International Glass + Clay: Collective Imagination Pt 1

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 1 of 5

                                                                                                 

Colin Rennie / Glass / UK

Colin Rennie has worked with glass as a material for sculpture since 1992. He developed a love of glassblowing and cold glass working while at Edinburgh College of Art.  He currently teaches at the University of Sunderland where he runs the BA Hons Programme in glass and ceramics, and also at the University of Wolverhampton and Sars Potteries, Musee atelier du Verre In France.  In that time his work has achieved recognition in major collections and competitions, including the Victoria and Albert Museum London,  Ebletoft Glass Museum Denmark,  Hsin-Chu Municipal Glass Museum, Taiwan, Ernsting Stiftung Glasmuseum Germany, and nomination for the Jerwood prize for glass. 
                                                                                                

Novie Trump / Ceramics / US

Novie Trump is a DC based sculptor and installation artist working primarily in ceramic and mixed media. Formally trained in classical archaeology at the University of North Carolina, her work has been selected for juried and invitational exhibitions in the US and Europe and has been featured in numerous publications.  Winner of the  Strauss Fellowship, she has been awarded numerous grants and commissions for several public art works, the most recent at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC. She has served on several nonprofit boards of arts organizations, currently she serves as the Chair of the Distinguished Artist Series for the James Renwick Alliance.
                                                                                              

Erwin Timmers / Glass / US

Erwin Timmers is Co-founder and Director of the Washington Glass School and one of the DC area’s leading ‘eco-artists’. Recycling, waste, the environment and how they relate to society are recurring themes in his work – and, as an educator, Erwin has developed a number of courses that integrate ecological sustainability into the program. His work featured in various prominent collections and has received commissions from numerous commercial enterprises, such as Starwood Urban, The United States EPA Headquarters, Maryland’s Prince George’s County Courthouse and the US Library of Congress.
                                                                                                 

Dr Andrew Livingstone / Ceramics / UK

Dr Andrew Livingstone holds a BA(Hons), MA and a PhD, The Authenticity of Clay and its Redefinition within Contemporary Practice: Ceramic Familiarity and the Contribution to Expansion. He is an academic at the University of Sunderland where he leads both MA Ceramics and CARCuos the Ceramic Arts Research Centre. He recently exhibited in ‘Red Hot’ an exhibition of clay in contemporary art in Germany together with Ai Weiwei and Richard Deacon. His research area is focused on ceramics in the widest sense engaging with material, process and the social contexts in which ceramics operate. The familiarity of ceramic material and object take center stage within his research, where both the handmade and ready made are employed within both installation and conceptual applications. Andrew’s work operates within the expanded field of ceramics and investigates the employment of and interface between digital media, film, animation, photography and non-ceramic intervention. 

                                                                                                 

Jeff Herrity / Ceramics / US

Jeff Herrity had along career in Internet marketing helping non-profit organizations integrate offline and online communications, including membership and donor development  fundraising efforts. After 15 years in the industry, Jeff decided to change paths and pursue art and art education at the Corcoran College of Art+Design, where he graduates May 12, 2012. His work currently explores the relationships we create in a give-and-take marketing driven culture.
                                                                                            

Brian Thompson / Glass / UK

Professor Brian Thompson is Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, Design & Media at the University of Sunderland. He has been awarded numerous prizes including: the Norwich School of Art Fellowship, the Pernod prize and the Peter Stuyvesant Art prize.From a background in fine art, he maintains a continuing practice in sculpture and drawing, exhibiting his work. Brian’s sculptures reference how journeys explore landscapes, how paths get worn, compress and build up over many generations; how rivers cut and change course as they journey to the sea. These routes and points where they cross reveal the topography of the world and tell us something about how we come to know and navigate in nature.

                                                                                                 

Phil Vickery / Glass / UK

Phil Vickery is an international award winning glass artist who is based in the North East of England. Phil was awarded the Renwick Award for Distinction in Glass in 2009, and in 2011 was chosen for one of five Honorary Diplomas of the Jutta Cuny – Franz Foundation, Germany. Most recently he was the winner of the Art In Lyddington award for best 3D in show, UK, 2012. His work involves two references concepts of thought, human nature, and the subconscious. His technique showcases the process, movement and fluidity of glass; gathering over and over again to make the internal twisting more encased and to form an aesthetic of maelstroms in water.
                                                                                                

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

Phil Vickery and Roger Tye @ DC Glassworks 2009

11:00 AM at the Washington Glass School, UK-based glass artists Criss Chaney and Robyn Townsend will demonstrate their techniques for combining glass and metals, exploiting methods for working with both materials. Click HERE to reserve a space at this free demo.

2:00 PM at DC GlassWorks, 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.

Last Minute Prep for International Glass + Clay Show – Panic?

We are bracing for a new British Invasion! The Brits are arriving to set-up the collaborative arts exhibition at Pepco’s Edison Gallery. Arrangements are now being mad for workshops talks and demos to be part of the exhibit, organized by Artomatic and the DC Sister City – part of Washington DC’s Office of the Secretary.

International Glass + Clay
March 1 through March 22, 2013
Opening Reception is Friday, March 1, 2013, 6-8 PM
Edison Place Gallery
702 Eighth Street (between G and H Street)
Washington, DC

To bring an exhibit of this size to the US Capitol, there are a number of sponsors and partners for the International Show: