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.
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!
December 9, 2023 from Noon til 5PM – Holiday Open Studios! See some of the best art and design by the area’s most talented makers! A special exhibit of sculpture made by Military Veterans in Washington Glass School’s “Hot Shop Heroes” workshop held in collaboration with the Museum of Glass will be fetured at the WGS Contemporary Gallery, 3700 Otis Street, Mt Rainier, MD 20712. Artist Talk at 1PM.
Tip: Start your tour in the numerical order listed!
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
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.
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 WilbergApril ShelfordKate Barfield
The show runs through October 28, 2023
April Shelford in awe of Erwin Timmers’ cast sculptures.
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 LevinHead 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.
We bid a fond farewell to our Studio Coordinator extraordinaire – Teri Swinhart – moves out West, to sunny Los Angeles. We will miss her skills, knowledge of glass and casting, and her unique charm!
Best of Luck to Teri and Derek Swinhart! Come back and visit often!
Sean Hennessey began this work with the desire to add video and lighting to a series of mixed media artwork based on the writings of Lewis Carroll. Working with the stories of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, he began to explore the relationship of the text and the ideas to his own personal method of storytelling and visual language. Sean brainstormed ideas as he read and reread the text focusing on particular imagery and ideas that popped into his mind. The pieces come from this planning and sketching but adapt to the process of the layout of elements and glass techniques. As he makes his molds, casts the glass, paints objects, adds concrete, and plans and films videos, he lets happenstance and expression shape the direction of the piece. For the sake of unity, he deliberately maintains a consistent palette and overall aesthetic of the series.
Sean wanted to tell the story of Alice using his own feelings of the importance of ideas and interpretations. The “Drink Me” potion becomes an idea about transformation and metamorphosis. A means of growth that one takes upon themself, even when the potion bottle seems foreboding. The “Mad Tea Party” is about a fight with the entity of Time resulting in the punishment of having to continuously relive teatime, imagined as the never-ending stream of tea pouring into the cup captured in video. The meeting of Alice and the Unicorn represented to him the power of belief and the importance of imagination. What realities do we see in the cloud formations that we stare at in wonder?
September 8 – October 3
Gallery Talk and Reception: September 16 | 12 p.m
The Tony Hungerford Memorial Art Gallery is located at the La Plata Campus, Fine Art Center and is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A portion of glass artist Richard Jolley’s permanent installation “Cycle of Life”. Photo by Paul Efird.
The biggest event in the Knoxville Museum of Art’s history since the building opened in Tennessee in 1990 – the public unveiling, on May 4th, 2014, of artist Richard Jolley’s “Cycle of Life: Within the Power of Dreams and the Wonder of Infinity,” a seven-ton, 105-foot wide, 30-foot tall glass sculpture installed in the museum’s Great Hall.
The piece cost $1 million and took Richard and his eight-person staff five years to design and construct; it took another three months to hang. It is Richard’s grandest and most ambitious undertaking. It is also being touted as a turning point for the museum itself, a catalyst for more visitors, more money, and international recognition. It will permanently adorn the Knoxville Museum‘s 3,500-square-foot Great Hall.
Forged in glass and steel, the artwork portrays the epic story of humanity The piece will consist of seven huge glass and steel panels.
Click HERE to jump to Knoxville News Sentinel online photos of the private unveiling.
Washington Glass School Co-Director Michael Janis will be heading West to talk about his glass artwork and his process. Michael will be talking to the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) groups in New Mexico and in Arizona.
Winterowd Fine Art, 701 Canyon Road, Santa Fe NM 87501
While in Santa Fe, Michael will have some of his newest works on exhibit at Winterowd Fine Art. For more info on his talk in New Mexico – email the gallery: info@fineartsantafe.com
Michael Janis; “Becoming Her Own Each Morning”; fused glass powder, 12.5″ x 12.5″; 2014
