Over the past ten weeks, the Washington Glass School (WGS) in Mt. Rainier, MD has welcomed a new cohort of military veterans into the studio for the second D.C.–area session of Hot Shop Heroes—an arts-therapy initiative created by the Museum of Glass (MOG) in Tacoma, Washington. The program brings together hands-on glassmaking, personal reflection, and creative exploration, giving veterans a supportive space to build community and reconnect with their own artistic identities.
The Exploding Queen, by Jean McGee. Mixed media/cast glass, LED
As part of this year’s Hot Shop Heroes program at the Washington Glass School, we had the privilege of sitting down with Jean McGee, a Navy veteran whose commanding, deeply personal Queen chess piece sculpture will debut in our Strength and Fragility exhibition on December 13th as part of the Winter Open Studios. Her artwork—part deconstructed cast glass, part mixed media, part lived experience—is a meditation on resilience, strategy, and what it means to rebuild after devastating change.
Below, she shares her journey—in service, in healing, and in discovering a new artistic voice.
Jean cuts her original form to create new sculptural possibilities.
From Intelligence Officer to Artist-in-the-Making
Jean served as an Intelligence Officer inthe U.S. Navy, deployed in both the Gulf and Afghanistan. “I received my commission in the early 2000s,” she shared. “I joined the military to serve my country not long after 9/11.”
Her connection to Hot Shop Heroes began almost by chance. “A recreation therapist, Lucile Lisle, told Nikki (Nicolette Rubin, Therapist at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) I might be up for trying it out—and there were a few extra spots in the class. So I figured, why not?”
Before the workshop, Jean had no glass experience. “I honestly never thought fused or cast glass was even an art form,” she said. “I’d been curious about stained glass or blown glass, but never had the time. This was completely new—and totally eye-opening.”
Discovering Warm Glass—and Discovering Herself
Her first reaction to learning she’d be cutting sheet glass, making molds, and casting?
“This is f’ing awesome!” “Seriously—so many techniques reminded me of processes from my 15-year career in hardware manufacturing. It felt strangely familiar, like something I could really sink into.”
Jean tests the plaster before firing in kiln.
What Jean enjoyed most was the freedom to fail—and fix. “I love learning how things are made. I learned how to use frit… and how NOT to use frit. I messed things up constantly. But glass forces you to roll with the punches. You try, it breaks, you rethink. That’s life.”
Some techniques were more challenging. “Casting is hard—especially with big pieces. Pressing large forms into powdery materials only gets you so far.”
But the studio environment made a difference. “The other veterans were so supportive of each other’s ideas. It felt like I wasn’t alone in my artistic journey. And the instructors? Totally open to crazy ideas. They made you feel like anything was possible.”
The experience has already reshaped her relationship with creativity. “I always thought I was terrible at art. I can’t draw, can’t paint—color-by-number was more my speed. But I learned things don’t have to turn out exactly as you imagined to be beautiful. There’s beauty in imperfection. I’m starting to think maybe I’m not so bad at art after all.”
Building the Queen: A Story of Before and After
Jean’s Queen sculpture is one of the most emotionally charged pieces in this year’s exhibition. Fifteen inches tall, half smooth and pristine, half fractured cast glass painstakingly reassembled, it mirrors her life before and after a catastrophic accident.
A few years ago, Jean survived a gunshot wound to the head. The experience reshaped her body, her career, and her day-to-day life.
“Before the accident, things were really good. I felt successful, blessed, and grounded. That’s the smooth half of the Queen. Then everything fell apart—my health, my career, everything I knew about myself. That’s the fractured side.”
Choosing a chess queen as the subject came naturally.
“Life has always felt like a strategic game to me—choices, outcomes, the long view. My husband and I play chess, my son plays too. And before the accident, I really felt like I was on top of my game. The Queen brought all of that together.”
Her use of redglass carries layered meaning. “Red is my favorite color—fiery, energetic. But it also represents the blood trail I left as I crawled for help. The smooth side and the broken side aren’t opposites—they’re both me. The brokenness couldn’t exist without the whole that came before it.”
In the studio, she approached the fracture patterns deliberately. “I didn’t want clean breaks—they weren’t true to my experience. I used the bandsaw creatively to make the cuts feel messy, unpredictable, uneven. That felt honest.”
Jean credits fellow student Arden (Arden Colley, Washington Glass School Studio Coordinator) with helping her execute the final assembly. “We had to think outside the box more than once. I had a blast—it brought so much light into a rough time in my life.”
Jean reviews sculpture layout with WGS Studio Coordinator Arden Colley.
The Meaning of Making—and What Comes Next
Jean hopes viewers don’t need to know her entire story to connect with the work.
“Once art is out in the world, the interpretation belongs to the viewer. I don’t need them to see my experience—just that something drastically changed can still be powerful in a different way.”
Glass art will continue to play a role in her life. “I’ve already bought glass-cutting tools and started simple mosaics. I’d love to come back into the studio when life settles down—probably after a couple more surgeries. And I want to introduce my kids to glass, too.”
For veterans considering joining a future Hot Shop Heroes session, she has one message:
“Do it. You won’t regret it. You’ll learn how things are made, gain a new appreciation for creativity—and it might just help you heal, even a little.”
See Jean’s Queen Sculpture at Winter Open Studios
Jean’s finished work—and the work of all eight participating veterans—will debut at:
Come meet the artists, hear the stories behind the work, and experience the extraordinary creativity emerging from this year’s Hot Shop Heroes program.
This iteration of Hot Shop Heroes is made possible through the partnership of the Museum of Glass, the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Washington Glass School. The program is offered at no cost to veterans and relies on outside funding to continue its mission.
