The Washington Glass School

The James Renwick Alliance for Craft (JRACraft) will host its 2026 Spring Craft Weekend, themed “Making Magic: Handmade Alchemy,” on April 25–26, 2026 in the Washington, D.C. area.

This annual celebration brings together artists, collectors, curators, and craft enthusiasts for a weekend of conversation, recognition, and inspired making.

Event Highlights: Saturday, April 25, 2026

Morning — Free Public Symposium
Held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (McEvoy Auditorium), the morning program honors five distinguished leaders in the field of craft:

• Tom Loeser (wood)
• Piper Shepard (fiber)
• Winnie Owens-Hart (ceramics)
• Keke Cribbs (glass)
• Bruce Pepich (distinguished educator)

The symposium is free and open to the public — an opportunity to hear directly from artists and advocates who have shaped the contemporary craft landscape.

Evening — “Making Magic” Celebration & Auction
The celebration continues that evening at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (MOCA Arlington), VA. Guests will enjoy cocktails, artist demonstrations, and a lively auction of “masterful miniatures” — intimate works that showcase the technical brilliance and imaginative range of today’s makers.

Sunday, April 26, 2026

The weekend concludes with an Awards Brunch at The Tower Club in Vienna, VA — a celebratory gathering honoring the award recipients and the craft community that supports them.

JRACraft’s Spring Craft Weekend has long been one of the region’s most vibrant craft-focused events, strengthening connections between artists, collectors, and institutions while championing handmade excellence.

Registration is now open. Tickets are available for individual events or as patron packages through the JRACraft website:
https://www.jracraft.org/2026-spring-craft-weekend.html

We hope to see many members of the Washington Glass School community there for this inspiring weekend of handmade alchemy. ✨

John Henderson, a WGS studio artist, was selected to exhibit in the Kuumba V — Sankofa: The Art of Remembrance show at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria.

This Black History Month event, organized by the Black Art Today Foundation, celebrates a century of Black history (1926-2026) and draws from the Akan Sankofa concept of learning from the past. It ran February 13–15, 2026, on Level 1 of the Tysons Galleria in John Henderson, a WGS studio artist, was selected to exhibit in the Kuumba V — Sankofa: The Art of Remembrance show at Neiman Marcus Tysons Galleria.

This Black History Month event, organized by the Black Art Today Foundation, celebrates a century of Black history (1926-2026) and draws from the Akan Sankofa concept of learning from the past. It ran February 13–15, 2026, on Level 1 of the Tysons Galleria in Virginia.

Washington Glass School is proud to share that WGS artist John Henderson is included in the exhibition Woven Legacies: A Centennial Celebration of Black Expression, presented by Stem & Vine in partnership with the Black Art Today Foundation.

On view from February 1 through May 2, 2026, the exhibition honors the 2026 Black History Month theme, “A Century of Black History Commemorations,” marking 100 years since the movement to formally recognize Black history in the United States.

John Henderson’s work in the exhibition, The Orishas (Glass/Acrylic, 36 x 12 x 1 inches), is a two-dimensional wall piece that draws on spiritual and cultural traditions rooted in the African diaspora. Through layered materials and luminous surfaces, Henderson explores ancestry, belief systems, and the enduring presence of history carried forward through art.

Woven Legacies examines how art has functioned as a connective thread across generations — preserving memory, expressing resistance, and imagining paths toward liberation. The exhibition features a dynamic group of artists whose work spans disciplines, voices, and perspectives, underscoring the richness and complexity of Black artistic expression.

An artist reception will be held on Sunday, March 1, 2026, from 3–6 PM at Stem & Vine (326 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD).

We congratulate John Henderson on this well-deserved recognition and are honored to see his work included in this important exhibition.

This exhibition is partially funded by the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC).

Virtual Exhibition:

https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/theblackarttodayfoundation/exhibition/woven-legacies-a-centennial-celebration-of-black-expression/artists

Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-reception-woven-legacies-centennial-celebration-of-black-expression-tickets-1981907555851?aff=oddtdtcreator

We are thrilled to congratulate Washington Glass School resident artist Patricia de Poel Wilberg on receiving an Honorable Mention at the 2026 Regional Juried Exhibition at Hill Center Galleries in Washington, DC.

Juried by acclaimed curator Claude L. Elliott, the exhibition brings together outstanding artists from across the DMV region. Patricia’s recognition is a wonderful acknowledgment of her expressive and thought provoking glass work, and we are proud to see her talent celebrated in this important regional show.

Photos from the opening reception and artist talk show Patricia with fellow WGS artist John Henderson, who is also featured in the exhibition, as well as with juror Claude Elliott. It was a great evening of art, conversation, and community.

The exhibition is on view through May 2, 2026. We encourage everyone to visit Hill Center Galleries to see the work in person.

Congratulations to Patricia and John for representing Washington Glass School with such creativity and excellence.

Washington Glass Studio is honored to announce that we have been awarded the public art commission for Harriet Tubman Elementary School by the DC Department of General Services in partnership with DC Public Schools. The project will be led by Washington Glass Studio artist and co-director Michael Janis, whose work frequently explores history, memory, and the narratives embedded within public space.

Titled Enduring Dreams of Home, the commissioned artwork is an 11-foot-tall freestanding Corten steel sculpture that reflects on the physical and emotional consequences of mid-century urban renewal policies that reshaped Washington, DC. During the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of Black residents were displaced under the promise of progress as established neighborhoods were fractured by freeway construction and institutional expansion. With these losses came the disruption of cultural continuity and the erasure of generations of lived experience.

The sculpture is designed to resemble two fractured townhouses, laser-cut to evoke the rowhomes that once defined the surrounding community. These split forms reference demolition, displacement, and rupture, while also speaking to survival, adaptation, and redefinition. What appears broken still stands. What was disrupted continues to carry memory. The interplay between architectural structure and open void invites reflection on belonging, history, and the stories held within physical spaces.

At the heart of Enduring Dreams of Home is a cut-out portrait of Harriet Tubman, integrated into the fractured architectural form as an enduring symbol of resistance, leadership, and moral clarity. Her presence anchors the work in courage and purpose, re-centering the narrative on hope, legacy, and the guiding force of justice amid periods of profound national change. Positioned within the disrupted structure, Tubman’s image affirms perseverance and the power of individual action within a broader collective history.

Material symbolism plays a central role in the work’s meaning. The weathering steel surface of Corten develops a rust-like patina over time, evoking endurance, aging, and memory, while referencing the material language of historic DC housing stock and urban infrastructure. The townhouse silhouettes function as “ghost houses,” honoring homes and communities lost to urban renewal. The fractured composition acknowledges trauma and structural loss, while also affirming continuity and resilience.

Enduring Dreams of Home responds directly to the DGS call for a three-dimensional freestanding sculpture rooted in historical and cultural narrative. Installed at Harriet Tubman Elementary School, the work is intended to serve as both a memorial and a teaching presence, encouraging conversation across generations about history, displacement, and the enduring human need for home.

Washington Glass Studio is deeply grateful to DGS, DC Public Schools, and the Harriet Tubman Elementary School community for the trust placed in our studio and in Michael Janis as the project artist. We look forward to creating a work that honors the past, engages the present, and inspires future generations.

Black Artists of DC 5th annual Fine Art Postcard Sale is back! Black artists and curators from across the DMV have created original artwork the size of a 5” x 7” postcards for sale to the public. The works will be sold in the Great Hall during the last day of the exhibition DIY in the District. This year’s theme of the BADC Fine Art Postcard Fundraiser is UNITY. Artists were asked to create pieces inspired by the legacy of Black people to pulling together during challenging social climates. All postcards will be sold for 40.00 each, cash/card and carry. It is an opportunity to begin an art collection or expand a current collection, for a nominal price. Artists known locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally will have original works available. This is an opportunity to purchase work from noted artists at a fantastic price. The funds support our BADC residency, exhibitions, and the many activities held to support Black artists and Black visual culture in the DMV and beyond.

Exhibition Venue: Martin Luther King Library in the Great Hall (Where there is currently an exhibition about BADC and other DC art organizations!)

901 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20002

A good day at the Glass School!

Today we hosted a glass-making workshop for a great group of friends from the University of Maryland’s STAMP community — new artists diving in, laughing, experimenting, and making some seriously cool fused-glass pocket vases.

Instructors April Shelford and Patricia de Poel Wilberg guided everyone through the technical steps, with Jennie Lindstrom (artist and beekeeper extraordinaire) keeping the creative energy buzzing!
Workshops like this are some of my favorite moments at Washington Glass School — friends learning something new together, trying tools for the first time, and after firing, getting art they made with their own hands.
If you want to plan your own fun studio event, check out our website — we’d love to have you in the mix.

No Kings Rally near the Glass School along US Route 1 on Saturday, Oct 18th, 2025. Noisy and boisterous crowd!

We got a visit from Andy Bell of Erasure fame (yes—“A Little Respect” Andy Bell!) and his partner Stephen Moss, who stopped by while Andy’s in D.C. performing at the Lincoln Theatre on his Ten Crowns tour. (Love the track ‘Lies So Deep’!!)

They caught up with Tim Tate about some exciting creative ideas—stay tuned for what might come next!

L–R: Stephen Moss, Donovan Lessard, Tim Tate, Andy Bell