2011 WGS Year-In-Review

Looking thru the Washington Glass School postings (both official school blog and the more casual Facebook page) and events from a few months ago seem like ages ago. The strange phenomena of time flying by is observed again. Many of the years past events were months - or years- in planning and preparation, and seemed like they would never happen, now seem faraway, and the impact, both good and bad will be here for a while. Some high points, some sad loss. Month by month - here is a quick review of Washington Glass School's 2011:

January 2011

The year started out with some new artistic directions.

Jeff Zimmer works on his layered glass imagery.
WGS Alum Jeff Zimmer worked on some new pieces for the school's 10th Anniversary show. Its been a great year for Jeff - his work was part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show in Oct.

artist: Christina Bothwell media:clay & glass.
The foundation for "Glass Secessionism" was outlined as a challenge for the aesthetics of the 21st century.

Matt (m l duffy) checks for tin side. The school's new-fangled digital tin-o-meter also arrived in 2011.
Matthew Duffy began working on fabrication of the Washington Glass Studio's public art project for Safeway Bethesda.

Susan documents Rob Kincheloe's lampwork process. Susan's strong photographic skills will be part of her book series.
Susan Lomuto (aka Daily Art Muse) arrived into the area to do a residency in the glass school and the surrounding ceramics studios.

February

artist: Kirk Waldroff media cast glass, led lighting, wood
Kirk Waldroff opens his mixed media/glass print exhibit at Glenview Mansion. Dr Claudia Rousseau reviewed his artwork.

March

photo by : Pete Duvall
American Craft Magazine has a large feature of the collaborative works by Tim Tate and Marc Petrovic.

April

This glass work is good enough to shout about.
Kirk Waldroff's printmaking with glass class is one of the stronger design class of the year, with a number of students taking off in creative directions.

Ready for framing and the Smithsonian.
Glass artist Judith Schaechter held a creativity workshop for the JRA at the Washington Glass School.

artist: Elizabeth Ryland Mears, Tex Forrest Crowds packed the gallery
The Washington Glass School 10th Anniversary exhibition opens at Long View Gallery in Washington, DC.

Post critic Michael O'Sullivan's in-depth review of the show.
The Washington Post reviews the Long View show, asking "Is Glass Only Pretty?".

June

Gallery 555 exhibit of WGS student work.
Gallery 555 also hosted an exhibition in honor of the 10th Anniversary of WGS, with a successful show of student works.

Rob Kincheloe coldworks the glass, evaluating the quality of the recycled float glass casting.
National Geographic commissioned the Washington Glass Studio to create a special "environment" award for singer Jack Johnson. The development of the award design and creation was documented in the blog's new feature column "The Process".

Tim Tate's work at Wheaton Arts. View of Maurine Littleton Gallery space during GlassWeekend.
Rising Star - Michael Janis
The Bi-annual "GlassWeekend" was this year with a huge show at WheatonArts The Creative Glass Center of America (CCGA and theArt Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) named our Michael Janis a "Rising Star" at the event.

July

Tim Tate is filmed by PBS documentary crew as he speaks to the tour group.
Wendy Rosen brought a contingent of international guests - leaders of national craft federations and craft advocacy groups, as well as diplomats and government officials - as part of the World Craft Council held in Washington, DC.

yeah, hand-forged steel is nice and all... but what about the glass?
Chris Shea's forged metal and glass sculpture/furniture was added to the Smithsonian's permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery.

Conner Contemporary hosted a book release party in honor of F Lennox Campello's book "100 Artists of Washington, DC" - one of the more successful in the Schiffer Books line of artist reference series.

August

An unusual month in terms of "natural events". An earthquake hit DC, causing some minor damage to the glass display area in the student gallery of the school. Later in the month - a massive heatwave sent temps over 100 degrees F, and also Hurricane Irene hit DC.

Michael talks with art patrons about the imagery in glass. Michael Janis' solo show at Fuller Craft Museum opened. Perry Price - the Associate Curator of the Museum later commented that they had some of the highest media coverage of the show, and that the Docents worked the educational aspects of the show with the visiting school students.

Installation began on the Safeway public art project. Evan Morgan returned to help install.

WaPo columnist Kris Coronado interviews Erwin and share a laugh. Erwin Timmers was featured in the Washington Post Magazine on the "Art of Recycling".

Jason Burnett showcases Tim's video reliquary at the auction.
Tim Tate's artwork was part of the Penland School Auction - and sets a new record!

September

Architectural artwork by artists, instructors and students commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Washington Glass School was installed on the facade of the school.

Zenith Gallery hosted a book release exhibition for the "100 Artists of the Mid Atlantic" that featured each of the WGS directors.

The national organization Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) held its annual meeting in Washington, DC this year. Part of the events included tours of glass spots - museum tours, collector's homes, gallery talks and a fun night at the Washington Glass School. A huge bar-be-que was on the menu that night, with an ice cream truck dispensing Good Humor to all.

October

Safeway's new public art lights up the Bethesda streetscene.
The public art and architectural installation created for Safeway supermarket in Bethesda opened in spectacular fashion.

DC's Seed Charter School had a class at WGS that mixed art, history, chemistry, mathematics and physics.

November

Maurine Littleton Gallery space at SOFA Chicago 2011. Marc Petrovic's work at Heller Gallery. Tim Tate's work at Jane Sauer Gallery.
The BIG show - SOFA Chicago. Allegra Marquart, Michael Janis, Tim Tate each did well at the huge international art fair this year, and the hope that the trend continues to the next year is held by all!

The United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) celebrated its centennial with glass. The organization commissioned special artwork for families of Edward Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower in memory of the work each had done. The red carpet gala event feature celebrities and performances by Wyclef Jean.

December

As Rob Kincheloe sets up a dedicated Torch work studio in Virginia, Mick Coughlan joined the school as the new studio coordinator.

The Fulbright Program named Tim Tate & Michael Janis each as recipients of Fulbrights. In 2012, both will be off to University of Sunderland starting in March.

Nicole Puzan, 1983-2011, Studio Coordinator, Artist, Friend

After a battle with cancer, our Nicole Puzan passed away in December.

There are so many stories from the last year, this posting started as a short list and there were so many events and shows that these are the ones that made it to this (almost) final posting for the year.

Here's to the hope that 2012 will be a good year for all!