Now in its sixth year, Catching Fire has become an important event for collectors of contemporary glass art, offering access to works by internationally recognized artists while helping support the museum’s educational programs and community engagement initiatives.
The 2026 auction begins with an online silent auction opening June 10 and culminates with a live virtual auction on June 17. Participation is free, and bidders can register online to view available works and place bids throughout the event.
Among the artists participating this year is Washington Glass School Co-Director Michael Janis, whose kiln-formed glass portraitInner Dimensions explores themes of identity, memory, and psychological fragmentation through layered and fused glass imagery.
Created using Janis’ signature sgraffito glass powder technique, Inner Dimensions presents a portrait physically separated into horizontal bands that simultaneously hold together and come apart. The work uses the unique properties of glass as part of its meaning—transparent, reflective, fragile, yet capable of becoming solid and permanent through the process of kiln-forming.
A recent critic described the piece:
“The material doesn’t illustrate fragmentation; it is fragmentation.”
The Catching Fire auction reflects the continuing vitality of contemporary glass as an art form, showcasing a diverse range of techniques, aesthetics, and artistic voices. Proceeds from the event help the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass fulfill its mission of connecting people to glass through exhibitions, collections, education, and community programs.
Artists, collectors, and supporters of contemporary glass are encouraged to register and explore the auction catalog as bidding opens.
Located in Neenah, Wisconsin, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is internationally recognized for its collection, exhibitions, and educational programs dedicated to the art, history, and appreciation of glass. Through initiatives such as Catching Fire, the museum supports artists while expanding public engagement with contemporary glass art.
Community Glass Public Art Sculpture Completed in Kempsville, Virginia
Harbor of Stories public art sculpture by Washington Glass Studio and the Kempsville community in April, 2026
The Washington Glass Studio has completed Harbor of Stories, a major new public art sculpture for the Kempsville area of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Rising nearly eighteen feet high at the intersection of Princess Anne Road and Witchduck Road, the sculpture combines steel, cast glass, fused glass, and LED illumination into a landmark artwork shaped by community participation and layered local history.
Modeled after a stylized sail, the sculpture references Kempsville’s historic relationship to waterways, trade, movement, and cultural exchange. By day, sunlight activates the colorful glass surfaces; by night, integrated lighting transforms the work into a glowing beacon within the surrounding streetscape.
But Harbor of Stories was never intended to function as a traditional monument.
Instead, the project asked a more complicated question:
How can public art hold many histories at once?
Designing a Collective Portrait of Place
The RFQ for the Kempsville public art project stood apart from many civic commissions because it did not seek a single heroic narrative.
Early concept massing sketch exploring visibility, movement, and sightlines along Witchduck Rd.
The project called for artwork that could acknowledge overlapping histories connected to Indigenous communities, colonial settlement, Revolutionary War events, ecology, segregation, architecture, waterways, and contemporary neighborhood identity.
WGS sought to include many references to Kempsville’s layered cultural and maritime history.
For artist Michael Janis and the Washington Glass Studio team, this became an opportunity to explore how glass can carry layered narratives simultaneously.
The final design uses a sweeping sail form as both visual landmark and metaphor. The structure references Kempsville’s history as a working port while suggesting movement, migration, exchange, and shared memory.
Rendering of the evolving sail-form sculpture design for Harbor of Stories, integrating glass narrative panels within a steel framework.
Embedded throughout the sculpture are narrative glass panels created through multiple processes.
Clear cast glass bas-relief panels designed by Washington Glass Studio reference Indigenous presence, the Powhatan Mantle, the yehakin, local plant and aquatic life, colonial history, and the Battle of Kemp’s Landing during the American Revolution.
Cast glass bas-relief panels created by Washington Glass Studio depicting historical narratives integrated into Harbor of Stories.
These imagery-rich cast panels are interwoven with vibrant fused-glass panels created directly by community members during a year-long series of public workshops.
Together, the sculpture becomes less like a single memorial object and more like a collective portrait of place.
Community Collaboration Through Glass
A central component of Harbor of Stories was public participation.
Washington Glass Studio held hands-on workshops at the Kempsville Community Center and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA), inviting local residents to create fused glass panels based on personal memories, experiences, and connections to the area.
Virginia MOCA announcing glass-making workshops for the community art project.
Participants translated family stories, neighborhood imagery, landmarks, symbols, and aspirations into colorful glass compositions that now fill the sail structure.
Public workshop flyer at the Kempsville Community CenterMichael Janis and Erwin Timmers at Community Workshop
For many participants, this marked their first experience working with glass as an artistic material.
What emerged was not simply decoration, but authorship.
Community Participants with Completed Glass Tiles
Each individual panel is modest in scale, yet together the hundreds of handmade elements create a unified visual voice that physically embeds community participation into the sculpture itself.
This process reflects one of Washington Glass Studio’s continuing interests within public art practice: creating projects where communities actively shape the artwork rather than simply receiving it after completion.
The Challenges of Public Art Fabrication
Like many large-scale public art projects completed in recent years, Harbor of Stories faced dramatic material and fabrication challenges during production.
As the project moved through engineering, approvals, and construction phases, steel prices rose substantially beyond earlier projections.
At one stage, the structural steel alone threatened to consume nearly the entire project budget.
Engineering plans and early steel fabrication process in shop.
Working closely with structural engineer Sante Taroli of Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., along with fabricators and city representatives, the team redesigned portions of the internal framework while preserving the sculpture’s outward appearance and structural integrity.
The project ultimately benefited from partnerships with fabricators more commonly associated with Defense Department construction work, including VTG Defense, whose expertise helped realize the complex steel structure.
The sail-shaped steel sculpture structure fully assembled inside a fabrication shop.
The experience reinforced an important aspect of contemporary public art practice: successful civic artwork depends not only upon artistic vision, but upon sustained collaboration between artists, engineers, fabricators, architects, and public agencies.
Light, Glass, and Living Narratives
Back at the Washington Glass Studio, fabrication of the cast glass narrative panels continued simultaneously with construction of the steel armature at the metal shop.
Erwin Timmers securing modular glass grid assemblies onto the sail structure during final installation.
For Washington Glass Studio, glass remains uniquely suited to commemorative and civic artwork because of its ability to hold texture, imagery, transparency, and light at the same time.
As sunlight passes through the sculpture, the embedded imagery continuously shifts throughout the day. Reflections, shadows, and transparency create an artwork that changes according to season, weather, and viewing position.
Artist Erwin Timmers carefully positioning a colorful fused glass panel into the steel framework.
Rather than functioning as a static monument, the sculpture behaves more like a living visual environment.
Artist Michael Janis lifting a cast glass narrative panel into place during installation of the Kempsville public art sculpture.
This relationship between light and narrative has long been central to Washington Glass Studio’s public art practice, particularly in projects involving memory, identity, and collective history.
Installation and Dedication
Installation of Harbor of Stories took place over multiple phases as the steel framework, glass components, lighting systems, and structural elements were assembled on site.
The public dedication was held in April 2026.
Community leaders, artists, and residents gather for the official ribbon cutting dedication of Harbor of Stories on April 18, 2026.
For the artists and collaborators, the most rewarding moment came when local residents began recognizing their own contributions within the finished sculpture — locating individual glass panels while experiencing the larger artwork as a shared civic space.
Kempsville residents search for and proudly identify their handmade fused glass panels within the completed Harbor of Stories sculpture.
The sculpture now stands not simply as an object placed within the neighborhood, but as a work grown directly from community participation and local history.
Upward view through the illuminated glass and steel sail structure revealing layered transparency, color, and light.
Project Team
Artists: Michael Janis, Erwin Timmers, Tim Tate, Arden Colley, and Ladan Ebrahimian
Structural Engineering: Sante Taroli / Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.
City of Virginia Beach Cultural Affairs and Public Art: Chad Clark and Emily Labow
Fabrication Partners: Thomas Willis / Production Welding and Fabrication; Randy Williams and Stephen Bittner / VTG Defense; Nick Lotuaco / L4 Builders
Washington Glass Studio artists L-R Ladan Ebrahimian, Arden Colley, and Erwin Timmers relax at Harbor of Stories.
About Washington Glass Studio
Washington Glass Studio, based in Mount Rainier, Maryland, creates contemporary public art, architectural glass, sculpture, and community-engaged projects that integrate fine art, narrative imagery, and innovative glass techniques.
The studio’s public artworks frequently combine cast glass, fused glass, steel, and community participation to explore themes of history, identity, environment, and collective memory.
Washington Glass School artists Michael Janis and Tim Tate featured in Rip! Tear! Collage as Critique at the Eye Street Gallery, opening June 11.
There is a particular kind of honesty in the torn edge. Unlike the clean cut, which implies control, intention, the world of the maker, a torn surface tells the truth about force. Something resisted; something gave way. The fragment that remains carries the memory of what it once belonged to, and the wound where it parted is part of the meaning.
When the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities invited 23 District artists to explore collage and assemblage as forms of disruption, critique, and reconstruction, the exhibition they assembled — Rip! Tear! Collage as Critique, opening June 11 at the Eye Street Gallery — landed on something that feels genuinely urgent. This exhibition deliberately expands collage beyond paper: it includes quilting, video, sculpture, ceramics, and, importantly, glass – all aimed at mirroring the “fractured pace and layered realities of contemporary life.” It’s an exhibition grounded in disruption and reassembly.
For Michael Janis – Co-Director of the Washington Glass School and one of DC’s most rigorously conceptual glass artists – this isn’t metaphor, it’s method. His glass practice already is collage-like: each kiln-formed panel accumulates imagery and material in layers. Collage for Janis is not a style but a condition: as he has said, his work “explore[s] raw emotions and the fragility of the soul” by showing how one might present a calm facade while “distracted by inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes”. In this way, Janis’s work embodies the exhibition’s premise that the self itself is a collage – held together by nothing more than the frame we choose to stand inside.
The Face in the Digital Hurricane- Michael Janis, “Within” 2024, Glass Powder Imagery, Electronics, Video, steel, 12”W x 18”H x 1.5”
For Rip! Tear!, Janis contributes a glass-and-video work titled “Within”. The piece centers on an unidealized human face – textured beard, a weary expression – looking out at the viewer. It is literally a portrait in kiln-formed glass powder, where each subtle shift of translucency was carefully applied. Behind and within that glass portrait, however, plays a flickering video loop of abstract light and color patterns. The digital animations pulse and flow behind the face, as if emerging from beneath the skin. In practical terms, this is collage: video and glass combined, layered to form a single image. In conceptual terms, it’s even richer. The face meets the viewer directly, “not performing” for the camera, while the embedded video suggests the private stream of digital noise we all carry in our heads – “the endless scroll” of images and information we can never turn off.
Janis describes Within as capturing “the unbearable contemporary condition of being a person with a screen in your brain.” We present ourselves – our faces – to the world, but behind that public image the “digital hurricane” swirls unseen. The effect is that Within is collage as philosophy: it asserts that identity is inherently fragmented. One reads a visage in the foreground, but the subject is held together by overlapping layers of memory, media, and meaning. This fusion of portraiture and video under glass deepens the show’s theme: collage here isn’t just about cutting and pasting materials, but about revealing how modern life is already a patchwork of contexts. Within fits naturally in an exhibition about reassembly, because it literally reassembles reality – a physical face and a moving digital backdrop – into a new image.
Tim Tate, 12 Souls, 12 Resurrections, 2026, glass, mixed media, video
Tim Tate: Preservation as Resurrection Washington Glass School founder Tim Tate is also featured in Rip! Tear!, with a new sculpture work. Tate’s approach resonates with collage’s spirit of salvage, though he comes at it from a different angle than Janis. As one critic noted, “Tim Tate could truly be described as a mixed-media artist” – his signature reliquaries combine hand-blown glass cases, found objects, electronic circuitry and small video screens. In his work in Rip! Tear!, Tate takes archival photographs – often of queer couples and individuals erased from mainstream histories – and “resurrects” them with an inventive re-creation as a looping video that brings a semblance of life or motion back to the images. A static portrait becomes something like a flickering memory, protected yet animate.
In Rip! Tear!, Tate’s inclusion signals how collage can be temporal as well as material. His work literally preserves and animates the fragments of history. He creates an intimate shrine to personal identity: the glass reliquary is both fragile and enduring, “it might have been found in an old church somewhere, flickering away in the darkness for centuries,” preserving something precious. By doing so, Tate reminds us that collage has always been about putting the forgotten or discarded back into the frame. Where Janis looks inward at our digital selves, Tate looks backward at the analog past. Together they show two sides of the same coin: that both individual identity and collective memory are made of pieces we must hold together.
Washington Glass School in the Exhibition What Rip! Tear! makes visible – and what the presence of Janis and Tate confirms – is that glass has urgent relevance in a collage context. Glass is a medium of paradox: it’s transparent yet opaque, fragile yet millennia-old, immediate yet containing ages. As a material practice, glass itself collages light and shadow. Janis and Tate have spent decades treating glass as a conceptual tool, not just a craft. This exhibition places their work alongside 21 other artists (painters, sculptors, video artists, quilters, etc.) using collage tactics. It opens a conversation about DC’s creative community: about how art can reconstruct meaning from rupture, whether social, personal or historical.
Together, Janis and Tate embody Washington Glass School’s broader mission. Their work pushes glass beyond studio technique into contemporary discourse – into public art, memorial, media theory, and social justice. Seeing Within next to fabric quilts or a sound collage underscores that a glass panel can carry the same weight as any painting or sculpture in discussing today’s fractured world. For WGS, Rip! Tear! is a chance to champion glass as a cutting-edge medium for critique and change.
Opening Reception: Wednesday, June 11, 2026, 6–8 PM at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (Eye Street Gallery) . Exhibition Dates: June 11 – August 7, 2026 (Eye Street Gallery, 200 I St. SE, Washington, DC 20003) . Hours: Free and open to the public Monday–Friday, 9 AM–5:30 PM
This Memorial Day weekend, we reflect on sacrifice, memory, and the fragile humanity behind military service through the extraordinary work of artist and veteran Geoffrey Bowton.
Bowton’s acclaimed pâte de verre sculpture The Battlefield Cross transforms the familiar combat memorial — boots, rifle, helmet, and dog tags — into glass. Inspired by the battlefield crosses he assembled while serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, the work becomes both memorial and meditation: a powerful reminder of the cost of war and the vulnerability of human life.
Bowton’s work on display at Habatat Galleries, MI
“I built these in Afghanistan when someone died… (making this) defines unity. This always brings people together, no matter what is happening in their own world. When someone dies, we respond and memorialize those we love.”
Using kiln-cast glass frit packed into molds made from his own military gear, Geoffrey creates work that is technically masterful and deeply personal. The process itself serves as a way to navigate memory, service, and healing.
We are honored that Geoffrey also shares his generosity and expertise with our Hot Shop Heroes program, advising veterans in our classes through Zoom sessions and supporting artists working through their own stories and experiences.
Geoffrey Bowton at Habatat Galleries opening night April 2026
Recently awarded the prestigious Award of Excellence at the 2026 Habatat International Glass Invitational, The Battlefield Cross stands as both remarkable contemporary glass art and a moving tribute to those who served and sacrificed.
“I think when a vet sees another out in the world serving in their own new way, that they feel compelled to get going too. It seems like the biggest disconnect for someone post-service is finding new purpose.”
That spirit of continued service, mentorship, and creative purpose is part of what makes Geoffrey’s work — and his support of fellow veterans through the arts — so deeply meaningful.
Some artists arrive with a five-year plan. Others arrive because they simply fall in love with the material.
For Trish Kent, it started with wonder.
Trish Kent talks about her politically charged work at Montpelier Arts Center, June 2025.
“I have always loved glass,” she says, recalling a delicate glass ballerina she treasured as a child and her mother’s collection of figurines and wine glasses. Years later, after seeing a friend create functional glass plates, she was hooked. She learned the basics, then found her way to Washington Glass School, looking for a place where she could work freely and explore the medium on her own terms.
Her first interaction with still makes her laugh.
“The moment I walked into WGS, Tim Tate asked me if I was doing my art to make a living. It was such a laughable question.”
The answer was no. Art wasn’t about building a business. It was about having the time and space to create.
That freedom — paired with immediate access to experienced artists willing to help — became central to her experience at the school.
“What I loved and still love is the availability of Michael, Tim, and Erwin to show interest and help with any questions I might have. To be able to walk into the office with a problem and get an answer then and there is a dream. That is so rare.”
Now, after 13 years at WGS, Trish describes her studio days as fluid and social — working steadily, pausing to talk with fellow artists, then diving back into the process again. The rhythm of making art is intertwined with the rhythm of community.
Trish Kent working on a glass frit powder design
One of the things she values most about the shared studio environment is the openness between artists.
“You can watch other artists do their work and copy their process if you want to. I don’t necessarily have to take a course to try a new technique.”
She laughs remembering one of Tim Tate’s favorite sayings:
“All artists copy other artists.”
Like many glass artists, Trish learned quickly that the material demands patience — and sometimes a box of bandages.
“Glass work taught me that I will get cut as a new artist often! I will have to wear numerous Band-Aids at the same time if necessary!”
Thankfully, those cuts have become far less frequent over the years.
But the harder lessons came through persistence. One especially meaningful project — casting the hands of her daughter and granddaughter — failed repeatedly before succeeding.
“It took four times to get it right,” she recalls. “What I loved is that the other artists in the studio offered suggestions to fix my problems, which finally worked.”
That collaborative spirit is one of the defining qualities of Washington Glass School. Trish describes the school as a place where artists celebrate one another’s successes, support each other through disappointments, and genuinely want to help.
“We have become a close-knit community but still welcome new artists in. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, awards, and sales. We also commiserate when people fail or don’t receive the sale or award they had hoped to get.”
L-R WGS crew Michael Janis, Tim Tate, Trish Kent, Teri Swinhart
Over the years, her own artwork has evolved alongside that community. She remembers another pivotal challenge from Tim Tate:
“Your dresses are nice, but what’s next?”
“It pushed me to move on and try something new,” she says. “He was right.”
Trish Kent glass dresses
Her work has often reflected personal fascinations and emotional responses: elegant dresses because she loved dresses; playful pigs inspired by a flying pig sign in Seattle; distorted American flags expressing anger and frustration with the country’s political climate.
Trish Kent: The Divided States of America, glass, 2024
And while the future direction of her work remains uncertain, she approaches it with honesty and curiosity.
“My future art is unknown, which is slightly more scary than exciting to me. I’m open to suggestions!”
As Washington Glass School celebrates its 25th anniversary, Trish reflects on the resilience of the studio and what it represents to its artists.
“I know they have been through good times and not-so-good times and how they keep going. It shows the rest of us that you shouldn’t get totally down just because there are tough times. It gives the rest of us hope.”
When asked what she hopes the school will be like 25 years from now, her answer is simple:
“Exactly the same as it is now — just better funded!”
At 79, Trish says people are often surprised that she works in glass.
“No one they know does art at my age — and if they do, it’s painting, not glass art.”
Trish Kent with her work that is part of the Cedar Hill Medical Center lobby artwork installation.
But perhaps that spirit of curiosity, experimentation, and reinvention is exactly what defines both Trish and the Washington Glass School itself.
And maybe no description captures the atmosphere of the studio better than this:
“Hearing a champagne cork pop to celebrate someone’s event is the best sound ever to hear at WGS.”
For Trish, the friendships formed at the school may be the most meaningful part of all.
“The interest, support, friendship, and care given to me by Michael, Erwin, and Tim have added so much to my life. I realize now that my life is so much better because you three are my friends and have taught me so much with kindness, consideration, and even joy.”
Washington Glass School Resident Artists L-R Nancy Kronstadt, April Shelford, Trish Kent, Kate Barfield.
WGS Resident Artist & Instructor April Shelford wins again!
The National Capital Art Glass Guild (NCAGG) opened its juried exhibition, “The Language of Glass,” with a lively reception at Gallery B—and the show is a vibrant celebration of the many voices working in glass today.
April Shelford kilnformed glass panel, “WHY?”, 2026
On view through May 24, the exhibition brings together artists exploring the expressive range of glass—movement, flow, form, surface, color, and line—across a wide spectrum of techniques. NCAGG members represent the full breadth of the medium, from kiln-formed and blown glass to mosaic, stained, and lampworked processes.
Kate Barfield with her winning artwork
Washington Glass School artists are strongly represented in the exhibition, including April Shelford, Patricia de Poel Wilberg, Kate Barfield, John Henderson, and Kate Wagner—showcasing the depth of talent within the DMV glass community.
We’re especially excited to share that April Shelford received an Honorable Mention for her work “Why?”, and Kate Barfield was also awarded an Honorable Mention for her fused glass piece “The Influencer- Fomenting a Divided Nation.” Congratulations to both artists on this well-deserved recognition!
Kate Barfield fused glass piece, “The Influencer- Fomenting a Divided Nation”, 2026
In addition to the gallery exhibition, NCAGG will host an Outdoor Market on Saturday, May 23, from 10am–4pm on the plaza outside Gallery B. This one-day event offers a chance to meet the artists and take home unique glass works directly from guild members.
If you’re in the Bethesda area this May, the show is well worth a visit—an inspiring look at how glass continues to evolve as a dynamic and expressive art form.
The Language of Glass NCAGG’s Guild Member showat Bethesda’s Gallery B
This May, the National Capitol Art Glass Guild (NCAGG) Member show is proud to present The Language of Glass, a dynamic group exhibition including works by Washington Glass School Resident artists John Henderson, Kate Barfield, April Shelford, Patricia de Poel Wilberg, and Kate Wagner. Hosted at Gallery B, the exhibition runs from May 1 through May 24, 2026.
Glass is a material that speaks in paradox—at once fragile and resilient, transparent and opaque, ancient and contemporary. In this exhibition, each artist engages glass as a visual language, using its unique properties to explore narrative, form, and emotion. The result is a compelling conversation across approaches and perspectives, where technique and concept intertwine.
From sculptural explorations to richly layered wall works, The Language of Glass highlights the breadth of expression fostered here in this region, and the Washington Glass School community proud to be a part of. The artists bring distinct voices to the medium: whether through investigations of abstraction, personal narrative, or material process, each work reflects a deep engagement with glass as both subject and storyteller.
More than a group show, this exhibition is a vibrant showcase of the extraordinary glass art talent rooted in the DMV (DC–Maryland–Virginia) region. The Language of Glass reflects the depth, diversity, and vitality of artists working in glass across the area today.
This exhibition underscores the NCAGG’s commitment to advancing contemporary glass while celebrating the creative energy of its artists. Together, the works invite viewers to consider how glass communicates—through light, texture, color, and form—and how meaning is shaped in the space between transparency and reflection.
Washington Glass Studio was pleased to have its public art projects featured at the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals 2026 Annual Conference, held in The Palm Beaches from April 27–30, 2026.
Centered on the theme Artists Transforming Public Places, the conference explored the evolving role of public art through a wide range of perspectives — from artists and commissioning agencies to community stakeholders and developers. The annual gathering provides a platform for in-depth discussion on current trends, best practices, and key issues shaping the field, while also offering valuable opportunities for connection among arts professionals.
Washington Glass Studio Co-Director Erwin Timmers participated as a presenter (via video), highlighting the studio’s recent public art installations in West Palm Beach. His presentation focused on two major works created in collaboration with Palm Beach County:
A sculptural installation fronting the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Services
Guidepost, a site-specific illuminated glass and aluminum tower created as a placemaking element for the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council offices near West Palm Beach International Airport
These projects demonstrate how material, light, and community-driven narratives can transform everyday civic environments into meaningful, visually dynamic public spaces.
The FAPAP conference also included its popular Year in Review, showcasing notable public art installations from across Florida, offering attendees a broad look at innovative work happening throughout the state.
Click link below to jump to online descriptions
Explore More
Click the links below to learn more about the featured projects and to watch the presentation by Erwin Timmers:
Guidepost – Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council
Guardian – Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Installation
This gathering is designed for artists working in, or interested in, commemorative practice.
Washington Glass School Co-Director Michael Janis is an invited speaker for Memory, Makers, & Monuments, a two-day workshop exploring the future of commemorative public art in Washington, DC.
Public art today asks more of us than simply placing an object in space. It asks how we tell complex histories, how we involve communities in meaningful ways, and how artists can help shape memory with honesty, imagination, and care. These are questions central to my own studio practice and public projects, and I’m glad to join this conversation with fellow artists, designers, and cultural workers.
If you’re interested in monuments, memorials, civic space, or navigating the public art process, this looks like an important and generous gathering.
Memory, Makers, & Monuments: Public Art Workshop May 14–15, 2026 9:00am–5:00pm ET Free, in-person Location: First Congregational UCC
Attendance is limited to 50 participants.
Register: bit.ly/MemoryMakersMonuments
Organized by the Trust for the National Mall, in partnership with the DC Office of Planning and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and in collaboration with Forecast Public Art. Artists of all media and experience levels, and arts administrators working in public art to join us for a two‑day workshop on commemorative public art and public memory work in the District.
This two-day workshop will focus on expanding access, sharing practical tools, and building a community grounded in learning, care, and exchange. Guest speakers and facilitators represent public artists, designers, cultural workers, and practitioners across disciplines.
THe workshop will explore: Rethinking commemoration beyond traditional monument frameworks; Ethical questions in public memory, including history, harm, erasure, and accountability; Community engagement before, during, and after a project; Navigating RFQs/RFPs, building a team, and project implementation.
Organized by the Trust for the National Mall, in partnership with the DC Office of Planning and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and in collaboration with Forecast Public Art, this gathering is designed for artists working in, or interested in, commemorative practice.
As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Washington Glass School and Studio, we invited longtime artists, students, and extended family members to share their memories of the people, projects, and moments that helped shape our community.
Nancy Kronstadt has been part of the Washington Glass School family for more than two decades. Since first discovering the studio in 2002, she has been a student, artist, supporter, and friend. Her reflections capture the spirit of those early days on Half Street SE, the joy of creative discovery, and the lasting power of an artistic community.
I first discovered the Washington Glass School in the Fall of 2002 when I stumbled upon their booth at the Adams Morgan street festival. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the colorful glass display cast reflections everywhere. Intrigued, I spoke with several artists about the fused glass processes and went home with the upcoming class schedule. A week later, I called and signed up for the Beginning Glass Lovers Weekend.
Washington Glass School’s street fair booth (ca. 2005)
The studio on Half Street SE was somewhat primitive, although I didn’t realize it then. (Standard procedure was to fill a pitcher with water and carry it to the belt sander to fill its trough before using it.) Over the following years, I spent many Saturdays there, either in “Open Studio” or in classes — Beginning Fusion, Advanced Fusion, United Colors, Bowls Bowls Bowls, Drop through Drapes, and Glass Weaving – to name a few. Before I retired, those Saturdays at the studio became my designated afternoons of peace. I would leave my stress at the studio door and walk in excited to work on a creative, absorbing project.
Washington Glass School class at Half Street location (ca. 2003)
Throughout these years, the guys — Tim, Michael and Erwin — have supported my efforts, offering guidance and encouragement and helping me troubleshoot plans for a piece before I began (and sometimes after something had failed). In return, I donated a curly lock of hair to one of Tim’s pieces and took on the studio’s basic bookkeeping.
Since retiring, I have spent more time at WGS. Unlike my earlier years, when I mostly worked alone, the past six years have been spent in a wonderful shared studio environment, surrounded by the support, critique and friendship from the amazing group of resident artists. The Cedar Hill Medical Project was the perfect opportunity for the artists of WGS to work together to create something truly beautiful and special.
Nancy Kronstadt making her glass ornaments (ca. 2019)
My work does not follow a single theme; it grows from a simple wish to create something pretty and special. For more than 20 years, WGS has given me an environment that quietly and consistently encourages me to create.
