Category Archives: aacg

Michael Janis Finalist in 2022 Contemporary Craft Prize

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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.

Michael Janis glass art - title "Allowing Our Past to Become Part of Ourselves" 60"H x 40' W fused glass, glass powder imagery aluminum

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

Posted in 21st century glass, aacg, american craft, american glass, contemporary craft, frit powder, fulbright scholar michael janis, fused, fused glass, fused glass imagery, glass frit powder imagery, kiln fused glass, kiln-formed, kiln-formed glass, mike janis, narrative glass, neues glas, outstanding artist, pittsburgh, studio art glass, studio glass movement, top glass artist, twenty first century glass, united states, warm glass, Washington School of Glass, стекло искусство новое, فن الزجاج الجديد, 新的玻璃, 美国玻璃艺术家

Visit 2022 Venice Biennale Online!

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Join the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) this Tuesday, June 21, at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time) for the next Fired Up! education series program. Art critic / curator William Warmus will review artworks in glass at the 2022 Venice Biennale and talk about the 2022 exhibit for Glasstress.

View of Fondazione Berengo Art Space, Campiello della Pescheria 4

Bill just returned from visiting Venice and can give us great insights into how glass is being used in art today by artists from around the world. He will also talk about Glasstress, a project by Adriano Berengo to further Berengo’s mission to promote the use of glass in the world of contemporary art. The first Glasstress exhibition was launched in 2009 to establish a new platform for art made with glass and was founded as a collateral event of the Venice Biennale. This is the seventh edition of Glasstress, where Berengo Studios has brought together a group of leading contemporary artists from Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa and China in an ambitious exhibition that explores the infinite creative possibilities of glass. The works are hosted inside the Berengo Art Space Foundation in Murano, an old abandoned furnace transformed a few years ago into a suggestive exhibition space.

Click HERE to register for this online event.

This program is open to the public. Feel free to invite others to attend.

Posted in "michael janis" glass, aacg, chris shea, GLASSTRESS, Tim Tate, venice biennale, william warmus | Tagged

AACG Creates Baltimore Glass Exhibit for IYOG!

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Artworks by : Dr Joyce Scott, Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Soledad Salamé & more!

2022 is the International Year of Glass (IYOG) AND the 60th Anniversary of American Studio Glass Movement. As part of the events celebrating glass, Howard Cohen of Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass has organized a spectacular exhibit of glass artwork during the Glass & Optical Materials Division (GOMD) conference in Baltimore at Coppin State University. This will be the first glass exhibit in Baltimore since 1996! The goals of the show are to showcase ways glass has matured into a sculptural medium, bring a diverse group of renown artists from the Baltimore/Washington region to the arts communities, and students in the area, and amplify artists voices including members of the BIPOC, Hispanic, LGBQT and immigrant communities. The exhibit will feature artwork by Dr Joyce Scott, Tim Tate, Soledad Salamé, Erwin Timmers, and Michael Janis. The exhibition is made possible through the support of the GOMD, the American Ceramic Society, Corning & Owens Corning for funding some of the exhibition costs and to fund the Baltimore scientific outreach to Baltimore City High schools.

The exhibit is scheduled to run from Mid-May through June 2022.

Posted in "glass secessionism", 21st century glass, 21st century sculpture, aacg, african american artists, art alliance for contemporary glass, Baltimore, BIPOC, howard cohen, international year of glass, iyog, studio art glass, studio glass, washington DC, washington glass school, Washington School of Glass, wgs contemporary, 最好的玻璃艺术, 美国新艺术雕塑 | Tagged

AACG Fired Up! with Joyce Scott

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Joyce Scott; Head Shot, 2008, Seed beads, thread, glass, bullets, 18 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 4 1/2 in
Dr Joyce Scott

Join the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass on Tuesday, March 15, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, when MacArthur Fellow Dr. Joyce J. Scott examines the extremes of human nature by conflating humor and horror, history and fantasy, as well as beauty and brutality to create artworks that not only mine the fabric of our complex collective history, but that reveal universal truths.

Joyce Scott, War Baby, 2014, Hand-blown Murano glass, beads, thread, photographs

Best known for her use of the off-loom, free-form, glass bead weaving technique referred to as the peyote stitch, Scott merges beads, blown glass, and found objects with autobiographical, sociological, and political content to unapologetically confront themes of racism, sexism, violence, inequality, history, and oppression while simultaneously embracing splendor, spirituality, nature, and healing. For this episode of Fired Up!, expect the unexpected! Sometimes, her boundless energy and creativity will spill forth in delightful and playful ways, mocking cultural stereotypes.

Free – Open to the public. Click below link to register for AACG talk:

AACG Fired Up! Meeting Registration – Zoom

Posted in aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, fired up, joyce scott

International Year of Glass 2022

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2022 is the International Year of Glass AND the 60th Anniversary of American Studio Glass Movement.

The United Nations has declared 2022 as the International Year of Glass (#IYOG2022) with programming occurring worldwide to celebrate all aspects of glass: studio and public art glass, architecture, history, technology, industry, and science. This exciting journey began in 2018. Support came from 1500 Universities and research centers, societies and associations, museums, artists, educators, manufacturers and companies in 78 countries on 5 continents.

The official kickoff will take place on February 10-11, 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland at the UN Palace of Nations. Among other scheduled activities, a National Day of Glass event is planned for April 5-7, 2022 in Washington, D.C. that will feature the North American glass industry, art community, government agencies and educational systems that rely on glass.

Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) is a member of the IYOG2022 International Steering Committee and is tasked, along with The American Ceramic Society (ACerS), with leading promotion efforts around the art component of this global initiative. To accomplish this, AACG requests that U.S. museums, glass centers and schools, artists, regional glass collector’s groups, and other entities with a focus on or interest in contemporary glass assist by sharing information about exhibitions, panel discussions and IYOG2022 celebrations with admin@contempglass.org and https://ceramics.org/iyog. These programs will then be included on the AACG event calendar of art-related glass events throughout 2022 so all can enjoy.

“This is an extraordinary time to celebrate the material of glass in the arts, science, technology, communications, architecture, and sustainability of the environment on a global basis,” said Laurence Sibrack, board president of Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. “It is our hope that artists and art institutions and organizations will join us in sharing IYOG2022 programming. Simultaneously, we will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the American Studio Glass movement in 2022.”

Posted in aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, IYOG2022

Lucy Lyon- Fired Up! Online presentation by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass

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Artist Lucy Lyon will present an online ‘zoom’ presentation that will be part of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) Online Education in Art Series

AACG’s new Education Series, “FIRED UP”, features Lucy Lyon giving all a look inside her artist studio, process, and life on October 20 at 2pm EST. Working in cast glass, her work centers largely on the notion that despite the interaction we have in meeting up with each other, each of us is essentially alone. That brings up a bit of melancholy but it also makes the individual unique and therefore very important. 

She started working in glass simply because it is a very seductive material and chose to focus on sculpting figures. Lucy says: ” What interests me most is trying to convey the intellectual and emotional state of the individuals in my pieces, relying on subtle gestures, a turn of the head or twist of the hips, to express the figure’s state of mind.” 

We will explore these narratives with her, as we dive deeper into her inspiration and process.

All lovers of glass art are invited to attend!
Register today using the Zoom link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlcu-qqTwvHNOKkSnBhEtmLl3mGNmuyMOV?fbclid=IwAR2sG5l7hPLZNB4Ggqldy1u25GxzKbxwx-QfjE9H8bozRxKrPhW_4NzO9sQ

Posted in aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, fired up | Tagged

Demystifying Public Art – Online presentation by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass

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Artists Erwin Timmers & Michael Janis will present an online ‘zoom’ presentation that will be part of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) Online Education in Art Series – “Demystifying Public Art.”

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Public art created by artists of the Washington Glass Studio both enrich and celebrate diverse communities. Successful projects include – The Monumental Doors for the Library of Congress, Laurel Library, the Washington DC Gateway Arch, and the West Palm Beach International Airport.
Michael Janis and Erwin Timmers will discuss how they navigate the complex processes from finding the projects to their ultimate creation and installation.

On Tuesday, September 15, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, AACG starts their Online Education Series called “FIRED UP” – click on the link to register for the free event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYucemupz4jE9xI6GbpH6qoSHz7-iWuztOT?fbclid=IwAR0A-NoKAxTtkf6k12vBHvukn8IlUFRaY5uTfj97pj5yBBaA3-bsCO0abDc

The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.

The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.

Posted in aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, art education, demetra theofanous, education, erwin timmers, glass sculpture, howard cohen, michael janis, mike janis, Public Art, Washington School of Glass, wgs contemporary, アメリカのガラス芸術, 玻璃艺术, 美国新艺术雕塑 | Tagged , ,

UNBREAKABLE: Women in Glass

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This Friday, Sept 4th at 3pm EST – Facebook group “21st Century Glass Conversations” page with the support of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass will be hosting an international zoom walk through of the new Glasstress edition, UNBREAKABLE: Women in Glass

Time: Sep 4, 2020 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join free Zoom Meeting by clicking link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87395514631?pwd=dWhqTk5VRzFnVHJ2dU1TUWw4aXJ0UT09

This show truly marks the firm establishment of 21st century glass in so many ways. The curator of the show, Koen Vanmechelen will be showing us highlights of the show in the beautiful setting of an older factory in Murano, now the space of Berengo Studios and Glasstress.

The “Women In Glass ” show is the perfect counter-point to the “Venice and American Studio Glass” show at Le Stanza Del Vetro happening at the same time. One, revering the past and one showing a new present day possibility while predicting the future. Both together symbolize the full world of glass
This show include such well known US artists as Karen LaMonte, Joyce Scott and Judy Chicago, but also women artists from around the world working in glass. Some of the international artistist include Prune Nourry, Liliana Moro, Renate Bertlmann and Monica Bonvicini. New, perhaps, to American viewers, but hugely famous in their own countries and internationally.
This marks a rare moment in history, where because of Covid, we will get the chance to see the show from our own homes the day before it opens.

Please share!!

Posted in 21st century glass, aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, GLASSSTRESS, GLASSTRESS, twenty first century glass

Art Alliance For Contemporary Glass Youtubes Michael Janis

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AACG Webinar with Michael Janis is on the YouTube!

1.aacg.art.alliance.contemporary.glass.youtube.new copy

The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to further the development and appreciation of art made from glass.
The Alliance informs collectors, critics and curators by encouraging and supporting museum exhibitions, university glass departments and specialized teaching programs, regional collector groups, visits to private collections, and public seminars.

The AACG connects glass to the world via a number of multi-media platforms – including video webinars hosted on YouTube, most recently having WGS Co-Director Michael Janis explaining his sgraffito process and how the glass powder technique forms the basis for his work.

Artist Michael Janis' process where creates detailed glass imagery with frit powder is the subject of the AACG online YouTube webinar.

Artist Michael Janis’ process where creates detailed glass imagery with frit powder is the subject of the AACG online YouTube webinar.

Click HERE to jump to AACG webinar on glass powder drawings. Better yet – subscribe to the AACG YouTube page and see all the new videos!

Michael Janis gives the thumbs up to AACG's YouTube series!

Michael Janis gives the thumbs up to AACG’s YouTube series!

Posted in aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, webinar, youtube

Class In Glass @ Goucher College

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Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.

Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.

Howard Cohen – an Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) Board member- presented a lecture series at Goucher College in Townson MD. The students in the class focused on the works of artist Dale Chihuly in the first lecture of the series.

Howard Cohen presents the history and works of artist Dale Chihuly at Goucher College.

Howard Cohen presents the history and works of artist Dale Chihuly at Goucher College.

The secont part of the Glass Class series focused on the works and history of artist Michael Janis.

Artist Michael Janis talks about his work and how the art world is changing.

Artist Michael Janis talks about his work and how the art world is changing.

Michael Janis' background as a glass artist proved to be fascinating to the audience.

Michael Janis’ background as a glass artist proved to be fascinating to the audience.

The class ended with the students seeking more information about glass and glass exhiitions. Many wanted to schedule a tour of the Washington Glass School and Studio in the fall – will post if theis comes to pass!

Posted in aacg, art alliance for contemporary glass, howard cohen, michael janis, mike janis