Glass archway proposed by Washington Glass Studio for DC’s new Unity Parkside Health Care Center.
The Washington Glass Studio was recently awarded the DC Commission on the Arts& Humanities’ Public Art commission for an outdoor sculpture located at DC’s new Unity Parkside Health Care center, now under construction. The new health center is located just down the road from the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, a National Park Service site that boasts some of the most beautiful water lilies and lotus flowers in the months of June and July.
Architectural rendering of the finished Unity Parkside health care center in Ward 7.
The Washington Glass Studio proposed making a 16 foot high arch of colorful glass and images of healing.
Inspired by the comments from the community meeting and site review– our objective was to create a sense of place for DC’s Kenilworth – Parkside community.
The design and documentation of the artwork was to be outlined in detail in the presentation.
The site in early May, 2013. The mound of dirt is the artwork location.
The fabrication work for both the glass and the steel framework will soon start. Completion is targeted for early 2014.
Audrey Wilson works on constructing the half-scale maquette created for the presentation to the Council.
Washington Glass Studio sends a big thank-you to the DC Creates! Public Art Program selection committee, the DCCAH Council, Unity Parkside Health Care, and the Ward 7 community!
Clemmer Montague – President of the James Renwick Alliance introduces the panel of speakers to the audience.
The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) is dedicated to advancing scholarship and education on contemporary American craft and to encouraging connoisseurship and collecting. The Alliance assists the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in adding to its permanent collection of American craft, supports scholarly research in contemporary American craft and pursues other activities in support of the studio craft movement. As part if this goal, the JRA held a talk on the process and inspirations that made up Washington Glass Studio’s recently completed Safeway Bethesda public art project. The talk was much more popular than the organizers had anticipated, as there was standing room only. Readers of the Glass School blog are familiar with the development of the project. Here are some shots of the event – photos by Miriam Rosenthal of ThirdEyePhotography.
Safeway’s Renee Montgomery, Safeway’s Eastern Division, Area Real Estate Manager outlines the Safeway’s approach towards supporting and integrating American craft artwork in its buildings.
Michael Janis outlines the concepts employed by the glass studio.
The audience is transfixed by the sheer poetry of the project .
Here Michael describes how eco-artist Erwin Timmers is planning to save the planet with his sustainable design artwork – one piece at a time.
“This is the part where Erwin sings ♪ Here I Come To Save The Day! ♫“
The talk continued with a tour of the Safeway public art project onsite, hosted by Tim Tate and Erwin Timmers.For more information about the James Renwick Alliance events – click HERE.
Safeway Bethesda located at Bradley Boulevard and Arlington Road on Wednesday night.
The Safeway Bethesda supermarket – that features Safeway’s first public art project – celebrated its grand opening with a lavish gala that featured bands, celebrity chefs, public officials, television celebrities, and most importantly, artwork.
Safeway Bethesda Bradley Avenue façade. Comments on the building artwork include one that “Safeway’s kundalini has risen”
The process the Washington Glass Studio employed for the creation of the bas-relief artwork walls made from glass salvaged from the original supermarket building (1956- 2010) has been documented in a number of previous postings, including the installation of the artwork (and time-lapse imagery of the building construction).
Special lighting emphasizes the dry stack stonework.
The opening was a great vernissage – in a supermarket. (By the way, walking thru the freezer section of a supermarket, while listening to a live jazz combo performing one aisle over & gourmet appetizers made by guest celebrity chefs, and being offered fine champagne by waiters is a surreal experience – all cool, but very unusual.)
Champagne?… why yes, thanks…
Why is that an ICE sculpture?… It should be glass.
Jazz performed amongst the seasonal goods.
One of the cool event accouterments was the carved pumpkin displays. The artist based the pumpkin carvings on the building’s cast glass panels – a nice switch on the traditional glass pumpkins. The night also featured artwork displays; the work by sculptor Judy Sutton Moore was exhibited on the staircase, and work by the Washington Glass School was featured in the rotunda.
Featured artists: Washington Glass School
WUSA – channel 9 news anchor Andrea Roane was the master of ceremonies.
Andrea received a gift of one of the WGS cast glass tile squares, and showed the artwork the next morning during her broadcast.
Project data: Client: Safeway Inc. Architect: Rounds Vanduzer Builder: Roche Constructors Completion: Oct 2011 Artwork team: Erwin Timmers, Michael Janis, Tim Tate, M L Duffy, Chris Duffy, Robert Kincheloe, Evan Morgan, Susan Lomuto, George Anderton.
A bas-relief casting of Albert Einstein is integrated with images of students in “A New World View”.
The AmericanPhysicalSociety commissioned the Washington Glass Studio to create artwork as a tribute to Albert Einstein as part of 2005’s‘World Year of Physics’ celebration. Working with scientists from the APS and with educators and students from around the country, Erwin Timmers, Tim Tate and Michael Janis created a cast glass series of panels that integrated imagery and symbols based on Albert Einsteins life and theories.The work was intended to become a traveling educational public art piece – going from museums, to physics lab centers to schools across the nation.As part of the art project, the World Year of Physics team collected over 300 pictures of children from families around the country. From these images, a number were incorporated into the cast glass artwork.
Michael Janis creates imagery in plaster and places glass atop in preparation of the kiln firing – December 2005.
Erwin Timmers and Michael Janis review castings based on Einstein’s theories – December 2005.
The artwork, titled “A New World View“ was segmented into four columns. Three columns focus on Einstein’s revolutionary ideas of 1905—the composition of matter, the quantum nature of light, and the Special Theory of Relativity. The fourth column illustrates Einstein’s life.
A New World View 2005 photo by anythingphoto.net
The early public art commission by the studio was intended to challenge and inspire school children to build on the science of the past and be a part of the science of the future.
Children liked to explore the tactile nature of the cast bas-relief glass.
The finished artwork piece was photographed and a poster of the finished artwork was created and sent to the school systems across the country, promoting science and the tribute to Einstein.
Many of the cast glass images are explained in the artwork legend: Einstein once said “God does not play dice with the universe,” but in this case Einstein was wrong. Much of nature is guided by the dice-like randomness of quantum mechanics.
The artwork traveled from its original home at Baltimore’s Maryland Science Center, to a number of other locations, including the American Physical Society’s New York office, Brookhaven Labs and other schools.
American Physical Society’s glass sculpture featuring images of North Adams High School students, was delivered to North Adams High School Tuesday to be displayed for six months. Pictured are Becky Thompson-Flagg, APS Public Outreach, who delivered the sculpture from New York; Olga Cruzelaya, NAHS teacher who photographed the students for the project; Randall Dunkin, NAHS science teacher who was instrumental in bringing the sculpture display to the school; Stephen Caraway, field representative for Congresswoman Jean Schmidt; and Principal Greg Grooms. – Carleta Weyrich/The People’s Defender
Recently, the educational glass artwork came to Ohio’s North Adams High School, where, six years ago, teacher Olga Cruzelaya had organized to submit photos of their students. A number of the original students , now graduated, were indeed inspired by the sculpture, and were interviewed by Carleta Weyrich in an article in “The People’s Defender” newspaper.
Chase Burns, a 2009 graduate of North Adams High School, is the face behind the first square of the glass sculpture, “A New World View,” a 2005 project of the American Physical Society. – Carleta Weyrich/The People’s Defender
The American Physical Society’s project showcases how successful a public art project can be – one that educates and inspires; where both the students and the school systems that participated in the creation of the art work are each excelling and advancing.Congrats to all involved!
Click HERE to jump to the APS website description of the original work, legend and process.
Click HERE to jump to the reunion of the artwork and the students at North Adams High School in the People’s Defender newspaper.
>Roche Constructor’s webcam located opposite the Bethesda Safeway site caught Evan Morgan and Erwin Timmers installing the cast recycled glass and metal framework into the facade of the new building.
The installation of Safeway Supermarket’s Bethesda store public art is nearing completion. WGS’ “green artist” Erwin Timmers has been putting the final touches on the outdoor sculpture with Evan Morgan as the contractors race to compete construction of the LEED certified building in time for the scheduled October 13, 2011 ribbon cutting. The public art project, using cast recycled glass – including glass salvaged from the original building and refrigeration displays – was designed to respond to the LEED certified architecture it is now integrated.
Susan Lomuto and Erwin Timmers salvage glass from the demolished Safeway freezer units.
The cast bas-relief glass motifs of fresh herbs were designed to meander organically across the building’s façade, working as a counterpoint to the rhythm of the strong stone piers, while relating to aspects of the building’s use.
Cast recycled glass inside the kiln. The glass has been fired into one-time molds at 1500° F and annealed. Next, the bas-relief panels will be cut and the glass tile edges polished.
The artglass color palate ranges between clear, amber and a blue-shift color. Areas of within the grids are left open to allow air and establish a connection between the interior and the busy streetscape.
Erwin Timmers touches up the steel frame finish.
The design and progress of the cast recycled glass has been mentioned in earlier postings on the school blog.
The Safeway architects, builders and design team admire the transformative quality the glass gives to the interior.
Other media outlets have been covering the Safeway supermarket design- including the DC area real estate blog DCMudandNewsChannel 8’sTBD.com has covered the supermarket-as-art curator aspect.
Artist Erwin Timmers can be seen silhouetted thru the glass.
The supermarket is excited about their addition to both the Bethesda retail scene and their first foray into the art world. We will post pix and coverage of the store’s celebrity filled vernissage this October.
UPDATE: Click HERE to jump to photos of the finished project.
Above grid includes work from top, L to R: Allegra Marquart, Jennifer Lindstrom, Jackie Greeves, Robert Kincheloe, Evan Morgan, Dave Cook.
As mentioned in a posting earlier this year, the Washington Glass School’s will be celebrating its 10th Anniversary with the creation of a collaborative artwork that will be mounted on the front facade of the glass school.
WGS Director Tim Tate organizes and sets out the artwork tiles into the steel grid framework.
Copper & glass panel is collaboration between metalsmith Chris Shea and glass artist Don Daniels.
Glass panels made by filmmakers Jon Gann and Kerri Sheehan.
Installation of the glass panels will take place in the next week or so (certainly after the Hurricane Irene is has passed).
Proposed artwork location at the front of the glass school. The author of this article is depicted as leaving the studio.
>Readers of the WGS Blog are familiar with the Public Art Project currently underway for Safeway Supermarket’s new LEED Certified building in Bethesda, MD.
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.
VanderbiltUniversity medical complex in Nashville, Tennessee, a leader in patient care, medicaleducation, nursing education, and research, just opened its new CriticalCareTower, a 329,000-square-foot multi level addition. The University commissioned the Washington Glass Studio to create cast glass panels for the nurse’s stations on a number of floors within the new hospital.
Working with the architects on the project, the artwork commission was refined. The art panels would have to perform many duties – besides providing a screen to each floor’s nurse work area, allowing light to beyond, it would also need to block the viewing of sensitive papers and office equipment, as well as being a striking sculpture that would define the entry of each floor.
Design Concept
The initial concept design for the artwork at each floor’s nurse stations.
Preliminary artwork rendering layout. The inspiration was to bring a contemplative sense of nature into the hospital.
We wanted to bring the natural word into the medical center. Our goal was to give the patients and caregivers a place that felt restful – a place of healing and renewal. Our inspiration for the artwork was to have the feel of swirling masses of delicate oak, poplar, tulip, ginko and maple leaves in an autumn breeze. Each leaf is detailed, including curved stems and crisp leaf veins. The different level of the hospital would have unique swirling leaf patterns, allowing for differentiation and orientation.
One of the cast float glass panels inside the kiln.
Studio artist Nicole Puzan cleans and preps the cooled and annealed glass panel.
The kilncasting process started with making one-of-a-kind molds inside the kilns. The glass is placed atop the mold, and then fired to temperatures up to 1600 degrees F, and then annealed – over two days. The glass is then removed, cleaned and rough areas are ground and polished. As the panels were sequential, each section was mapped out and compared to each companion panel.
Typical nurse station cast artglass panel.
Typical nurse station reverse.
Detail of cast glass leaf pattern.
Front view of artwork.
View of panels showing leaf detailing.
The Washington Glass Studio artglass project team: Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Erwin Timmers and Nicole Puzan and Robert Kincheloe.
The public artwork just completed by the Washington Glass Studio and Alonzo Davis for Prince George’s County Circuit Court was just photographed by Anything Photographic. The sculpture is made using the original bell tower cupola salvaged from the disastrous fire that destroyed the courthouse in 2004. The structure and copper dome were cleaned and made good, and modified to accommodate artwork elements that include cast recycled glass formed into images of the community and the legal system, sandcarved panels with the County Seals for each of the Counties served by the Circuit Court, and a neon bell symbolizing the original bell that would toll each day at 9.30 am when the Court was in session. Titled “Rebirth and Renewal”, the artwork is testament to a proud community and its ability to overcome adversity.
