Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples’ Day

National Geographic Society's Arts Ambassador Award 2011 made of cast recycled glass by the Washington Glass School.

National Geographic Society’s Arts Ambassador Award 2011 made of cast recycled glass by the Washington Glass School.

In schools up and down the country, little children are taught that a heroic Italian explorer discovered America, and various events and parades are held to celebrate the occasion. 

It has now become common knowledge amongst academics that Christopher Columbus clearly did not discover America, not least because is it impossible to discover a people and a continent that was already there and thriving with culture. thirty-nine crew members.

Columbus: heroic adventurer or wicked exploiter? It’s been said that Columbus is reall responsible for the propagation of seeds, germs and slavery into a global scale. And there is no where to hide.

The cast recycled glass globe shown above was made by our studio for the National Geographic Society as its Arts Ambassador award for 2011. The recipient that year was musican/ filmmaker Jack Johnson – and the process of making the award was featured in a detailed Glass School post.