Finally our Tim Tate is being recognized for the genius he is! He was just named finalist for “Excellence in Visual Arts” by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. The Mayor’s Arts Awards are the most prestigious honors conferred by the city on individual artists, teachers, nonprofit organizations and patrons of the arts. Artists and Organizations are recognized in six categories: Excellence in Visual Arts, Excellence in Performing Arts, Excellence in Creative Industries, Excellence in Arts Education, Excellence in the Humanities and the Larry Neal Writers’ Awards. The Award Ceremony will take place Tuesday, Sept 25th @ 7pm 
Category Archives: Tim Tate
Tim Tate 2018 Penland Auction Featured Artist
Tim Tate, 8 Bats, 4 Seasons, wood, mirrors, cast objects, LEDs, 36″ x 36″ x 6″. Photo: Pete Duvall.
Glass artist and mixed-media sculptor Tim Tate has been part of the Penland School of Crafts community for decades, and for 2018, the education center will showcase his work at this year’s auction gala. The Penland School of Crafts Annual Benefit Auction is the premiere craft auction in the southeast, providing funds to support the operations of Penland School of Crafts while introducing new artists to collectors and expanding public understanding and awareness of craft.
Tim’s featured piece 8 Bats, 4 Seasons is a remarkable assemblage of materials, history, and imagination.
Detail of bats
8 Bats, 4 Seasons may remind viewers of a classic wood-framed mirror, but Tim has added a rich composition of imagery to the mirror’s face and then transformed it further into a dimensional portal that stretches toward infinity. “The beauty of endless mirrors is in creating a space that exists nowhere else on Earth,” Tim explains in a recent interview for American Craft. The work feels familiar and inviting and utterly mysterious all at once.
But the story goes deeper than beauty. Tim has imagined his mirror as an artifact, “an undiscovered object from the 1860s commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt during the Golden Era. He had just returned from his grand tour of Asia…” While the four seasons are a nod to Currier and Ives, Keats and Thoreau, and Western decorative traditions, the piece’s eight bats are a nod to China, where bats have long served as a symbol of good luck.
The wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt, after returning from their grand tour in Asia. It is clear that by this time she had become obsessed with bats.
American Craft’s interview with Tim describes him as “as much explorer as artist, seeking out the uncharted.” With 8 Bats, 4 Seasons, Tim beckons us into a parallel world of his creation full of questions and possibility. All are invited to look into Tim’s mirror—and the space beyond it—at this summer’s Penland Benefit Auction.
Penland’s 33rd Annual Benefit Auction is August 10-11, 2018, which means the spectacular weekend is only four months away! Register now to join this gala event and the great craft, great friends, and great memories it celebrates.
Friday, August 10 & Saturday, August 11
About Penland’s Annual Auction
Entering its 33rd year in 2018, the auction attracts over 800 collectors and volunteers to the Penland campus in the mountains of North Carolina each August. The weekend brings artists and patrons together and provides collectors with opportunities to meet established and emerging artists, learn about trends in contemporary craft, and see and purchase exceptional new work. If you are passionate about art and interested in investing in the health and the future of the arts, join us for this gala event.
Artists Against Gun Violence Timed for March For Our Lives DC Rally
Detail from “Endless Cycle” by artist Tim Tate. 36″ x 36″ x 4″ Glass, electronics, poly-vitro, aluminum. Photo by Pete Duvall.
Artists Against Gun Violence : a pop-up art exhibit
Where: The 3rd Floor 4200 9th Street NW Above Slims (rear entrance)
March 22 thru April 9, 2018 Opening Reception: March 22, 6 to 9 pm,
Hours: March 24 (after March for Our Lives) 3-6pm, March 28 6-8pm, March 31, 3-6 pm, April 4, 6-8pm , April 7, 2-4pm,
April 9, 6-8pm
Artists Against GunViolence was created in solidarity with the students from Parkland, Florida who quickly responded to the tragic events at their school with a call to action. Over 40 artists from the DC area show their opposition to gun violence in a gallery show at The Third Floor and additional spaces in the Petworth neighborhood. The show opens March 22nd in time for the student-led March for Our Lives rally taking place in downtown Washington, DC on Saturday, March 24th.
“Shattered Remnants” by artist Michael Janis. 16″ x 19″; kilnformed glass, glass powder imagery. Photo by Pete Duvall.
Participating Artists: Tim Tate, Michael Janis, Frederick Nunley, Jackie Hoysted, Helen Frederick, Ellyn Weiss, David Mordini, Ellen Hill, Ruth Trevarrow, Gregory Ferrand, Pat Goslee, Robin Bell, Vicki Walchak, Jenny Walton, Carolina Mayorga, Glenn Richardson, Angela White, Maryanne Pollack, Sondra Arkin, Laura Elkins, Judy Jashinsky, Cory Oberndorfer, Laura Elkins, Cheryl Edwards, Liz Lescaut, Heather Levy, Mei Mei Chang, Sheila Crider, Anne Marchand, Margaret Dowell, Susan Lila Cole, Claudia Vess, Eric Margry, Kyuljin Lee, Eve Hennessa, Mary Welsh Higgins, Janis Goodman, Linda Hesh, Jenifer Berringer,T Yuan Chi Nicholson, Ann Stoddard, Henry Sundquest, Jasom Horowitz, Alonzo Davis, Jeff Zimmer.
Event info on Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/182598122365562/
WGS On Camera
Washington Glass School was approached by a new residential development in the area – Studio 3807 – to talk about how Washington Glass School connects with community. Directors Tim Tate and Michael Janis talked with the film crew about the public art created by the Studio:
Washington Post Reviews Zenith Gallery Exhibit “Light Up Your heART”
Erwin Timmers, “Water Falling”, Cast recycled glass, steel, LEDs, 36 × 12 × 4 in.
The Washington Post newspaper critic Mark Jenkins gives a great review to Zenith Gallery exhibit “Light Up Your heART” exhibit on now at Zenith Salon thru March 24th. Works by WGS Co-Founders Tim Tate and Erwin Timmers are in the group show. Critic Mark Jenkins gives a shout out to Erwin’s cast recycled glass panels as he describes the show in the Galleries Section of the Post.
“Light Up Your heART ” Through March 24 at Zenith Salon, 1429 Iris St. NW. 202-783-2963. zenithgallery.com.
2017 WGS Year in Review
A look back at some of our biggest moments of the year and what we’re looking forward to in 2018. This year brought us the first year of Trump’s presidency, a historic solar eclipse and some huge exhibits. Now, as the year draws to a close, WGS blog reflects on some of the happenings that rocked – and to some degree reshaped our place in the glass art world.
January
The Women’s march held in Washington D.C. on Jan. 21, 2017 was organized after the election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S. to demonstrate solidarity among women, minorities, LGBT and other disenfranchised communities. Glass Art Magazine editor Shawn Waggoner visited the Washington Glass School while in town for the event.
Glass Art Magazine editor Shawn Waggoner (second from left) was one of the participants in the Women’s March in January.
WGS Instructor Debra Ruzinsky was named the new director of the Appalachian Center for Craft. The Appalachian Center for Craft is located in scenic Middle Tennessee near the town of Smithville. The facility was built in 1979 and has spacious studios, gallery, exhibitions, administrative offices, library, student housing and meeting/audio visual rooms.
The Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee.
Glass Art Magazine featured our Michael Janis in a profiled in their magazine and as part of their podcast series “Talking Out Your Glass“.
Glass Art Magazine featured Michael Janis in the Jan/Feb issue.
February
Washington Glass Studio completed installation of a two-part public art project in Florida. Palm Beach County‘s Art in Public Places awarded WGS the commission to design and fabricate integrated public art sculptures as part of the renovation of an existing facility for the new headquarters for Palm Beach County’s Tourist Development Council (TDC) and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO). The works were installed starting in January and completed in February 2017.
Public art at Florida’s West Palm Beach International Airport
March
March featured the opening of “Embracing Narrative” – the joint exhibition of glass works by artists from the Washington Glass School and the Virginia Glass Guild opened this weekend at Virginia’s Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center (PACC). Juried by Diane Wright, Curator of Glass, Chrysler Museum of Art and Sheila Giolitti, Mayer Fine Art Gallery, the exhibit kicked off the Glass Art Society’s (GAS) 46th annual conference that was held at the Chrysler Museum and the Perry Glass Studio in June, 2017. 
April
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) invited WGS’ Michael Janis in April to the museum to talk about his artwork that was featured in the exhibit “Mindful: Exploring Mental Health Through Art”. He talked about his glass process and the themes that run thru his work. 
In April, Habatat Galleries featured works by Washington Glass School artists Erwin Timmers, Tim Tate, Michael Janis and Sean Hennessey at the gallery’s 45th Glass International Award Exhibition.
Erwin Timmers’ new cast glass and LED panels were featured at the 45th International.
May
Washington Glass School co-founder Tim Tate was invited by Glenn Adamson, senior scholar at Yale, to speak at a symposium at Yale University. Tim talked about his work, as well as artists Roberto Lugo and Stephanie Syjuco. Tim Tate talked about how objects differ from other types of evidence, when it comes to histories of ideology and belief.
Tim Tate at Yale conference.
June
WheatonArts hot shop during Glass Weekend 2017
New Jersey’s WheatonArts opened GlassWeekend 2017– an International Symposium and Exhibition of Contemporary Glass. For 32 years, GlassWeekend brought together the world’s leading glass artists, collectors, galleries, and museum curators at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center for a three-day weekend in June. This year’s demonstrating artists were Matthew Szosz, Rik Allen, and Shelley Muzylowski Allen. The keynote speaker featured Susie Silbert, the new Curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass.
Tim Tate was one of the featured LBGTQ artists in the Liberty Museum show.
The National Liberty Museum hosted the nation’s first museum exhibit of studio glass works produced exclusively by artists of the LGBTQ+ community. Each artist explored diverse subjects, methods, and styles using the artistic medium of glass making.
July
Teary-eyed farewell to our Ms Wilson – artist Trish Kent baked a farewell cake in the shape of Audrey’s favorite artistic element – a feather.
The glass table-making class was great fun!
Washington Glass School’s table making class ended with some happy artist/students! Erwin Timmers class made the glass for the tabletops and welded the steel for the table bases.
Audrey Wilson was recognized unstoppable force of nature! The Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) awarded her with their Visionary Scholarship – with it, she was off to Penland for intensive workshops. Glass Art Magazine also featured Audrey with a great profile in the July/August issue! Ms Wilson had to say goodbye to WGS, as she began MFA classes at Ohio’s Kent State.
Glass Art Magazine featured Audrey Wilson in their July/August issue.
August
Tim Tate outlines the history of the American Studio Glass Movement to the class.
Baltimore’s Contemporary Glass Art class held at the CCBC visited the Washington Glass School as part of their studies. The group got to meet with many of the artists working from the studio, and were able to see how a school & studio functions.
LBK gets to work making changes in the Glass School.
Laura Beth Konopinski joined the WGS crew as the new Studio Coordinator coming from the Pittsburgh Glass Center. LBK quickly updated our procedures and has taken over the workings of the busy studio. Ms Konopinski’s artwork has also been noticed, with her work being sought out for exhibition at the Miami Art Week.
“The Great American Eclipse” was the name given to the solar eclipse visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. WGS celebrated by having the community over to watch the event using the studio’s protective welding eyewear.
Said WGS Co-Director Michael Janis of the eclipse: “whoa”.
September
Artist Sean Hennessey became a proud papa, introducing his best work yet: Atlas Leif. Mazel tov!
The James Renwick Alliance’s (JRA) annual Distinguished Artist Series (DAS) brings notable craft artists from around the country – and in September, the season started off great with Alex Bernstein as the distinguished artist in Glass. Alex took the JRA workshop attendees along a journey from billet to awesome in about 3 hours! The JRA Distinguished Artist walked the audience thru his signature process of “Bernstein-ing” his work, and everyone loved it!
DAS Alex Bernstein begins his workshop demo at the Washington Glass School. photo by Diane Charnov
October
Washington Glass School said farewell to Studio Artist Veta Carney as she retired from her law practice and headed out west with her husband to join her son Daniel Carney’s glass studio in Arizona.
Changes at the Glass Studio are best addressed with food.
November
The Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design (SOFA) Fair in Chicago this past November was focused on three-dimensional art and design. Artists Tim Tate and Michael Janis were shown at Habatat Galleries space at Chicago’s Navy Pier.
Seen in Chicago SOFA 2017 at Navy Pier
Also in November, the Washington Glass Studio installed the site specific commission for the William Beanes Community Center in Suitland, MD. The internally illuminated artwork was commissioned by Prince Georges County for the new community center named for William Beanes, MD, who played a pivotal role in the history of The Star-Spangled Banner.
The William Beanes Community Center in Suitland, MD.
The images were designed and selected by the community after a series of interactive meetings and finalized with the help of local council members. The LED illuminated discs were mounted to a powder coated structure that was mounted to the building structure.
December
Tim Tate’s definitive profile by William Warmus in American Craft Magazine.
The December/January 2018 American Craft magazine issue features a story by author/critic William Warmus explores WGS co-founder Tim Tate’s history in the glass world. Titled “The Spaces Between“, William writes about what drives Tim’s work, and about the development (and controversy) of the Facebook “Glass Secessionism” page.
Miami Art Week 2017 featured works by WGS crew Michael Janis, Laura Beth Konopinsk, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers & Alum Audrey Wilson.
December 2017 finished up with an amazing feat – ALL the principal staff of the Washington Glass School were featured as part of the worlds largest and most prestigious art fair – Art Basel/ Miami Art Week. The enormous art fair envelopes Miami and one cannot help but be inspired and encouraged.
Looking Ahead
2018 promises many new opportunities – looking ahead on the calendar:
New classes at the glass school! Michigan’s Habatat Galleries will again feature WGS artists in this year’s 46th International Glass Invitational in April. Michael Janis will be teaching an intensive session at Pittsburgh Glass Center in May. Tim Tate’s artwork will be part of the LA activist art show “Into Action!” curated by John Legend, Shepard Fairy, Rosario Dawson, Harry Belafonte and other notable activists, artists and museum curators. Never a dull moment!
Washington Glass School and Studio Wishes All the Best for the Holidays! May the New Year give wings to all of our dreams and let them come true in 2018!
Report from Miami Art Fairs
The view of the Atlantic Ocean from SCOPE Art Fair 2017
It may snow along the East Coast this weekend, but down at Art Basel Miami Beach, it was all sunshine and beach parties and artwork and music everywhere. A fun thing about Miami is you get to spend hours in Lyfts and cabs going across causeways to and from the beach exhibits. 
Washington Glass School artists were represented at a number of the incredible art fairs that took place during Art Basel / Miami Art Fair week.
Erwin Timmers new work was dazzling!
At Context Art Miami – Alida Anderson Art Project showed artists Erwin Timmers, Laura Beth Konopinski and Audrey Wilson.
Audrey Wilson and Laura Beth Konopinski at Context
Congrats to our own Laura Beth Konopinski, who was selected by Julian Navarro, the fair director as one of the standout women artists at the fair!
Tim Tate’s works shone brightly at SCOPE Miami
Tim Tate and Michael Janis were featured by Habatat Galleries at two art fairs – SCOPE Miami and Form Art Fair. Tim’s new wall pieces were a hit at SCOPE – with many reacting to the artwork’s content.
Tim’s work was the most photo’d works at Miami Beach.
The newest art fair “Form” opened across the street from Art Basel. Run by the same group that presents SOFA Chicago, the artwork focused on media specific art.
Michael Janis’ work at Habatat Galleries space at the FORM Art Fair.
There was alot of glitz and glamour and celebrity-sightings during the week.
Artist Chuck Close came thru the show.
As did these glitterati.
When Art Basel first came to Miami in 2002, it was a satellite art fair and an end-of-the-year anchor to the Basel, Switzerland main event held in the summer. But in a perfect storm of palm trees, parties, a surge of interest in art (or at least the lucrative art market), and an Instagram explosion, it’s now become the biggest annual art event in North America, attended by some 85,000 people. And as the fair morphs into two dozen satellite fairs and a weeklong full calendar of art and fashion happenings, it’s also a venue to show how the art by a new generation of artists is being made.
Washington Glass School Artists To Show @ Art Basel / Miami Art Fairs!
December 4 – 10, 2017, Miami and Miami Beach becomes the epicenter of the art world with approximately 1200 art galleries from around the world showing thousands of artists. It’s also a week of fashion with gala openings and after parties. Music, Art & Design all combine with incredible Florida weather – it’s an incredible place for viewing contemporary art.
Washington Glass School artists are being represented in a big way this year, with all of the school’s Directors and the new Studio Coordinator having works being exhibited at the art fairs.
Tim Tate’s work will be featured at Habatat Galleries space at both SCOPE art fair and FORM.
Tim Tate and Michael Janis’ work will be shown at Habatat Galleries space at Scope Miami (space F35) and the inaugural show of Form Miami (located across the street from Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center).
CONTEXT Art Miami will feature works by WGS artists Erwin Timmers, Laura Beth Konopinski and WGS alum Audrey Wilson.
Alida Anderson Art Projects’ booth #C225 at Context Art Miami will feature some incredible new sculptural works by WGS Co-Director Erwin Timmers and Studio Coordinator Laura Beth Konopinski. Alum Audrey Wilson will be exhibiting her new body of work that shows the influence of the Kent Sate MFA that she is currently enrolled in.
For an overview of all the contemporary art fairs going on in the Miami/Miami Beach area – click HERE
Erwin Timmers prepares his latest cast glass works for the Miami Art Fairs.
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If you are heading to the sunny warm beaches of Miami, FLA, be sure to visit the premier showcase for international contemporary art!
American Craft Magazine Profiles WGS’ Tim Tate
WGS Co-Director Tim Tate is featured in the American Craft Dec/Jan 2018 magazine with an 8-page article by William Warmus. Photos by Pete Duvall.
The American Craft Council (ACC) is the leading arts nonprofit cultivating a culture of making. The ACC’s award-winning magazine seeks to “inspire, telling the behind-the-scenes stories of artists and designer-makers, while exploring the multifaceted benefits of creative living”.
A humorous take on what the ACC magazine cover should have looked like. (Note: this is not the real issue cover!)
As such, the December/January 2018 issue of the magazine features a story by author/critic William Warmus that delves deep into Tim’s softer side. Exploring Tim’s history in the glass world, William writes about the what drives his work, and about the development of the Facebook “Glass Secessionism” page and the backlash created by the online conversation.
Dec/Jan 2018 American Craft magazine cover (the real one).
Listen Up! Glass Art Magazine Podcast Features Tim Tate on NLM “Transparency” Exhibit
The National Liberty Museum’s exhibit, Transparency: An LGBTQ+ Glass Art Exhibition began in June 2017 and ran through August 6, 2017. For more than 40 years, LGBTQ+ identifying people have gathered in the month of June to commemorate their struggles, celebrate their identities, and advocate for their communities. Known as “LGBT Pride Month” or simply “Pride” this worldwide phenomenon reminds us that the freedom to live our truth is necessary for a liberated society. For Pride 2017, the National Liberty Museum hosted the nation’s first museum exhibit of studio glass works produced exclusively by artists of the LGBTQ+ community.
Tim Tate: “We Rose Up”
Glass Art Magazine covers artists online and in print and also via their new podcast series, “Talking Out Your Glass“. The series features interviews and discussions with world-renowned glass artists and respected experts in hot, warm, and cold glass.
Episode 31 ~ National Liberty Museum: Transparency
This episode features a podcast tour of the National Liberty Museum and its recent exhibition of work made by LGBT+Q glass artists. Featuring interviews with artists Tim Tate, Jenny Pohlman and Sabrina Knowles. Click on link below to have a listen.