a colorful reference to the cultures, and add a bright pop of color on the site.
The corner location of the artwork would also frame out the proposed future planned arts development that would be up the road from 900 Thayer, and the Montgomery County Review committee was keen on having the artwork go further – asking if the artwork could be extended all along the ground level of the new development. Happily, Redbrick Developers agreed, and the scope of the artwork was extended along the entire street level and apartment outdoor spaces.
The corner column at 900 Thayer was to have an 11 foot high tower of backlit panels mounted to the surfaces.
The project stalled in 2015. In 2017, Chesapeake Realty Partners joined with Redbrick Developer and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County in moving forward with the property proceeded with groundbreaking and construction of the development in June of 2018.
WGS Studio was contacted and engaged to fully develop the design. WGS revisited the idea of incorporating cultural textile and fabric patterns would encourage viewers to appreciate the colorful patterns enlivening the streetscape, as well as promoting a message of open-mindedness, promote tolerance and curiosity about other cultures.
The brightly colored hand-screened glass features patterns were artistically based on Ethiopian textiles, African mudcoths, Central American weavings, European folkloric fabric prints, intricate and colorful ancestral weaving designs from Asia, Native American blankets, and Colonial American quilt patterns. Using identity and culture as the main theme of the building’s public artwork, WGS sought to inspire self-reflection, human connection, and conversation.
Teri Bailey and Patricia De Poel Wilberg work on silkscreening the enamel patterns on glass, to be fired in the kilns after.
The Washington Glass Studio team worked on the production of the glass artwork starting in early 2019. Large silkscreen panels were made to allow the patterns to be enameled and fired in the WGS kilns. WGS Co-Director Erwin Timmers worked on the LED design and integration of the glass artwork.
The enameled glass was fired to keep the high contrast color selections vibrant.
Over 60 18″ x 18″ panels were made – and were to be mounted in a variety of multi-panel arrangements.
The installation on site began in October of 2019, and as the building occupancy needed the artwork to be completed to allow for certification, a focused WGS team made short work of the outdoor artwork installation.
Detail of one of the LED illuminated glass panels at 900 Thayer Ave.
WGS Co-Director Michael Janis is a vision in orange as he preps the LED mounts for the glass.
WGS Co-Director Erwin Timmers sets the final glass artwork panels in the corner column at the 900 Thayer site.
The Fenton Apartment corner column artwork has a strong presence in the daytime, with the LED illumination.
Project Details
Location: 900 Thayer Avenue, Silver Spring MD, 20910
Washington Glass Studio Public Art Team: Michael Janis, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, Teri Bailey and Patricia De Poel Wilberg.
The Art Basel/Miami Art Fairs presents artworks from across the globe.
Each December, Miami and Miami Beach becomes the epicenter of the art world with approximately 1200 art galleries from around the world showing thousands of artists in the Art Basel/Miami Art Week extravaganza. Around 50,000 people visit the area for this incredible week, and they come from all parts of the world. It’s also a week of fashion with gala openings and celebrity studded events that fill the warm nights. Perhaps due its inherent glitz and glamor, or the vibrancy, lux and drama of the medium, glass is SO much part of the fair. Maybe because its has a strong relationship to sand – in any case, Washington Glass School artists were showing at Art Miami this year in force! And there was a lot of glass to look at in the Miami Fairs. Said WGS Co-Director Tim Tate, ” It never ceases to amaze me how many blue-chip artists use glass in their artwork”. Tim Tate and William Warmus will together present a lecture on glass medium at the Miami Art fairs at the 2019 Glass Art Society conference to be held in St. Petersburg, FL in March.
Artists of Washington Glass School install at Art Miami/Context fair with Alida Anderson Art Projects Gallery.
Tim Tate’s infinity mirror sculptures dominated Habatat Galleries space on the beach at Scope Miami.
When it comes to Contemporary Art, the Art Miami is all about More, More, More. And that is what the Washington Glass School artists brought to the champagne-fueled cultural extravaganza.
Michael Janis was part of the stable of Washington, DC artists featured at Alida Anderson Art Projects CONTEXT show.
WGS Alum and Kent Stat MFA student Audrey Wilson dazzled the fair again this year with neon, plasma and cast glass sculptures.
Laura Beth Konopinski’s sculptures were at the center of the CONTEXT Miami fair.
Tim Tate’s new endless mirror sculptures also were the draw at CONTEXT’s Momentum Gallery space.
The glass art drew aficionados of the medium – like Kari Rinn, Executice Director at North Carolina Glass Center and NYC’s ubercollecter Susan Sanders.
William Warmus, art critic, author and former curator of & Fellow of Corning Museum of Glass wrote about Michael Janis’ work “…Michael Janis showed stunning new work at Alida Anderson at Art Miami/Context. The large four part panel “Stasis in the Darkness” made an impact on two levels: from across the aisle, and close up in the quality of the details. Do not overlook the small kiln formed panels and the expert way he introduces and plays with subtle variations of thicknesses of the stacked layers of glass. They are “The Truth of Dreams.”
Michael Janis’ new large scale glass sgraffito artwork debuted at Art Miami Context Art Fair.
This weekend, St Petersburg, Florida’s new Imagine Museum opened, and artists Tim Tate, along with artists Rik Allen and Christina Bothwell received “Artists of the Future” awards. The museum awards were selected for artworks that had narrative content dealing with spirituality.
Like our Professor Tate – we are all tickled pink!!
