Category Archives: erwin timmers

Art and Architecture: Public Art Project

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Safeway Bethesda
Rounds VanDuzer Architects

Safeway has started construction of a new supermarket in Bethesda, MD. The new store will be a LEED certified supermarket as Safeway is committed to the greening of its stores. Besides going green, the supermarket will be built to what Safeway calls the urban “lifestyle” market, with high-quality urban design. Safeway is one of North America’s largest supermarket chains with more than 1,700 stores.

As part of the project, Safeway commissioned the Washington Glass Studio to integrate artwork into the architectural façade of the building. The wall of artwork will activate the street along the Bradley Street façade, and marks the first public artwork commission by the national supermarket chain for its stores.



The cast recycled glass and steel artwork is integrated into the architectural façade.


Over 30 feet long and 9 feet high, the glass and steel artwork will be a strong element located in Bethesda. The new building design will act as a “civic gateway” to Bethesda‘s Central Business District (CBD).

Responding to the architectural design by Rounds VanDuzer Architects the large scale artwork will feature colorful cast recycled glass made from glass salvaged from the original Safeway supermarket on the same site. Ecoartist Erwin Timmers had slogged thru the site demolition, removing glass for the artwork. Erwin’s integration of reconfigured and recycled components has made him a leader in sustainable design and he continues his work in multidisciplinary LEED projects.


Cast recycled window glass sample of custom “fresh herb” design for Safeway.

Above is the “bay leaf” pattern.


UPDATE: Click HERE to jump to images of finished project.

Posted in architectural application glass, cast recycled glass, eco-friendly glass, erwin timmers, LEED certified art, Public Art, recycled glass art, safeway, safeway bethesda, sustainable design

Timmers in Texas

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>Our Guru of Green – Erwin Timmers – will be spreading the word of eco-art to the great free State of Texas. Erwin will be teaching a Recycled Glass workshop at Hot Glass Houston.

Erwin’s class will be in Mid-October and the class will cram as many techniques and ways of kilncasting recycled glass as possible!

Don’t Mess With Texas.

For those of you who aren’t in the Lone Star State – you can take the class here at the Washington Glass School – click HERE to jump to the class description.

Posted in eco-friendly glass, environmental art, erwin timmers, hot glass houston, recycled float glass, sustainable design, texas hotglasshouston

Washington, DC’s Newest Art Gallery Opens

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Gallery 555 Opening Night
photos by Painterly Visions /Anne Marchand


Gallery 555 opened with a flourish this past weekend, with a fantastic exhibition of paintings by Michelle Cormier. Also on exhibit are some great glass pieces by Erwin Timmers, wood pieces by Bruce Fransen, and encaustic works by Ellyn Weiss, amongst other works.

Ellyn Weiss chats up the opening night crowd.

Erwin Timmers works the crowds.

Gallerista Jodi Walsh.


Gallery 555 is located in the lobby of 555 12th Street, NW, Washington, DC
202.393.1409

Posted in DC, ellyn weiss, erwin timmers, gallery 555, jodi walsh, washington

Environmental Art in NYC

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>Excess and Environment:

sustainability in a world of consumption

“What We Leave Behind” by Erwin Timmers

Materials: cast recycled window glass, steel. Dimensions: 70″ x 50″ x 16″

The beautiful dark green glass with gold highlights was recovered from the construction site of a Virginia office building where the building was undergoing a cosmetic updating of the facade. The spandrel glass discarded from the old building was used as the basis of the cast glass panels.



About the exhibition: “Excess and Environment”

The presence of excess exists in our day-to-day lives, but often hides behind masks of disposal systems, social acceptance, and misinformation. This exhibition explores the idea of the impact of our excess on our natural environment both visually and theoretically. The art involved will relate to mass consumption and waste’s effects on the environment. Art using these excess materials as a medium will also represent this concept of sustainability in the midst of excess.

Excess and Environment

Opening Reception:

Friday, April 16th 2010

7:00 pm to 11:00 pm

AE Studios LIC, 39-06 Crescent Street, Long Island City, Queens, NY 11101

(One stop on the subway away from Midtown Manhattan)


Artists showing work include Chris Jordan, Eve Mosher, Walter “Tinho” Nomura, Justin Gignac, Akirash, Mikal Hameed, Erwin Timmers, Miles Wickham, Beau Stanton, Destroy and Rebuild, Christina Chobot, Trash Track and more.



“What We Leave Behind” Erwin Timmers

Detail: images of panels depicting the 1980’s and 2000’s



According to the artist, the series, What We Leave Behind was conceived from the viewpoint of an archaeologist, who might, centuries from now, uncover artifacts from our era. Just like the archaeologist, you are looking down to uncover the items. Elements are recognizable from the various decades … objects once in popular use but now resting in landfills.



The title of the work is based on the book about our culture of excess and the impact our trash will continue to make long after we are gone: “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman.



The profits from the art sold at this exhibit will be split between the artists and Art for Global Justice, so that we may sustain the local artist community and keep Art for Global Justice’s youth workshops and art exchange program going.

Posted in eco-art, environmental art, erwin timmers, sustainable design

Erwin Timmers Environmental Artwork Sculpture

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Erwin Timmer’s original concept sketch for the cast recycled glass panel sculpture.


The actual installation of the glass sculpture. The vision and reality are a close match!

This weekend, Erwin Timmers installed a major commissioned art work for the new environmentally conscious building at 1129 20th St. NW, Washington, DC, also known as “The Liberty Building“.

1129 20th St, NW, Washington, DC

Working together with Anna Major of Fox Architects and building owner John Gattuso, the wall sculpture is a site–specific piece that has a dialog with Margaret Boozer’s ceramic artwork installation also in the building lobby.

The owner wanted artwork with a vertical orientation to echo the architectural aspects of the space, mounted atop the subtle-textured white limestone wall. Although the building and its lobby are very minimalist in design, a strong artwork was desired to work in contrast. In the owners words, the wall is beautiful, but sooner or later people are going to ask him, “…when are you going put up the art?”

The wall sculpture created by casting with recycled window glass is central to the concept of this piece. Erwin was selected for the commission in part because of his use of sustainable design in his artwork, and his use of recycled glass has the artwork keep in the nature of the building’s LEED gold certified design. Window glass or float glass is one of the least recycled building materials and many recycling advocacy organizations and programs consider it the pariah of their work. Less than 3% percent of discarded float glass is recycled, and this project provided the opportunity to divert at least some from the waste stream.

Erwin Timmers installing the recycled glass artwork on the limestone wall.

There is also a great play between the lobby artworks, where Margaret Boozer’s work is stone on glass, and Erwin’s incorporates glass on stone. Erwin commented that his glass sculpture also references modern technology and communication – the final design is actually based on the word “ART” in barcode language.

Erwin Timmers sculpture left, Margaret Boozer’s sculpture beyond.

Click HERE to see more of Erwin Timmers’ environmental based artwork.

Posted in 1129 20th street, erwin timmers, Fox Architects, LEED certified art, recycle glass

Sculpture NOW 2010

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The Washington Sculptors Group held a competition amongst its members for the Sculpture NOW 2010 exhibition opening Jan 5 at DC’s Edison Place Gallery. The juror for the show was Ryan Hill. Ryan is the Curatorial Research Associate for the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden. He also teaches art courses as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and is a working artist.

For the WSG show, Ryan has chosen artworks that use non-traditional materials, explore layering and decentered compositions and reflect our information-driven society. Our Washington Glass School director, Erwin Timmers has work selected to be featured in the show.

Please join us on opening night and to see the latest works of DC sculptors: Karen Bondarchuk, Leah Frankel, Kerry Furlani, Tom Greaves, Jason Haber, Ray Hau, Leila Holtsman, James Mallos, Bill Moore, Elena Patino, Mike Shaffer, John Simpkins-Camp, Erwin Timmers, Patricia Tinajero, Elizabeth Whiteley, and Alice Yutzy.

When: Friday, January 5, 2010, 6-8pm
Where: Pepco’s Edison Place Gallery

702 8th St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20001

Washington Sculptors Group, founded in 1984, promotes an awareness and an understanding of sculpture and fosters the exchange of ideas among sculptors, collectors and the general public. For more information on WSG, click HERE.

Posted in erwin timmers, sculpture now, washington sculptors group

Erwin Timmers Work in New Book

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Our leader of sustainable design – Erwin Timmers – has his artwork made from recycled glass included in a new book out next month – “1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse” by Garth Johnson. Featuring 21st Century craft and design, it is an inventive collection of cutting edge work made from recycled, upcycled, repurposed and reused items.

ISBN: 9781592535408
Due November 2009

Paperback
1000 photos/illustrations
320 Pages

The author, Garth Johnson is a studio artist, writer and educator, in addition to maintaining the website “Exteme Craft“. Garth writes for CRAFT magazine and his writing has been featured in museum catalogs, magazines, and books worldwide, including a contribution to the upcoming book Handmade Nation from Princeton Architectural Press. Garth is currently a full-time instructor at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA.

Click HERE for the publishers link to the book.

Erwin Timmers teaches about the use of recycled materials in an upcoming class “Recycled Your Glass” – a great class to take to see how you can become part of the Green Movement in glass! Erwin’s class takes place over three nights, Nov 4, 11, 18. Click HERE to see the class info.

Posted in 1000 ideas for creative reuse, erwin timmers, recycle glass

Erwin Timmers EcoArtwork

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The ‘g’ Green Design Center in Massachusetts is hosting a juried art show titled “ReMade”, where artwork using reclaimed, recycled and reused materials are featured in an inventive show. Each of Erwin Timmers’ cast recycled glass knots submitted for the show were selected for inclusion.

Jurors included:
Elizabeth Hunter, Executive Director, Cape Cod Museum of Art
Gayle Morrow Olsen, Founder, Color Obsessions Gallery, Mashpee
Jan Lhormer, Artist and Curator, Falmouth

‘g’ 28 Bates Road, North Market Mashpee Commons, Mashpee, MA 02649.
The opening reception for ReMade will be Friday, October 9th from 5:30 – 7:30pm

Congratulations Erwin!

Posted in erwin timmers, green art