Washington’s Innovative Glass Scene Seen at Artomatic 2024

trish kent, patricia de poel wilberg, nancy kronstadt, april shelford, graciela granek, kate barfield
Washington Glass School Co Founder Erwin Timmers outlines the Studio Glass Movement timeline to audience at Artomatic 2024.

In the 1960s, The American Studio Glass movement transformed glass from craft into fine art.

Artomatic helped create the movement, as after the 2000 Artomatic, the Smithsonian Museum acquired artist Tim Tate’s glass sculpture that was on display. Artist Erwin Timmers’ artwork was also on exhibit at that Artomatic, and after that show, the two began to collaborate, later teaming up to start the Washington Glass School & Studio with the funds from the sale of Tate’s glass artwork to the Renwick.

Washington Glass School Co-Founder Tim Tate’s work at Artomatic 2024.

In 2008, Artomatic organized an exhibit at the Washington Glass School, showcasing the unique approaches to glass sculpture in three “glass” cities: Washington, DC; Toledo, Ohio; and Sunderland, England, fostering international partnerships and collaborative ventures.

Glass works by VA-based artist Griffon Dillon on exhibit at Artomatic 2024.

As the 21st century unfolded, artists across various media have shown growing interest in glass as a creative medium, despite its technical challenges. The Washington Glass Scene has emerged as a hub of innovation, elevating glass to a significant position in contemporary art. The Washington Glass School encourages artists to push boundaries and redefine the possibilities of glass as a fine art medium.

There is a great example of works by DC glass creatives on display at Artomatic 2024, open now thru April 28th. Although the glass works are on many of the 8 floors of art, the 5th floor is the central spot to get ones glass fix. Some photos of Washington Glass School’s reception are featured in this post.

Glass artwork by artist Michael Janis seen at Artomatic 2024 on M Street.

The James Renwick Alliance will hold a craft tour of works on display at Artomatic 2024, March 24th, at 1-3PM More info here on the free tour: James Renwick Alliance Craft Tour – 5th Floor Washington Glass School Installation – Artomatic.

patricia de poel wilberg, kate barfield, april shelford
Curator Howard Cohen reviewing glass art on exhibit at Artomatic 2024.

Baltimore based art curator Howard Cohen came this past weekend to Artomatic to handpick glass artists from the DC area for a contemporary glass showcase exhibit at Montpelier Art Center this June. Howard was able to talk with many of the artists and get insight to their narratives and process. Looking forward to the upcoming show!

artomatic 2024

Artomatic, 2100 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037

Octopus Encounter!

tara reagan fused glass art
One last look at the work inside the kiln – before firing.

Is it true that all octopuses are born in Octo-ber? Well, here is the ultimate proof! Artist Tana just completed her spectacular 36′ round octopus/sea life themed glass panel at the Washington Glass School! The finished glass panel will octo-py our hearts!!

Tara Reagan with her fully fused octopus.

Happy Campers at the Glass School!

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Department of Parks and Recreation offers assorted summer camps for the children – and what could be more fun than glass camp?! (For those of a certain age, cue song “Hello Muddah, hello Faddah”).

Instructors Erwin Timmers and Cheryl Edwards lead the summer art camp kids at the Glass School.

The 15 bright inquisitive imaginations were excited by the possibilities of glass + art (= awesomeness).

Instructor / Artist / Director / Dad – Erwin Timmers explains how kilns work for fused glass.
mike janis teaches casting
Artist Michael Janis shows the new glass fanatic where and how to cast in dry plaster.
One of the area’s newest glass superstars make her mark in the kiln.

2023 Glass Coast Weekend Big Hit!

The west coast of sunny Florida is where the glass art scene is hot! This past week, Habatat Detroit Fine Art held a glass extravaganza at the Ringling College of Art in beautiful Sarasota, FL. This was be their 8th Annual Glass Coast Weekend (GCW). This year the event paid homage to the past, present, and future of studio glass. The show featured noted artists, lectures, demos and a reception at the Ringling Museum of Art and the 5th Anniversary event at the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg, FL.

Above is a quick video fly-thru of the main show at Ringling College of Art

The Glass Coast excitement continued up the coast – at Duncan McClellan Gallery, where Washington Glass School artists are featured in the groundbreaking “Dreams & Visions” exhibit (thru March 5).

Michael Janis with glass fans at Duncan McClellan Gallery during reception held for Washington Glass School artists.

WGS Artists Tim Tate and Michael Janis were featured at a series of receptions, lectures and demonstrations held at DMG over the weekend.

Artist Tim Tate narrates to the audience on the hotshop what techniques the gaffer is employing to create Tim’s sacred heart glass sculpture.
Tim Tate’s blown sculpture gets some heat!
Tim Tate’s Sacred Heart sculpture after annealing and cooling. Tim plans on working imagery into the work and presenting a new series of hearts.

Artist Michael Janis had a large audience in attendance for his presentation on “Art in Architecture”, where he talked about his design background and how it influenced his artwork and the public art sculpture made by the Washington Glass Studio.

Michael Janis talks about his pop art work made in collaboration with Chicago artist Tony Porto.
Michael Janis (center) with new collectors Steve and Debbie Lang at DMG reception.

Happy Holidays from Washington Glass School and Studio

Tis the Season!

All of us at the Washington Glass School & Studio Wish You and Family a Joyous Holiday Season! And a Happy Healthy New Year!

Artists and Educators from the Washington Glass School

(L-R) Patricia De Poel Wilberg, Erwin Timmers, Christina Helowicz, Nancy Kronstadt, Kate Barfield, Tim Tate, April Shelford, Michael Janis, Trish Kent and John Henderson. Not pictured: Graciela Granek, Sean Robinson, Diane Cabe, Gabrielle Morris, Kyle Crosby, and Daphne Matyas.

2022 Art Basel/Art Miami Features Washington Glass School Artists

Washington Glass School artists are prepping spectacular glass/mixed media artwork to be presented at Context Art Miami – at Alida Anderson Art Projects . New art works by WGS artists Michael Janis, Christina Helowicz, Tim Tate, Erwin Timmers, along with artworks by Lenny Campello, Tony Porto, J Jordan Bruns and Steve Wanna, Marinela de la Hoz and others will be on exhibit at CONTEXT Art Miami Art Fair, space A29.

CONTEXT Art Miami, presented by Art Miami, continues to create and push boundaries on the conversation about contemporary art, The 2022 edition will showcase works from 75 innovative galleries from more than 20 countries, including Japan, Turkey, Australia, France, South Korea and Chile, among others. CONTEXT Art Miami will kick-off during Miami Art Week with an invitation-only VIP preview on Tuesday, November 29 and run through Sunday, December 4, 2022.

Rockville, MD Artists & Makers Studios To Showcase Works By Erwin Timmers & Artists of the Washington Glass School

Artists & Makers Studios on Parklawn Drive in Rockville will welcome artist Erwin Timmers along with Artists of the Washington Glass School for the exhibit “A Show of Hands”. The November 4th First Friday evening opening will run from 5pm – 9pm.

Erwin Timmers, “In Case of Emergency”; 2022, cast recycled glass, steel. Photo by Pete Duvall.

Erwin Timmers is the Co-founder and Director of the Washington Glass School. His work references sociological and environmental issues of concern to him, primarily how we, as a society, consume and discard precious resources. For this topic, the choice of materials becomes a more important discussion, so Erwin endeavors to use recycled materials to express concepts and ideas of recycling and use of the environment. Recycled glass is difficult to use, so he has had to develop new and experimental techniques to exploit the characteristics of this material. A Show of Hands explores personal and cultural traits as they relate to present day social trends. Technological “advances” have changed the landscape in human interaction, and social media focuses on aspects of cultural loss, fake news, mass manipulation, and diversion and division. This series is about the expression of nonverbal and abstract themes like trust, communication, and connection. Erwin’s portfolio showcases the possibility and beauty of recycled material, while encouraging the viewer to consider his or her environmental impact.

Erwin Timmers “A Show of Hands”
Featuring Artists of the Washington Glass School

Opening Reception
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Friday, November 4th, 2022

Artists & Makers Studios
11810 Parklawn Drive, Suite 210
Rockville, MD 20852

Artist Discussion with Erwin Timmers – November 12th, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Exhibits for Erwin Timmers, the Resident Artists, and Gallery 209 will run from November 1st through November 22nd. Viewing hours are 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Monday-Saturday, and Sundays by chance or appointment.

Artists & Makers Studios on Parklawn Drive in Rockville, established in October 2014 by artist and arts community builder Judith HeartSong, is a 13,000 sq. ft. facility is home to 87 artists, and 80 student artists. A&M Studios is dedicated to providing a supportive and vibrant environment for artists to realize their creative goals – through studio practice, collaboration, education, opportunities, networking and connecting with the community beyond.

Tim Tate: Reflections on Studio Practice

Glass Sculptor and Artist Tim Tate looks back on 20 years of creating a community. He recently put together some of his observations on well, how did we get here?

Artist Tim Tate

“I had been raised in a household filled with craft materials. I rarely saw my mother’s hands empty, always creating something. I inherited this love. I spent my early adult years being trained in the methods revolving around studio glass while attending the 2 weeks to 2-month workshops of Penland, Pilchuck, Corning, Pittsburg, etc. (I had no money to attend grad school …though I yearned for Cranbrook). These years of varied workshops and practitioners was the perfect way to obtain a broad outlook on the entire field. We founded the Washington Glass School in 2001 with very specific goals. Let me see if I can make this clear.

Tim Tate & Joyce Scott work on a new collaborative sculpture at the Washington Glass School.

1). We wanted to be something other than a traditional studio glass shop. From the beginning we realized we wanted a much broader approach; something that reflected the mission of education centers like the Crucible in Oakland and Penland in NC. We embraced mixed media work from the beginning with varied classes in kiln formed glass, steel, electronics, encaustics, etc. Our idea was not to in any way denigrate the rich history of studio glass, but to live just outside of those confines to see what would happen. To step slightly away from the 20th century.

Tim Tate
Tim Tate “We Rose Up”, 2017, Cast objects, mirrors, and LED’s, 32 × 32 × 4 in.

2). As a gay man in glass, it was apparent that diversity was sorely lacking in every way in the glass world. So we did outreach and advertised our classes in many publications that went to diverse populations, rather than wait for these populations to approach us. This worked very well. Even now we go to the Facebook pages of different neighborhoods to show our class schedules.

Einar and Jamex de la Torre at Washington Glass School 2015
The Brothers De La Torre visit the Washington Glass School in 2015.

3). We have embraced social media in every way possible, from individual and school Facebook and Instagram pages (where we post regularly) to administering a Facebook discussion group. This group is called “21st Century Glass/Conversations and Images/Glass Secessionism” and maintain over 8000 members from 97 countries.

With William Warmus we came up with the original concept of “Glass Secessionism”…to step slightly away from the recognized canon of 20th century glass and to create as much dialog and critical analysis as possible. There have been over 1.5 million words written and over thousands of images shared on this page focusing almost entirely on that theme.

In 2008, Artomatic held an international glass show.

4). We participated in many local shows here in the DC area, such as the spectacular Art-O-Matic show that truly put us on the map. We also curated many shows over the years to include local emerging artists. I have served on a dozen boards and juried dozens of shows and grant applications to stay in the loop and form a community bond. There are 3 Co-Directors here, all sharing a similar mission….to create a large regional, national and international community to foster new growth within our field.

2009 Glass Workshop at Washington Glass School. L-R Cheryl P Derricotte, David Cook, Nicole Puzan.

5). Our first class was on Sept. 13, 2001…. a difficult day in history to start anything being right after 9/11. We thought no one would even attend the first classes. But we discovered something else….no one cancelled. It appeared that while the purchase of art slowed to a trickle around the country, the creation of art thrived. Our first class was filled with artists who wanted to make narrative work about the devastation of that event. From that moment on we embraced narrative work with all our hearts. Works about political events, social injustices and inequalities were common within our sculptural classes, and certainly in my own works. We have now been in operation over 20 years, with over 6000 students. 60% of those were and are women, we have a large population of BIPoC students and we have worked with hundreds of LGTBQ students. We are so very proud of this fact.

My purpose for serving on boards right now is to focus on the building of communities as an artistic practice. I want to take a slight step away from academia as these institutions can become elitist, and I want to be non-elitist as we have been from the beginning. I also like regional boards that focus in the mid-Atlantic.

My personal practice had been deeply imbedded in the world of glass galleries and museums, though frequently as an outsider. I have stepped away from this in the last few months. I have moved towards the fine art world once again, as I had started there. It feels great to go back to my roots, surrounded by a community that reaches far beyond anything we ever anticipated.” – Tim Tate, October, 2022

Michael Janis Finalist in 2022 Contemporary Craft Prize

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.

Michael Janis glass art - title "Allowing Our Past to Become Part of Ourselves" 60"H x 40' W fused glass, glass powder imagery aluminum

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

DC’s MLK Jr Library Features Washington Glass Studio on Public Art

View of Green Community Gateway by Washington Glass Studio

The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is a dynamic source of information, programs, books and services, among them is their Makers Program, that includes a Fabrication Lab. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library’s “Fab Lab”, complete with 3D printers, a laser cutter, soldering equipment, other machines is part of a new movement of public libraries embracing the “maker movement.” DCPL’s maker program is the largest of its kind in a public library, as they see the program as a force to bring together makers, artists, and creative people of all types and from all fields and backgrounds, encouraging cross-disciplinary cooperation. As part of the public engagement, the DCPL Makers & DIY Program is hosting a series of artists lectures at the newly refurbished MLK Memorial Library auditorium.

Image of Community workshop at Washington Glass School.

On Saturday, May 21, 2022, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm, Michael Janis, co-director of the Washington Glass School, will give a lecture on how the Washington Glass Studio created the “Green Community Gateway” with art made with the help of the community in Ward 7.

The “Green Community Gateway”, public art sculpture marks the symbolic entrance to the Kenilworth/Parkside section of DC’s Ward 7. Through a series of glass “quilting bees”, Washington Glass Studio brought together neighborhood residents, students of the high school, and the staff of the newly constructed Unity Healthcare facility to make glass art that would become an integral part of the arch.

This lecture program will take place in the auditorium at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20001. Register at bit.ly/labsclasses

The renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, originally designed by Mies van der Rohe, the landmark library was rejuvenated by Mecanoo and OTJ Architects.