As the Washington Glass School celebrates its 25th anniversary, we’re looking back with the artists who helped shape its earliest years—and whose own practices grew alongside the School.
Cheryl P. Derricotte was there almost from the beginning.
Originally from Washington, DC, Cheryl came to glass after studying ceramics and sculpture at the Corcoran School of Art. What began with the confident assumption that making a glass bowl couldn’t be that different from throwing one in clay quickly turned into something much bigger: a new material, a new artistic language, and ultimately a lifelong practice.
Today, based in San Francisco, Cheryl works across glass, paper, textiles, and public art. Her research-driven work explores history, race, memory, power, identity, and place—using art to create what she calls a “brave space” for conversations that can be difficult, necessary, and transformative.
For WGS’s 25th anniversary, we caught up with Cheryl to talk about those earliest days at the School, finding her place in the larger glass community, the importance of representation and historical truth, and why glass still has the power to make her wildest dreams come true.
Beginnings
WGS: You were one of the first studio artists at Washington Glass School. What do you remember about those early days, and what drew you to become part of the community?
Cheryl P. Derricotte: I always say that I came to glass from arrogance!
In 2002, I was finishing a certificate in Ceramics and Sculpture at the former Corcoran Museum’s College of Art and Design, shortly after the Washington Glass School opened. I thought, “If I can throw a clay bowl, I can make a glass bowl—no problem!”
Glass got the last laugh, as it always does, as I barely finished my first glass bowl by the time everyone else had finished two!
The next glass class I took was a lighted sculpture course. I found my calling and continued to fall in love with glass.
WGS: Looking back, how did that early studio environment influence your artistic voice?
CPD: From its inception, the Washington Glass School was equally interested in the visual storytelling properties of glass practice as well as bringing finely crafted contemporary art into the world.
This tandem focus was a great environment for me to combine my activist voice with a new sculptural practice in glass.
WGS: Was there a particular moment at WGS that changed the way you thought about yourself as an artist?
CPD: When co-Director Tim Tate suggested I go to the Penland School of Craft to study with Therman Statom—the most famous Black glass artist on the planet, who was also from Washington, D.C.—I began to see that there might be a place for me in the larger glass community.
I should also note that during that trip to Penland, I met Washington glass artist Jeff Zimmer. Upon our return, we had a standing “Tuesday Studio Date Night” that furthered my practice.
The studio was in a remote location in those days, so having an artist-buddy who would walk me to the Metro to go home on Tuesday nights was wonderful. I am forever grateful to Jeff for his friendship in those early days of our careers.
Material & Meaning
WGS: Glass remains at the heart of your practice, even as you’ve expanded into paper, textiles, and public art. What continues to draw you back to glass?
CPD: I love working with glass, as it has the most expansive interplay of color and light of all the mediums, in my opinion.
WGS: Your work often explores identity, memory, and social history. When did you realize those themes would become central to your practice?
CPD: In the first sculptural workshop I took at Washington Glass—a lighted glass sculpture class—I decided to make a work about global poverty entitled Shed Some Light.
So, very early in my career, I was exploring my contemporary political concerns through my art practice. These concerns have continued to this day.
WGS: How do you decide which material is best suited to tell a particular story?
CPD: In my own work, I always reach for glass when the subject is portraiture, as I enjoy being in conversation with the history of photography, specifically daguerreotypes.
Public Art & Community
WGS: Your recent public commissions invite people into conversations about history, belonging, and shared space. What have you learned about making art for communities rather than galleries?
CPD: My public art commissions have allowed me to make work at a larger scale that will resonate with a wider audience.
I enjoy the fact that public art is free for anyone to view, and I have been fortunate that my sculptures to date have been placed in spaces with high pedestrian interaction.
WGS: How is designing a permanent public artwork different from creating a studio piece? What have you learned about balancing artistic vision with collaboration?
CPD: There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen of public art!
While I create the vision and overall design of a piece, there can be layers upon layers of opinions and reviews by community groups, nonprofits, and government agencies.
While sometimes this is more challenging than others, I consistently enjoy the partnerships I develop with metal fabricators to realize sculptures centering glass at a monumental scale versus a gallery-wall scale.
This combination of enjoying making the work and knowing that ultimately it will be free for anyone to see is what has kept me coming back to public art practice.
WGS: Projects like Freedom’s Threshold honor individuals whose stories continue to resonate today. What responsibility do artists have when interpreting history through public art?
CPD: Even though it is a big word, I stand on truth.
My research-based practice extends to my public artwork, as I use critical biographies and first-person interviews if available.
I have found that most of the historical figures I have worked with in my art practice—Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Mary Ellen Pleasant, James and Sally Hemings, to name a few—have interesting factual stories for me to tell without succumbing to mythology or sensationalism.
I often look at historical news stories as well, and sometimes they were highly sensational!
The Artist’s Journey
WGS: Your career has taken you from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, with work now reaching audiences across the country. Looking back, what experiences most shaped your path?
CPD: Growing up in Washington, D.C., I was aware that I lived in the last colony on the mainland of America. So, it was always important to me to learn what a state was and how it worked.
Going to school in New York, living for a while in Washington state, and ultimately my life in California gave me this knowledge.
These experiences also taught me how to travel, and as an artist this skill has helped me immensely! I am very comfortable with moving my body and/or my art to locations across the country and, increasingly, in Europe.
WGS: Is there a project that surprised you by changing your own perspective as you made it?
CPD: In 2022, I was invited by HABATAT to do an online solo show as part of its Not Grandma’s Glass exhibitions.
I made a series of work entitled Glass Boys: Portraits from America’s Factories that centered Black children working in glass factories—including those in Alexandria, Virginia—in the 1920s.
While Tim Tate understood that representation mattered and wanted me to meet Therman Statom right away in the early days of Washington Glass, working on the Glass Boys series allowed me to understand that I was part of a much longer lineage of Black glass artists.
Since creating this work, I have also seen images of Black women working in the factories. I keep an image in my studio of a Black woman holding a mold on the hot-shop floor that someone sent me after seeing my series.
Two pieces from my Glass Boys series were exhibited as part of the groundbreaking exhibition A Two Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists, curated by Jabari Owens-Bailey for the Museum of Glass.
The exhibition is currently on tour and can next be viewed at the Wichita Art Museum, January 16–June 6, 2027.
WGS: What role did Washington Glass School play in your development as an artist?
CPD: Washington Glass School introduced me to the medium that has been a constant companion in my art practice over the last 25 years.
WGS: What made the community at WGS different from other studios you’ve worked in?
CPD: Washington Glass School’s commitment to the narrative qualities of glass, and to glass as a sculptural medium, distinguishes it from other studios.
WGS: What do you think has allowed Washington Glass School to thrive for twenty-five years?
CPD: Washington Glass School has thrived for twenty-five years because of its attitude toward competition: A rising tide floats all the boats.
It is one of the most supportive places for artists, as Tim, Erwin, and Michael genuinely want everyone to do well!
Looking Ahead
WGS: What subjects or ideas are you most excited to explore in the years ahead?
CPD: I have three long-term projects that were originally started on residencies, and I am excited to bring them to fruition!
Having recently finished the bulk of the work with support from the Howard Foundation and a generous anonymous donor, my conceptual glass portraits of James and Sally Hemings are hopefully going to be exhibited in late 2027 or early 2028.
I am continuing my work about an Indigenous California tree, the Desert Fan Palm, which has more oases in Joshua Tree than anywhere else in North America.
I am also continuing my work on the bison who live on islands in the U.S.—in Alaska, California, and Utah.
Nothing would make me happier than reporting that all three of these projects have been completed and exhibited by 2030!
WGS: How do you hope artists will continue to push the boundaries of glass as a contemporary art medium?CPD: I hope that artists continue to look for ways to exhibit glass in all the places—contemporary art galleries, libraries, public art—not just medium-specific galleries and museums.
WGS: What advice would you give to emerging artists who want to build meaningful, socially engaged careers?
CPD: The most important thing you can do is decide what interests you and pursue it unapologetically!
When people look at my work, it doesn’t matter if it is a historical Black figure, a house, a tree, or a bison—there is a through-line of people, politics, and place that is immediately recognizable.
Closing Reflection
WGS: If you could revisit your younger self in the Washington Glass School studio twenty-five years ago, what would you tell her?
CPD: On the practice side, I would tell my younger self to prioritize getting her own equipment sooner rather than later.
On the visionary side, I would tell my younger self that glass is the thing that will make your wildest dreams come true.
WGS: As Washington Glass School celebrates its 25th anniversary, what are you most proud to have been part of?
CPD: I am so proud to have been in Tim Tate’s living room when the conversation about the structure for the School was taking place.
I was the one who explained all of the challenges of being a nonprofit and suggested that the School remain an LLC and work with fiscal sponsors when needed.
Ultimately, this decision served the Washington Glass School, and later the Washington Glass Studio—the public-art arm—very well, while preserving the co-directors’ control and vision.
WGS: Your work often creates spaces for reflection, dialogue, and healing. What do you hope people carry with them after experiencing one of your artworks?
CPD: I work intuitively, so seemingly random observations of current events and landscapes—including the political ones—often lead me to the economic and environmental concerns that guide my art practice.
Historical portraits and stories weave through my wall work and sculptures. My recurring themes are home, memory, place, and spirit.
When people view my work, I always want them to be intrigued to learn more about the topic and have conversations about it.
I believe that the gallery and museum are the brave spaces to hold difficult conversations.
Art is the perfect vehicle to lead us into the kind of discussions we would prefer to avoid—and bring us out on the other side in a place of deeper understanding and connection.
Twenty-five years after Cheryl first discovered that glass was considerably less cooperative than clay, that stubborn material remains her “constant companion.”
From Shed Some Light to Glass Boys, from intimate portraiture to monumental public commissions, her work embodies an idea that has been central to the Washington Glass School from its earliest days: glass can do more than demonstrate technique. It can carry narrative, recover history, provoke conversation, and connect people.
And perhaps Cheryl’s own journey offers the perfect anniversary reflection: sometimes the material that humbles you at the beginning turns out to be the one that makes your wildest dreams come true.
