contemporary glass | Washington Glass Studio

Washington Glass School and Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington Join Forces to Empower Veterans through Hot Shop Heroes™ Workshops

Posted on October 7, 2023 by admin |

WASHINGTON, D.C. and TACOMA, WASHINGTON — The Washington Glass School in Mount Rainier, MD is proud to announce a groundbreaking collaboration with the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, aimed at enhancing the lives of military personnel and veterans through the transformative power of Hot Shop Heroes™. As one of the first collaborations of its kind for the Museum of Glass, this partnership underscores their dedication to expanding the horizons of glass artistry. By combining the Washington Glass School’s expertise in glass art instruction with the Museum of Glass’s world-class facilities and resources, this alliance of the two Washingtons (State and District of Columbia) promises to create a nurturing and enriching environment where veterans can discover the healing potential of working with glass.

Hot Shop Heroes is a pioneering program that has been instrumental in aiding military personnel and veterans in their journey to heal from traumatic experiences and injuries sustained during combat. The program creates a supportive environment where participants work collaboratively, forging bonds with one another while exploring the captivating art of molten glass. The blend of social interaction, shared goals, and creative expression within the Hot Shop Heroes program offers a unique and therapeutic experience that has been proven to promote healing and personal growth.

According to the American Art Therapy Association, the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress can affect up to 18-percent of soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. For many, the use of medication, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) can be helpful in treating this condition, but the addition of art therapy has shown to be invaluable to an individual’s recovery.

This remarkable initiative started as a Museum of Glass created opportunity for military members and their families to engage in hands-on art activities, glassblowing demonstrations, and gallery exhibitions, has evolved into a program specially designed to assist active-duty and retired service men and women in their transition to civilian life. The program has demonstrated that the concentration and camaraderie required for glassblowing can be profoundly therapeutic, particularly for individuals with traumas and injuries stemming from their military service.

Since its inception in the fall of 2013, the Hot Shop Heroes program has been dedicated to teaching kiln formed glass safety procedures, fundamental glassmaking techniques, welding experience, and team building skills. The program’s objectives are to provide participants with improved dexterity, fine motor coordination, and core strength, all while fostering self-esteem, nurturing creativity, and stimulating imagination through artistic participation. Today, Hot Shop Heroes remains a cornerstone educational program at the Museum of Glass, transforming lives through art.

The Hot Shop Heroes program offers glassmaking and metal shop courses to participating soldiers and veterans, catering to introductory and intermediate skill levels. With classes tailored to different levels of glassmaking experience, Hot Shop Heroes empowers participants to refine their abilities, extending the reach of their skill sets beyond the walls of the Glass Studio and into new job opportunities.

To sustain and expand this life-changing program, Hot Shop Heroes relies on external funding to provide classes at no cost to participating students. As of 2023, over 750 soldiers and veterans have benefited from the Hot Shop Heroes program, and this collaboration between the Washington Glass School and the Museum of Glass aims to extend the reach of this transformative initiative to even more individuals in need.

For more information about the Hot Shop Heroes program and this exciting collaboration between the Washington Glass School and the Museum of Glass, please visit http://washingtonglassschool.com/school

Hot Shop Heroes — Museum of Glass

Media Contact:

Erwin Timmers

Co-Director, Washington Glass School and Studio

erwin@washglass.com

About Washington Glass School:

The Washington Glass School, located in Mt Rainier, MD is a renowned educational program in the Nation’s Capital area, operating as the sculptural glass education and resource center for the mid-Atlantic region, serving students, artists and the general public. Founded in 2001 by passionate glass artists, the school offers a wide range of classes, workshops, and educational programs aimed at fostering creativity and innovation in the world of glass sculpture.

About Museum of Glass:

The Museum of Glass, situated in Tacoma, Washington, is a premier institution dedicated to the appreciation and exploration of glass art. With a world-class collection and a mission to engage and inspire a broad and diverse audience, the Museum of Glass is a hub for creativity, education, and artistic expression.

Posted in "washington glass studio", arts ambassador, community of hope, washington glass school | Tagged art therapy, contemporary glass, glass, hot shop heroes, military, modern glass art, takoma museum glass, veterans

NCAGG Glass Exhibit at Strathmore Mansion

Posted on September 30, 2023 by admin |

The National Capital Art Glass Guild (NCAGG) was founded in 1978 as a community of artisans interested in art glass. Every year Guild members conduct classes in many glass techniques and present programs to interested schools, organizations, and community groups.

WGS Artists at NCAGG Exhibit L-R Patricia de Poel Wiberg, Kate Barfield, April Shelford, Graciela Granek, Michael Janis, John Henderson.

The juried NCAGG member show at the Strathmore Mansion features outstanding works by area glassmakers in multiple styles – and many works by WGS artists!

patricia de poel wilberg glass art — Patricia de Poel Wilberg

The show runs through October 28, 2023

April Shelford in awe of Erwin Timmers’ cast sculptures.

The Mansion at Strathmore

10701 Rockville Pike

North Bethesda, Md 20852

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023 – OCTOBER 28, 2023

Posted in artists of the washington glass school, ncagg, strathmore, washington glass school | Tagged contemporary craft, contemporary glass, glass, modern glass art

Artist Joyce J. Scott 50-Year Retrospective at Baltimore Museum of Art and Seattle Art Museum

Posted on August 19, 2023 by admin |

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and Seattle Art Museum (SAM) have co-organized the 50-year career retrospective of artist Joyce J. Scott, one of the most significant artists of our time. Best known for her virtuosic use of beads and glass, Joyce has upended hierarchies of art and craft across a spectrum of media over the course of five decades—from her woven tapestries and soft sculpture of the 1970s and audacious performances and wearable art in the 1980s to sculptures of astonishing formal ingenuity and social force from the late 1970s to the present moment. The artist’s works across all media beguile viewers with beauty and humor while confronting racism, sexism, ecological devastation, and complex family dynamics.

Artist Joyce Scott working on collaborative work with WGS Co-Founder Tim Tate.

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams was developed in close dialogue with the Baltimore-based artist and her collaborators to reveal the full breadth of Joyce’s singular vision through more than 120 objects from public and private collections across the United States. The exhibition will encompass significant examples of the artist’s sculpture—both stand-alone and wearable pieces—alongside performance footage, garments, prints, and materials from Joyce’s personal archive.

Man Eating Watermelon. 1986; Collection of Paul Daniel and Linda DePalma

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams to feature more than 120 objects from across the full arc of Joyce’s prolific and genre-defying career.

Buddha Gives Basketball to the Ghetto. 1991; Collection of Carol Cole Levin

Head Shot. 2008. Chrysler Museum of Art, Museum purchase

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams will be presented in Baltimore as a special ticketed exhibition from March 24, through July 14, 2024, and in Seattle from October 17, 2024, through January 20, 2025. It is co-curated by Cecilia Wichmann, BMA Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, and Catharina Manchanda, SAM Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, with support from Leslie Rose, Joyce J. Scott Curatorial Research Assistant.

Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948, Baltimore, MD) and her work have been the subject of numerous exhibitions, books, and articles. She has received commissions, grants, awards, residencies, and honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Anonymous Was a Woman, American Craft Council, National Living Treasure Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for the Arts, Mary Sawyers Imboden Baker Award, MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2016), Smithsonian Visionary Artist Award, National Academy of Design Induction, and Moore College Visionary Woman Award, among others. Joyce earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Instituto Allende in Mexico. In 2018, she was awarded an honorary fellowship from NYU, as well as honorary doctorates from both MICA and the California College of the Arts. In 2022, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

Posted in Baltimore, baltimore museum of art, joyce scott, seattle, seattle art museum | Tagged contemporary glass, glass, modern glass art

Call for 2022 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize Award

Posted on September 17, 2021 by admin |

EXHIBITION CALL

The Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize Award and Exhibition
Application Deadline: Friday, October 22, 2021
Exhibition: September 9, 2022 – March 18, 2023
In celebration of its 25th anniversary in 1997, Pittsburgh’s Center for Contemporary Craft established a $5,000 prize for excellence in the field of contemporary craft.
This biennial award, which is given in conjunction with a catalogue, video profile and juried exhibition, is funded by the daughters of Elizabeth R. Raphael, the founder of Contemporary Craft and a nationally known figure in the contemporary art scene for many decades. Prizes are selected by medium, with the designated medium changing with each biennial award.
The 2022 prize will be awarded for a work in glass.

MEDIA CRITERIA

The 2022 Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize competition is open to all artists working in glass. Emerging artists are especially encouraged to apply.

THEME

The prize will be awarded to a work created between August 2021 and July 2022 that addresses the theme of “transformation.”

JURYING PROCESS

Jurying will take place in two phases. From the initial submissions, a group of finalists will be invited to submit a work on the selected theme for the final jurying and inclusion in the Raphael Prize exhibition. Only one work per artist may be provided for final jurying. Artists are eligible to include work made after August 2021.

DEADLINE

All digital entries must be received by 5 pm Friday, October 22, 2021.

JURORS

A six-member panel will select finalists from the initial submissions, and also select the prize-winning entry. Jurors will include: Heather McElwee, Randi & L. Van V. Dauler, Jr. executive director, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Anna Rothfuss, project development manager, Derix Art Glass Consultants, LLC U.S., Portland, OR; Alexandra Raphael, enameller, London, England; Catherine Raphael, metalsmith and storyteller, Pittsburgh, PA; Rachel Saul Rearick, executive director and Kate Lydon, director of exhibitions, Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh,PA.

ELIGIBILITY

Open to exceptionally talented artists who are in the early, mid or late stages of their career and reside in the United States or abroad.

APPLICATION DETAILS

Application materials must include:

1) Resume (2-page maximum) in doc or pdf format (file size must be under 1MB);

2) 4 Representative Images similar in quality and nature to the work the artist would enter if selected as a finalist, images need not be the exact pieces the artist intends to enter (file size for each image must be under 2MB);

3) Image Details including: title, year, medium, size, retail value

4) Non-refundable Entry Fee* of $45 payable online or via check payable to Contemporary Craft, 5645 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Previous Raphael Prize videos may be viewed at: https://contemporarycraft.org/exhibitions/elizabeth-r-raphael-founders-prize.

More information and to apply: https://contemporarycraft.org/exhibitions/elizabeth-r-raphael-founders-prize/

For More Info:

Elizabeth R. Raphael Founder’s Prize

Contemporary Craft 5645 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Contemporary Craft has relocated to its new, permanent home in the Upper Lawrenceville neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA and opened its doors to the public on September 3, 2020.

Through its mission of engaging the public in creative experiences through contemporary craft, the organization offers meaningful art opportunities through four core values:

Providing vital support for artists
Filling critical gaps in public education
Sharing cross-cultural perspectives
Using art to build community.

Posted in call for entries, call for glass art entries, glass art, glass award, glass sculpture, glass show, pittsburgh, prize, scc, 玻璃艺术新, 玻璃艺术雕塑, 美国新艺术雕塑, 美国玻璃艺术家 | Tagged contemporary craft, contemporary glass, pittsburgh

Pop Art & Glass – New solo exhibit by Michael Janis & Tony Porto

Posted on March 3, 2021 by admin |

WGS Co-Director Michael Janis has collaborated with Chicago-based artist Tony Porto on a new series of glass/mixed media sculptures – making their debut solo show debut in Habatat Galleries’ “Not Grandmas’ Glass” (NGG) exhibit/competition. NGG is new and groundbreaking competition, held over 12 months featuring 12 artists that the gallery feels are pushing the medium beyond the norm. The premise of the exhibit is to showcase works that are outside “traditional” studio art glass, where the artists were challenged to make works that would be in a contemporary museum.

Michael Janis and Tony Porto “Lunchtime With Darth Vader”; 2021, cast glass, mixed media, 24″ x 24″ x 9″

Habatat director Aaron Schey said of the NGG show concept: “These artists are extremely innovative and I propose that they will all be important in the future of the glass medium. Creating work that is probably not in Grandma’s art collection…..yet.”

Michael Janis and Tony Porto, “Friendship is Magic”; 2021, kilncast glass, mixed media, 22″ x 22″ x 9″

Paying homage to the underdogs of pop culture – the cartoons, action figures, and toys of childhood, Janis and Porto incorporate figures as diverse as Batman, Darth Vader, My Little Pony, Wonder Woman, Hulk Hogan in their evocative narratives that are at once whimsical and distressing, capturing their complexities and outlandishness.

Michael Janis and Tony Porto “Call For Bruce Wayne”; 2021, cast glass, mixed media, LED, electronics, wood, 20″ X 24″ X 10″

In the works, they walk a really fun line between taking this stuff seriously and also being able to laugh at it all.

Michael Janis and Tony Porto delivered a fantastic online artist talk – hosted by Michigan’s Habatat Galleries (click HERE to jump to YouTube link.)

Mike and Tony outlined their collaborative works, their meanings, and how they managed to work together during the pandemic.

Click HERE to jump to their awesome website!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adam west, andre the giant, bronies, brony, bruce wayne, cast glass, contemporary glass, darth vader, grandmas glass, habatat galleries, hulk hogan, michael janis, mlp, ngg, not grandmas glass, pony, pop art, r2d2, star wars, tony porto, unicorn, wrestlemania

James Renwick Alliance Presents Artist Sibylle Peretti @ Smithsonian Renwick Gallery

Posted on May 16, 2016 by admin |

Sibylle Peretti; “Land Mine”; slumped, engraved, painted and silvered glass, paper; 60″ x 80″ x 0.5″; 2015

The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) was created as an independent national nonprofit organization to celebrate the achievements of America’s craft artists and to foster scholarship, education and public appreciation of their art. Founded in 1982, the Alliance helps support our nation’s showcase of 20th century American craft, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.

Sibylle Peretti; “Twins” cast glass, 18″ x 24″ x 10″; 2010

As part of the JRA Distinguished Artist Series, on the JRA will welcomes glass sculptor Sibylle Peretti to speak about her work and inspirations at the Renwick Gallery – home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection of contemporary craft and decorative art.

Sibylle Peretti at work.

Sibylle Peretti is an artist who grew up surrounded by traditional glassmaking. Trained as a glass designer at the State School for Glass Making in Zwiesel Germany, she learned techniques of enameling, engraving, cutting and designing glass. She expanded the range of her artistic voice as she received an MFA from the Academy of Fine Art in Cologne and was trained as a Glass Designer at the School for Glassmaking in Zwiesel, Germany. Sibylle Peretti lives and works in both New Orleans, LA and Cologne, Germany. Sibylle often works collaboratively with her husband – artist Stephen Paul Day.

Sibylle Peretti; “To Know A Hawk” cast glass, 16″ x 17″ x 13″, 2013

Her work has won numerous awards and endorsements, including grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Joan Mitchell Foundation as well as the 2013 United States Artist Fellowship for her glass sculptures and multimedia collages, which combine photography & drawing with surface interventions such as engraving, mirroring and glass slumping. Children and nature, as symbols of innocence and promise, are the central themes in Sibylle’s work.

Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA), Museum of American Glass (Milleville, NJ), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Canada), Museum für Kunsthandwerk (Frankfurt, Germany), Hunter Museum (Chattanooga TN), Speed Museum (Louisville,KY), and 21c Museum (Louisville, KY).

The JRA invites the public to join Sibylle Peretti at the newly renovated Smithsonian Renwick Gallery as she talks about her work and career.

Lecture Date: Sunday, May 22, 2016
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Lecture Venue: Grand Salon, Renwick Gallery

The JRA’s mission is to promote education, support and appreciation of craft. If you’d like to learn more about the group, please see the JRA website.

Posted in distinguished artist, figurative art, james renwick alliance, JRA, mixed media glass, narrative glass, Sibylle Peretti, stephen paul day | Tagged contemporary glass, das, modern glass art

Smithsonian American Art Museum Features Michael Janis

Posted on May 6, 2014 by admin |

Smithsonian Distinguished Artist Michael Janis

Michael Janis at the Smithsonian Museum. Photo by Miriam Rosenthal.

a.3.rosenthal.glass.scraffito_class.washington.janis.mike.art.new

Washington Glass School sgraffito workshop. Photo by Miriam Rosenthal.

The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) is an independent national non-profit organization that celebrates the achievements of America’s craft artists and fosters scholarship, education and public appreciation of craft art. The JRA is the exclusive support group of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the U.S. national showcase of contemporary American craft. Washington Glass School Co-Director Michael Janis was named “Distinguished Artist” by the JRA. The weekend’s events included a sgraffito glass workshop with Michael held at the Washington Glass School and Michael Janis presented at the Smithsonian Museum’s Turner Auditorium outlining his career, process, and artwork. The talk at the museum was broadcast live and the Smithsonian staff promised that it would be available online soon. The final event was the JRA hosted dinner on Sunday evening – it was a very busy exciting weekend for the Washington Glass School!

Congratulations to Michael – well done and well deserved!

Posted in DC, distinguished artist, fused glass, glass, glass architecture., glass art, glass frit powder imagery, kiln fused glass, michael janis, mies, mike janis, smithsonian, smithsonian american art museum, Uncategorized | Tagged american craft, contemporary glass, modern glass art