Washington Glass School at 25
Jeff Zimmer was one of the earliest resident artists at Washington Glass School, working out of the original Half Street SE studio in the early 2000s. Since then, his career has taken him internationally — from earning his MDes s at Edinburgh College of Art to exhibiting in the British Glass Biennale and having work acquired by museums including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
For Washington Glass School’s 25th Anniversary, Jeff reflects on finding his voice, building community, and why WGS still feels like home.
On his first memories of WGS
“My first memory of WGS is helping carry rolls of old carpeting down endless corridors to clear the original Meltdown studio site.
I had only been working with glass for a few years, and Tim brought me on to assist classes — even though sometimes I was learning something only minutes before the students!”
Later, as one of WGS’s first resident artists, Jeff spent countless nights cycling to the Half Street studio after work, often staying until midnight.
“The first works I really consider to have my own voice came out of that time.”
“WGS felt like it didn’t participate in hierarchy. I felt supported to pursue my own path.”
On finding his artistic voice
“At the time, I perceived the glass world as very hierarchical — dominated by glassblowing, with painting on glass seen as secondary or decorative.
Now, I love glassblowers and beauty, but that’s not my voice.”
What Jeff found at WGS was freedom to explore ideas outside those expectations.
“There was already a concern with complexity and ambivalence in the work I was making then. That has stayed with me ever since.”
On thinking through glass
“As the years progress, I realize I think more and more through the material itself — not only its techniques, but its associations.”
For Jeff, glass carries centuries of layered meaning.
“I can draw on medieval associations of light and virtue reflected in stained glass, ideas of transparency and opacity, glass as both window and barrier, fragility and strength — even the ‘black mirror’ of our screens.”
“Ideas don’t really exist for me until I can find a way for them to exist in glass.”
On teaching and exchange
Jeff has taught internationally at Pilchuck, Bild-Werk Frauenau, Berlin Glas, and other institutions, while co-running Glass Lab Edinburgh in Scotland.
“Different glass communities shape artists in very different ways,” he says.
He notes how Germany’s technical school traditions, the UK’s emphasis on casting and painting, and resourceful studio cultures in South Africa and Latin America all create different relationships to the material.
“When those communities meet internationally, there’s a real exchange. That’s where things become interesting.”
On teaching beyond technique
“Technique matters, but it’s not the point.
I want students to use technique to find their own voice. The best moment is when you see someone take a process and immediately run somewhere unexpected with it.”
Teaching, he says, has also sharpened his own practice.
“It forces me to break instinct down into conscious steps.”
“The barriers to working in glass are high. Having a place that supports experimentation early on can completely change what becomes possible for someone.”
On success, recognition, and reality
Despite international awards and museum acquisitions, Jeff speaks candidly about the realities of sustaining an artistic practice.
“Some of the times I’ve had the most apparent ‘success’ were also the times I was supporting myself as a 45-year-old cycle courier.”
Recognition can help open doors, he says, but often quietly.
“The V&A acquired a piece of mine, and it sat in storage for nearly a decade before going on display. For most of that time, its biggest visibility was on my CV.”
On returning to Washington Glass School
“How does WGS fit into my journey? It came into my life at exactly the right moment.”
More than two decades after leaving DC, Jeff says returning to WGS still feels deeply personal.
“WGS is home.
Whenever I walk through the door, I feel embraced like family. There’s warmth, curiosity, generosity — that hasn’t changed…I’m proud of what you’ve built. And I’m grateful it’s still a place I can come home to.”
As part of the Washington Glass School’s 25th Anniversary programming, Jeff Zimmer returns this summer to teach a special intensive workshop:
5701 – Obscuring and Revealing
July 13–17
This five-day masterclass explores layering, transparency, dimensionality, and painted imagery in glass. Students will create personal three-dimensional layered compositions using glass painting techniques, collage, and spatial construction to investigate how glass can simultaneously conceal and reveal.