US/UK Sister Cities: Keeping Calm & Carrying On

The UK delegation again stopped into the Washington Glass School to plot plan what could be done next to further interaction between Sister Cities Washington, DC and Sunderland, England. 

Washington Glass School Co-Director Michael Janis outlines bold plans to the Sunderland representatives. Clockwise from left: Erwin Timmers, Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Oliver “Skip” Dulle, Tom Hurst, Catherine Auld.

Some of the topics included artwork exhibitions – including Artomatic- of US/UK glass and ceramics in London, residencies in Washington, DC and in Sunderland, and some new ways to get the work of the media-based artists seen. 
The delegation also visited Flux Studios, where UK ceramic artist Philippa Whiteside is currently working on her artist residency – and was featured in the British Council USA blog today.

UK artist Philippa Whiteside working at Flux Studio.

Click HERE to jump to the British Council post. We will advise on US/UK art interactions when they develop!

Panel Discussion held at International Glass + Clay 2013

Artists and Creative Businesses from the UK City of Sunderland and the District of Columbia discuss their views about international efforts and the impact these relationships can have on their practices.  The discussion will particularly draw on their experience within the Washington DC – Sunderland Friendship Agreement.


Presenters: 

Anne Tye, Sector Specialist, Creative Industries, Sunderland England

UK Artists: Phil Vickery and Criss Chaney 

Washington, DC Artists: Novie Trump, Director, FLUX Studio and Michael Janis, Co-Director, Washington Glass School. 

 

5:30 – 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The panel discussion is part of the events planned during the International Glass and Clay exhibit, open thru March 23, 2013. The talk is free and open to the public. Location: Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20068.

International Glass & Clay 2013 Opens Friday

Using an art exhibition as a bridge between countries, Artomatic, the DCCAH, the City of Sunderland, England and the UK National Glass Center have collaborated to bring together the Sister Cities of Sunderland, England and Washington, DC in a show that celebrates the medias of glass and clay, as well as celebrating the relationships between the two cities.


We are pleased to invite you to attend the opening reception of the International Glass and Clay 2013, on Friday evening, March 1 from 5:30-8pm, hosted at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. 


Visit our special website for more information about the exhibition http://glassandclay.org/ – There are planned events during the show, including demos, roundtable discussions, wine tastings and more!

Pepco Edison Place Gallery

702 Eighth Street (between G and H streets)

Washington, DC 20068

International Glass + Clay: Collective Imagination Pt 5

Opening March 1, 2013, Washington, DC will host an international exhibit of glass and clay artwork – the third collaborative exhibition organized by Artomatic and the DCCAH between Washington, DC artists and artists from our Sister City of Sunderland, England. With all the amazing glass and ceramic artwork being showcased, Washington Glass School will publish online a five part series of profiles on the artists behind the works. US & UK Artists in the International Glass + Clay 2013 Exhibition in Washington, DC.

Part 5 of 5

                                                                                                 

Laurel Lukaszewski / Ceramics / US

Laurel Lukaszewski is a Washington, DC area based artist. She has exhibited widely in the Mid-Atlantic region and nationally with solo exhibitions in Washington, DC, Arlington, VA, Norfolk, VA, St. Louis, MO, Tulsa, OK, and Bainbridge Island, WA.

Laurel is a founding member of Flux Studios, in Mt. Rainier, MD and has been a visiting artist at Seattle’s Pottery Northwest and Holland Hall in Tulsa, OK. She has served on a number of nonprofit boards including the Washington Sculptors Group, the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Washington Project for the Arts Artist Council.

                                                                                                

Roger Tye / Glass / UK

Roger Tye has been making glass since 1976, initially as Master production maker for the studios of Pauline Solven and Charlie Meaker, before setting up his own full time practice in 1989.Roger now concentrates on sculptural works. His most recent body of work also combines glass with slate and metal and offers wry observations of social events and situations. He has exhibited and throughout the UK and internationally to 28 countries and his work is in the collections that include Shell, British American Tobacco, American Airlines and the Royal Family.
                                                                                                

Audrey Wilson / Glass / US


Audrey Wilson has a BA in Crafts with a Glass Concentration from Kent State University. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Audrey has worked at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio as the studio and teaching assistant, working with the museum’s visiting glass artists. Audrey’s artwork references nature and organic forms, and she specializes in kiln casting, pate de verre and sand casting with mixed media.

                                                                                                 

Jeffrey Sarmiento / Glass / UK

Jeffrey Sarmiento’s working methods for image transfer in glass have taken him all over Europe and the US as an artist and academic. He holds an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a PhD from the University of Sunderland, where he is Reader in Glass. He has also lived in Denmark as a Fulbright fellow, and received emerging artist residencies at UrbanGlass in New York and at Pilchuck Glass School. Based at the National Glass Centre in Northeast England, Jeffrey leads the print and waterjet research areas by teaching, executing artist projects and making his own artwork. As a Filipino-American, his work is inspired by foreign ethnic contexts, expressed through collisions of layered images within glass. His work has been shortlisted for the Bombay Sapphire Prize, and he has held solo exhibitions in Copenhagen, Portland, and Istanbul. In 2012 he was the UK national commissioner for the European Glass Context in Denmark, and he also won the International Glass Prize, at GlazenHuis, Belgium. His artwork is the collections of the Museum of Liverpool, UK, the Speed Museum, USA, and the City of Lommel, Belgium.

                                                                                               

Elizabeth Vorlicek / Ceramics / US

Elizabeth Vorlicek is a ceramic sculptor and visual arts teacher living in Alexandria, Virginia.  She graduated from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University with a BFA and a MFA degree.  Liz has taught in the Arts Department at Episcopal High School in Virginia for the past seven years.  She is also a curator and the Director of the Angie Newman Johnson Gallery.  Liz joined Flux Studios in Mt. Rainier, Maryland as an Emerging Artist in the fall of 2012.  She enjoys traveling, bird watching and baking in her spare time.      

                                                                                           

Megan Randall / Ceramics / UK

Megan Randall is a contemporary ceramic artist, and is a current PhD student a Sunderland University where her research focuses on the placement of domestic ceramic objects responding to the context of site. Her work makes use of thrown porcelain alongside other less traditional materials and found objects. Working on the wheel is repetitive this gives pieces a rhythm and flow. Recent work has focused on willow pattern designs, which create their own narrative around domestic spaces, industrial sites and the notions of home.

In the past her work has included site specific installation and interventions alongside designed and hand crafted ceramic objects. The link between the separate worlds of fine art concept and that of designer/maker is the consistent use of porcelain which evokes a sense of luxury, fragility and, in some pieces, vulnerability. Her work combines new technology through the use of the waterjet cutter with the altering of the readymade object.

                                                                                           

Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile Part 1
Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile – Part 2
Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile – Part 3
Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile – Part 4
                                                                                                 There will be a “Day of Demos” by a number of the visiting UK artists – Saturday, March 2, 2013.

Criss Chaney “Vessel”

11:00 AM at the Washington Glass School, UK-based glass artists Criss Chaney and Robyn Townsend will demonstrate using metal wire and sheet inclusions into cast glass, and painting a layer of metal powders onto the inside mould surface. They will also demonstrate cold techniques for applying metals to a finished piece of glass, and options for patination using common household chemicals. Click HERE to reserve a space at this free demo.

2:00 PM at DC GlassWorks, superstar UK hot glass artists Phil Vickery, Colin Rennie and Roger Tye will show how they work. Click HERE to reserve a space at the free demo.

International Glass + Clay: Collective Imagination Pt 4

Opening March 1, 2013, Washington, DC will host an international exhibit of glass and clay artwork – the third collaborative exhibition organized by Artomatic and the DCCAH between Washington, DC artists and artists from our Sister City of Sunderland, England. With all the amazing glass and ceramic artwork being showcased, Washington Glass School will publish online a five part series of profiles on the artists behind the works. US & UK Artists in the International Glass + Clay 2013 Exhibition in Washington, DC.

Part 4 of 5

                                                                                                 

Tim Tate / Glass / US

Tim Tate is a Washington, DC native, and has been working with glass as a sculptural medium for the past 25 years. Co-Founder of the Washington Glass School, Tim’s work is in the permanent collections of a number of museums, including the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery and the Mint Museum. He was awarded the title of “Rising Star of the 21st Century” from the Museum of American Glass and was also the recipient of the 2009 Virginia Groot Foundation award for sculpture. His work has been shown at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Fuller Museum, the Asheville Art Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. He is a 2012 Fulbright Scholar recipient at Sunderland University in England.

                                                                                                

Inge Paneels / Glass / UK

Inge Panneels has been designing and making architectural or sculptural glass pieces since 1998. Inspiration for her work is driven by location and circumstance and life’s rich tapestry a recurrent theme. Inge is originally from Belgium now lives and works in the Scottish Borders but works throughout the UK. Inge also lectures part time at the Glass and Ceramics Department of the University of Sunderland.

A body of sculptural work exploring mapping is emerging; such as “Liverpool Map (2011) commission for the Museum of Liverpool, with new work being developed inspired by residencies at Mercator Museum (Belgium) and Jedburgh Abbey in 2012, to be completed in 2013.
                                                                                                

Nancy Donnelly / Glass / US

Nancy Donnelly is a studio artist at the Washington Glass School. She makes 2- and 3-dimensional art glass using color and imagery drawn from her painter’s training. Her work can be seen at Foundry Gallery and elsewhere in the Washington area.

                                                                                                

Philippa Whiteside / Ceramics / UK

Philippa Whiteside graduated from Sunderland University in 2010 with a BA Hons in Glass and Ceramics. She was awarded a 12 month scholarship with Creative Cohesion, supported by Sunderland City Council. In May 2011, Philippa was elected Director of Creative Cohesion where she now runs her ceramic studio. Philippa expores her fascination with lettering and words, and often combines ceramics with textile decoration and texture.
                                                                                               

Allegra Marquart / Glass / US

Allegra Marquart came to Baltimore, Maryland in 1976 to teach printmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Gradually she became recognized for her narrative imagery that revolves around the joys, absurdities and surprises of human experience. Her prints are held in collections including the Zimmerli Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Huntsville Museum of Art. In 2001 she began to explore the possibilities of realizing her images in glass. Allegra began interpreting old stories and intricately rendering them on colorful glass panels. Her glass work was represented in a recent contemporary glass art exhibition at the Museum of American Glass at Wheaton Arts. One of her glass towers is also in the collection of the National Institute of Health in DC.

                                                                                           

Stephen Beardsell / Glass / UK

Stephen Beardsell graduated from the University of Sunderland achieving an MA in glass 2006 and BA in glass and ceramics 2001. Working in sculpture for the past 17 years, Stephen creates mixed media sculptures that sit comfortably in the natural environment without conflicting with their immediate surroundings. Stephen crafts his glass artwork employing many techniques, including blown glass, hot sculpting, and hot casting into sand or graphite moulds, kiln form glass. He recently kiln cast the largest singular piece of glass in the UK – a large oval red lens weighing 350kg (770 lbs), cast in a Czech glass. 
                                                                                           

Ani Kasten / Ceramics / US

Ani Kasten has been working in the ceramic medium since 2000, beginning with an apprenticeship with British ceramist Rupert Spira. After a year in England, Ani traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal where she spent four years as head of a project for developing stoneware technology for a community of artisan potters in the village of Thimi. Her training in England and the exotic working environment in Nepal have infused Ani’s sculptural vessels with a combined aesthetic, drawing on minimalist British studio ceramics, as well as ancient, weathered, hand-made objects born from traditional cultures throughout Asia. After leaving Nepal, Ani began working in Oakland, California where the fresh natural beauty of the California coastline juxtaposed with extreme urban deterioration began to inform the language of her work. From 2007 through 2009, Ani was an Artist in Residence at Red Dirt Studio in Mt. Rainier, MD, where she worked closely with ceramic artist Margaret Boozer, and further developed her distinct combination of sculpture and vessel work, showing her ceramics nationally at galleries and craft shows.

                                                                                                 

Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile Part 1
Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile – Part 2
Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile – Part 3
                                                                                                 There will be a “Day of Demos” by a number of the visiting UK artists – Saturday, March 2, 2013.

Criss Chaney “Vessel”

11:00 AM at the Washington Glass School, UK-based glass artists Criss Chaney and Robyn Townsend will demonstrate using metal wire and sheet inclusions into cast glass, and painting a layer of metal powders onto the inside mould surface. They will also demonstrate cold techniques for applying metals to a finished piece of glass, and options for patination using common household chemicals. Click HERE to reserve a space at this free demo.

2:00 PM at DC GlassWorks, superstar UK hot glass artists Phil Vickery, Colin Rennie and Roger Tye will show how they work. Click HERE to reserve a space at the free demo.

International Glass + Clay: Collective Imagination Pt 3

Opening March 1, 2013, Washington, DC will host an international exhibit of glass and clay artwork – the third collaborative exhibition organized by Artomatic and the DCCAH between Washington, DC artists and artists from our Sister City of Sunderland, England. With all the amazing glass and ceramic artwork being showcased, Washington Glass School will publish online a five part series of profiles on the artists behind the works. US & UK Artists in the International Glass + Clay 2013 Exhibition in Washington, DC.

Part 3 of 5

                                                                                                 

Margaret Boozer / Clay / US

Margaret Boozer lives and works in the Washington, DC metro area. She received a BFA in sculpture from Auburn University and an MFA in ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Her work is included in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Museum of the City of New York, The US Department of State, The Wilson Building Public Art collection and in many private collections. Boozer taught for ten years at the Corcoran College of Art and Design before founding Red Dirt Studio in Mt. Rainier, MD where she directs a ceramics and sculpture seminar. Recent projects include a commissioned installation at the US Embassy in Djibouti and writing a chapter for  U. S. Geologic Survey’s Soil and Culture. Recent exhibitions include Swept Away: Dust, Ashes and Dirt at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
                                                                                                

David D’Orio / Glass / US


David D’Orio has a BFA in sculpture from the University of Hartford and has worked in glass for over 15 years. His artwork features mixed media, glass and steel. Dave is Director of DC GlassWorks, one of the DC area’s premier public access hot glass shop, located in Hyattsville, MD. His work has been shown at Artomatic in Crystal City, the Marlboro Gallery of Prince George’s Community College and last year was part of the Arlington Arts Center Solos. At this past Artomatic Art Fair, the James Renwick Alliance gave Dave’s installation sculpture its ‘Award of Recognition’. David was awarded second place in the 2012 Trawick Art Prize.
                                                                                                

Robyn Townsend / Glass / UK


Robyn Townsend‘s work is focused in areas of psychology, biology and philosophy, but the key theme of her work is the human condition.  Working in glass as well as casting with industrial materials to create a unique aesthetic and lifelike atmosphere, Robyn shows people for their similarities rather than their differences, their universally qualities that are consistent regardless of race, culture, gender or political background. Robyn says of her work: “I am using intimate and recognizable body parts that give no hint of identity, to highlight the anonymity of people as well as reflect how our actions, often guided by our internal thoughts and fears, allow us to form our own human nature and create ourselves.
                                                                                                

Cate Watkinson / Glass / UK

Cate Watkinson of Watkinson Glass Associates has over 20 years experience as an architectural glass artist, designing and fabricating architectural glass to commission for a wide variety of applications. During this period she has been instrumental in developing the potential of glass in the public realm. Her projects range from decorative glass panels for public and private buildings to street furniture and sculptural public art pieces. She has also exhibited her works in galleries in the UK and across Europe. Through commissioned works Cate has built up a wide range of innovative techniques and has gained significant knowledge and experience working with glass on a large scale in the public realm, not only in aesthetic terms but also in design of structure and durability of materials used. Since 2006 she has held the post of Subject Leader and Senior Lecturer in Architectural Glass at the University of Sunderland in the UK.
                                                                                               

Michael Janis / Glass / US

Michael Janis developed a focus on kiln-glass after working for twenty years as an architect in the United States and Australia. Now Co-director of the Washington Glass School, Michael has taught at the Penland School of Crafts, California’s Bay Area Glass Institute, and The Glass Furnace (Istanbul, Turkey). His work has been shown at major galleries and art fairs and is included in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2011, Michael mounted a solo exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum (Massachusetts). His work was featured in Corning Museum of Glass publication ‘New Glass Review’, and he was named a “Rising Star” by the Creative Glass Center of America. In 2012, awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, Michael went to the UK’s University of Sunderland and National Glass Centre. He was an Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for International Glass Research (IIRG). American Craft Magazine will have an 8-page profile of Michael and his work in the 2013 April/May issue.
                                                                                           

Criss Chaney / Glass / UK

Criss Chaney is an internationally recognized glass artist, who has exhibited extensively in the UK, Europe, and the United States. Including a solo exhibition at the Museum Humanum in Austria. For years she has been developing techniques for combining glass and metals, exploiting methods for working with both materials. Her pieces make people question their views on glass and push the boundaries between glass and other media. She now makes her work at Creative Cohesion in Sunderland, where she has recently completed a large public art commission. Criss’ work is about the human experience, spirituality and the subconscious.
                                                                                                 

Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile Part 1
Click Here to jump to US / UK Artist Profile Part 2
                                                                                                

There will be a “Day of Demos” by a number of the visiting UK artists – Saturday, March 2, 2013.

Criss Chaney “Vessel”

11:00 AM at the Washington Glass School, UK-based glass artists Criss Chaney and Robyn Townsend will demonstrate using metal wire and sheet inclusions into cast glass, and painting a layer of metal powders onto the inside mould surface. They will also demonstrate cold techniques for applying metals to a finished piece of glass, and options for patination using common household chemicals. Click HERE to reserve a space at this free demo.

2:00 PM at DC GlassWorks, superstar UK hot glass artists Phil Vickery, Colin Rennie and Roger Tye will show how they work. Click HERE to reserve a space at the free demo.

US President George Washington Hearts England

Sunderland, England has had a long association with Washington, DC. General George Washington became the first President of the United States in 1789 and the United States Capitol City named ‘Washington” in his honor. George Washington was a descendant of the Washington family, which took its name from Wessyngton (now Washington) and resided at Washington Old Hall in Washington Village.



Washington Old Hall is a manor house in the Washington area of Tyne and Wear, in the North East of England.



Washington Old Hall incorporates parts of the original medieval home of George Washington’s direct ancestors. It was re-opened in 1955 by the US Ambassador, following restoration of the property which which was led by local schoolmaster and historian Frederick Hill. United States benefactors played a key role, donating funds and furniture to the project. Washington Old Hall is now managed by the National Trust with assistance from the Friends of Washington Old Hall.

Washington Glass School comes to Washington, England. Fulbrighters Tim Tate and Michael Janis at Washington Old Hall in March 2012.

The District of Columbia’s official “state” flag (adopted in 1938), is based on the shield from the Washington Coat of Arms. Early examples of the Washington Coat of Arms, dating back to the beginning of the 15th Century, can be seen on the cloister ceiling in Durham Cathedral.

US federal district (Washington, DC) flag consisting of a white field with two horizontal red stripes and three red stars above the stripes. The flag’s width-to-length ratio is 1 to 2.

It has often been said George Washington used his family coat of arms as the basis for the original American ‘Stars and Stripes’ flag.

Image from Library of Congress ‘An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera.’

As a result of these historic ties, Washington, D.C., and City of Sunderland had formed a “friendship agreement,” (originally in 2006 and renewed in 2012) with the intent of  creating cultural and economic ties with one another. Sunderland City is the only non-capital in the world to have such an agreement with the US Capitol. Working with the DC Sister Cities, the DCCAH and Artomatic, the two cities are collaborating in presenting an international glass and clay artwork exhibit opening March 1, 2013.

International Glass and Clay2013 will be open from Friday, March 1 to Friday, March 22. It is free for the public to attend. Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 702 Eighth Street (between G and H Street) will house the artworks and many of the events. Gallery hours are 12 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Tuesdays, and 12 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The gallery is closed on Sundays and Mondays. The Gallery Place Metro station servicing the green, red and yellow lines is within close walking distance to the gallery.