As the year draws to a close, we want to pause and say thank you to our extraordinary community — our artists, students, instructors, collectors, collaborators, and friends. Your curiosity, generosity, and creative energy continue to make Washington Glass School a place of discovery, connection, and shared brightness.
This year was filled with melty moments, quiet breakthroughs, bold experiments, and the simple joy of working side by side in the studio. We’re deeply grateful for all of it.
Looking ahead, 2026 marks a major milestone: 25 years of Washington Glass School. What began as a small but determined idea has grown into a vibrant center for glass, craft, and community — and we’re just getting started. Next year will bring special exhibitions, events, and projects that honor our past while looking forward to what’s still possible.
Until then, we wish you a season filled with warmth, inspiration and lots of glass — and a new year full of creative promise.
WGS artist Michael Janis’ new works are featured int Glass 53. Image by Pete Duvall.
Glass53 is the largest and oldest annual glass art experience in the world. Now in its 53rd year, Habatat Galleries in Royal Oak, Michigan, presents an extraordinary gathering of the work of over 100 artists from over 30 countries. Each artist is a visionary whose mastery of glass transcends mere materiality to embody light, texture, and form in ways that captivate the soul. Habatat seeks to honor not only the works themselves but also the journeys of those who create them. This year’s exhibition is not just a showcase; it’s a living narrative of glass as an ever-evolving art form. From the grand halls of the world’s most prestigious museums to the cultural zeitgeist, glass has emerged from the shadows of traditional craftsmanship into the forefront of contemporary discourse. The featured artists are pioneers and storytellers, each bringing a unique perspective to the medium through bold abstraction, intricate realism, or conceptual deconstruction.
Glass53 Booklet (learn all about Glass53): Click HERE
Glass 53 Invited Artists: Shelley M. Allen, Anthony Amoako-attah, Herb Babcock, Michael Behrens, Alex Bernstein, Martin Blank, Jen Blazina, Christina Bothwell, Geoffrey Bowton, Jannah Bowlus, Latchezar Boyadjiev, Peter Bremers, Karen Browning, Nancy Callan, Eunsuh Choi, Deanna Clayton, Amber Cowan, Simone Crestani, Christopher Day, Cheryl Derricotte, Minhi England, Hannah Gibson, Susan Taylor Glasgow, Wilfried Grootens, Baldwin & Guggisberg, Kim Harty, David Huchthausen, Krista Israel, Tim Jaeger, Michael Janis, Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, Richard Jolley, Brent Kee Young, Claire Kelly, Kelly O’Dell, Steve Klein, Vladimira Klumpar, Eriko Kobayashi, Laura Kramer, Jiyong Lee, Steve Linn, Littleton & Vogel, László Lukácsi, Boldizsár Lukácsi, Lucy Lyon, Dylan Martinez, Robert Mickelsen, John Miller, Lukas Mjartan, James Mongrain, Karin Mørch, Josepha Gasch-Muche, Kathleen Mulcahy, Barbara Nanning, David Patchen, Maytas Pavlik, Sibylle Peretti, Pohlman & Knowles, Stephen Rolfe Powell, Colin Reid, Kait Rhoads, Bruno Romunelli, Marlene Rose, Martin Rosol, Richard Royal, Toland Sand, Thomas Scoon, John Sharvin, Judith Schaechter, Jeremy Sinkus, Paul Stankard, Ethan Stern, April Surgent, Lino Tagliapietra, Takizawa Kazuki, Michael Taylor, Bensen & Theofanous, Stephanie Trenchard, Carmen Vetter, Elliot Walker, & Trina Urrata Weintraub.
53nd Annual International Glass Invitational Award Exhibition GLASS53
May 3, 2025 – Sep 19, 2025
Habatat Galleries 4400 Fernlee Ave Royal Oak, MI 48073
Michael Janis, “Allowing Our Past to Become Part of Ourselves” detail, 2022, fused glass, glass powder imagery. Photo by Pete Duvall.
17 national and international finalists have been selected for this biennial exhibition in glass art, featuring newly created, innovative works.
Glass is itself a transformation: created when ordinary sand encounters extreme heat. In this breathtaking exhibition, glass is transformed again, this time by 17 contemporary artists from across the globe. The resulting work pushes the boundary of traditional craft techniques and takes glass from the realm of the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Transformation 11: Contemporary Works in Glass is Contemporary Craft’s 2022 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize juried exhibition. The winning artist and their work will be announced and presented at the public opening of the exhibition on Friday, September 9, 2022, where they will receive a cash prize. The 2022 prize will be awarded in the category of glass, and must meet the requirement that it has been made within the last 12 months and addresses the theme of “transformation.” Seventeen contemporary artists from across the globe explore creative concepts and innovative approaches in their use of the glass medium, with the winning artist sending additional works to demonstrate the breadth of their work.
The 2022 Raphael Prize finalists are: Dean Allison, Pittsburgh, PA; Eunsuh Choi, Rochester, WI; Donald Friedlich, Madison, WI; Michael Janis, Washington, DC; Lauren Kalman, Detroit, MI; David King, Danville, KY; Eriko Kobayashi, Carbondale, IL; Weston Lambert, Tacoma, WA; Patrick Martin, Emporia, KS; Hisayoshi Muto, Yatomi, Aichi, Japan; Aya Oki, San Bernardino, CA; Miroslava Ptackova, Zlín, Zlínský kraj, Czech Republic; David Schnuckel, Rochester, NY; Michaela Spruzinova, Ústí Nad Labem, brná, Czech Republic; Ben Wright, Stanwood, WA; Ayano Yoshizumi, Everard Park, SA, Australia; and Hoseok Youn, Toledo, OH.
The jury for the 2022 prize includes Anna Rothfuss, Project Development Manager, Derix Art Glass Consultants, LLC U.S., Portland, OR; Heather McElwee, Randi & L. Van V. Dauler, Jr. Executive Director, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Alexandra Raphael, enameller, London, England; Catherine Raphael, metalsmith and writer, Pittsburgh, PA; Rachel Saul Rearick, Executive Director, and Kate Lydon, Director of Exhibitions (retired), Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Contemporary Craft, 5645 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Contemporary Craft hours: Mon-Sat: 10 AM – 4 PM
September 9, 2022 – March 18, 2023
This opening is free and open to the public.
ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Contemporary Craft presents contemporary art in craft media by regional, national, and international artists. Contemporary Craft offers cutting edge exhibitions focusing on multicultural diversity and contemporary art, as well as a range of artist-led studio workshops, community engagement programs, and a store. Located at 5645 Butler Street in the Upper Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, visit www.contemporarycraft.org
Michael Janis & Tim Tate at Toronto’s Sandra Ainsley Gallery June 4 – July 30, 2022
Toronto, Canada’s famed Sandra Ainsley Gallery present the narrative glass artworks by WGS Co-Directors Tim Tate and Michael Janis. The show, titled “One Story is Not Enough” featured works by each artist as a solo, and a number of their collaborative wall murals.
Michael Janis’ imagery in frit powder is reflected in the gallery’s piano surface.
When Michael Janis and Tim Tate met, almost 20 years ago, they discovered a shared fascination of narrative sculpture- one that seeks to arrive at an image that is both unflinchingly candid in physical representation and psychologically evasive. Working together, they are interested in the simultaneous read of an immediately recognizable image that asks the viewer to linger over history and meanings that unfurl more slowly. Mark, line and material become an extension of touch in the act of representation. The relationship of hand to subject, negotiated through the material, can elicit a response of both visual and tactile.
“The Poetry of Everyday Objects” by Michael Janis & Tim Tate, 2021; Size:6H x 6W’; Cast Glass
With these confines they create work in many techniques, but if you stand slightly back and see their history a huge thread of interconnected stories weave through their work from day one. The beauty comes into focus and the viewer sees the edges of a world not dissimilar to this one, but so much more thoughtful.
Detail – “The Poetry of Everyday Objects”, Michael Janis & Tim Tate
They present this glimpse into that alternative world, seemingly unstuck in time somewhere between past and future.
Tim Tate, Lenticular series, 2022, each panel 41″H x 41″W, lenticular prints
Sandra Ainsley Gallery The Warehouse 100 Sunrise Avenue, Unit 150 Toronto, Ontario Canada M4A 1B3
