International Glass & Clay 2013 Catalog online

The International Glass & Clay 2013 Catalog - what the well dressed glass library is sporting!

Kicking yourself for missing the International Glass & Clay show that just closed in Washington, DC? Don't let us stop you!  
You can look at the catalog (or catalogue) online - click  HERE to jump to Google docs.

High Tea at the International Glass & Clay Exhibit

The James Renwick Alliance (JRA) held a "Tea with the Brits" wrap-up social at the International Glass and Clay 2013 exhibit held at Pepco Gallery. Artomatic and the DCCAH have held a collaborative exhibition of glass and ceramics featuring artists from the Sister Cities of Sunderland, England and Washington, DC., ending in high style with a final event held at the gallery. Photos by Miriam Rosenthal.

Tea, cucumber sandwiches, fresh made scones with home-made jams and clotted cream, and a spot of dry sherry were on the menu. 

Artomatic's George Koch addresses the JRA audience.

Novie Trump talks about Laurel Lukaszewski's ceramic sculpture.

Novie Trump and Michael Janis discuss UK glass artist Colin Rennie's work.

High Tea presenters and organizers (L-R) Novie Trump, Bonnie Schwartz, Mallory Lawson, George Koch,  Michael Janis.

The closing night event of the International Glass & Clay event finished the exhibit with great fun and last minute sales. All agreed that we will miss the fantastic artwork that has been on display, and that with such good results, the connections with our UK artists and colleagues have been made stronger! When is the next collaborative show is the question we all ask!

Michael Janis named "US Cultural Ambassador", Knighthood Next?

The British Council is a British organization specializing in international educational and cultural opportunities. It was founded in 1934 as the British Committee for Relations with Other Countries, and granted a royal charter by King George VI in 1940. Its "sponsoring department" within the UK Government is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Recently, the British Council asked our Michael Janis to write about the sister city relationship between Sunderland, England and Washington, DC and how the Washington Glass School came to be one of the participants in the spectacular International Glass and Clay exhibit that opened March 1, 2013.

Click HERE to jump to British Council blog.

Michael was listed as a "US Cultural Ambassador" and he is loving the title upgrade. He now insists on being called "honorable" and says he is planning to stage a "glass coup" at the UN and that he will begin issuing a list of non-binding resolutions. 

Michael Janis - the Dark Knight

After all his work with the British glass and ceramic artists, Knighthood surely is being planned.

This Saturday, March 9th, from noon- 1:00 pm, the International Glass and Clay Exhibit hosts a roundtable discussion about the Fulbright Scholar program. Come to the gallery and have a chat with Fulbright Scholars from area universities.

International Glass and Clay 2013
Pepco Edison Place Gallery  @ 702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC
Gallery hours are Saturday and Tuesday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Gallery is closed on Sundays. The Gallery Place Metro station is within walking distance of the Gallery. The show is organized by Artomatic and the DCCAH.  

Panel Discussion held at International Glass + Clay 2013

Artists and Creative Businesses from the UK City of Sunderland and the District of Columbia discuss their views about international efforts and the impact these relationships can have on their practices.  The discussion will particularly draw on their experience within the Washington DC - Sunderland Friendship Agreement.

Presenters: 

Anne Tye, Sector Specialist, Creative Industries, Sunderland England

UK Artists: Phil Vickery and Criss Chaney 

Washington, DC Artists: Novie Trump, Director, FLUX Studio and Michael Janis, Co-Director, Washington Glass School. 

 

5:30 - 7:00 pm Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The panel discussion is part of the events planned during the International Glass and Clay exhibit, open thru March 23, 2013. The talk is free and open to the public. Location: Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 702 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20068.

Emotional Leak

The UK has some great glass artists - ones that are moving narrative or content driven glass forward. Erin Dickson and Jeffrey Sarmiento are two such artists, and they had collaborated on this work titled "Emotional Leak". Both artists work out of England's University of Sunderland, and with access to waterjet cutters, have exploited that resource to their artistic end. From Erin's artist statement: "my works takes on...the intersection of glass and architecture. As an architect by training, and more recently a glass designer, I use my own experience to evaluate how glass can be manipulated to suit both intentions. When glass is used in architecture, it is too often viewed as a separate component passed to glass ‘specialists’ or artists for manipulation, it is allowed to become a dissected part of the building. My aim is to remove glass from being just a ‘window’ and enable it to become an architectural design element of its own. My work looks at non-traditional methods of using space and light, using glass to manipulate a viewer’s experience of place."

 Dickson/Sarmeinto, Emotional Leak, 2011: waterjet cut glass with steel and rubber base about 9.5 x 4 x 4 ft 
Below is a video of the construction of Emotional Leak - 

Emotional Leak Construction from Sarmiento Glass on Vimeo.

Glass BLAST! in London

Cate Watkinson

BLAST! 2012

COHESION GLASS NETWORK'S 10th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

July 6 – August 8, 2012

Joanne Mitchell

London, England's ZeST Contemporary Glass Gallery is hosting BLAST! 2012, the 10th anniversary exhibition of Cohesion Glass Network. Cohesion Glass Network is an initiative supported by the UK's Sunderland City Council as a way to create a business network for glassmakers and artists. 

Tim Tate

To celebrate this landmark, ZeST Gallery has invited eight of Cohesion’s founding members to exhibit their latest artworks and provided the opportunity to select an artist to be a “partner” and show work alongside them.

Roger Tye

These eight artists are Criss Chaney, Dominic Fonde, Zoe Garner, Ruth Lyne, Joanne Mitchell, Claudia Phipps, Roger Tye and Cate Watkinson.  They have selected partners whose work they admire, or find complementary to their own, or in some cases they have joined forces to create unique collaborative work, exploring and developing themes and concepts held in common. Some, but not all, of the partner artists are Cohesion members, and all but one of the partners are artists working in glass.

Michael Janis

Cohesion artist Joanne Mitchell chose Washington Glass Studio artist Tim Tate. Cohesion’s Roger Tye is paired with WGS’ Michael Janis. Michael and Tim were both at Cohesion's studios while in the UK on their Fulbright assignment.

The exhibition features a diverse selection of glass art, including wall-mounted and installation artwork, as well as vessels and sculpture, and embodies a broad spectrum of processes and techniques. The pairings within the show create an exciting dynamic of glass, artistic and otherworldly narratives.

Carrie Fertig

Artist pairings include:
Criss Chaney with Robyn Townsend

Dominic Fonde with Chua Teng Yeow

Zoe Garner with Carrie Fertig

Ruth Lyne with Rachel O'Dell

Joanne Mitchell with Tim Tate

Claudia Phipps with June Kingsbury

Roger Tye with Michael Janis

Cate Watkinson with Emma Hollins

Blast! 2012

July 6 – August 8, 2012

Zest Contemporary Glass Gallery

Roxby Place (end of Rickett Street)

London SW6 1RS

UK Hosts 2nd International Symposium of Architectural Glass

The UK International Institute of Research in Glass (IIRG) presents the 2^nd International Symposium in Architectural Glass, focusing on ‘Working with light as a means of interaction between space and the mind’.

The emphasis of this event is on how flat glass is used three dimensionally in space and as a creative means of expression. This will explore both the theoretical and practical aspects of this process: idea exploration; design development; use of new technologies; the possibilities of technical restrictions; and the multi-disciplinary approach prevalent in many projects.

The Symposium will run on Thurs/Friday, May 17 &18, 2012 at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, England. The event will take the form of traditional lectures, panel discussions, workshops demonstrations and informal networking opportunities. Speakers include:

Marian Karel

Dana Zamecnikova

Judith Schaechter

Algirdas Dovydenas

Daan Roosegaarde

Rodney Bender

Tim Macfarlane

Alexander Beleschenko

Early bird fees, if you book and pay before the 1 May:

One day £55, Two days £90

You can book your place through the University online shop, just search Conference/Events International Glass Symposium.

http://onlinestore.sunderland.ac.uk

University of Sunderland, National Glass Centre

Liberty Way

Sunderland, UK, SR6 0GL

Fulbright Scholars Janis & Tate Final Report

Final Report by Michael Janis and Tim Tate regarding their Fulbright Specialist Program at the University Of Sunderland and the National Glass Center.

The bonds that were forged years ago when The City of Washington & Washington Glass School hosted the UK artists from Cohesion Glass Network art Artomatic’s Glass 3 event in Georgetown have been strengthened. Our connection with Washington, DC’s UK Sister City, Sunderland, the National Glass Center and the University of Sunderland; will continue throughout our careers. While our mission as Fulbright Scholars was to impart information, we leave having learned many lessons.

Our time in England began with presentations of our artwork and discussions of on new directions the glass world was embracing, such as Glass Secessionism, where artists are looking to move from the aesthetic of pure technique, materials and process and are advancing glass as a medium of sculptural expression in the narrative realm. The participants in the audiences came from the student body of the University as well as working artists from Sunderland, Newcastle, even as far away as Edinburgh, Scotland. The audience stayed long after the talk, and topics from the discussion continued to come up during our entire Fulbright program stay (and indeed, afterwards via the internet) showing the strong relevance of the concepts.

We created workshops for both the National Glass Center and Sunderland’s Creative Cohesion studio; the city’s artist incubator (that, in fact, used the Washington Glass School as its educational and business model). The City of Sunderland invited us to speak with students at a local secondary school during our stay, where we talked about careers in art. We also worked with the Leaders of the University’s Glass and Ceramics program and outlined methods we could extend the cooperative agreement that exists between Sunderland and Washington, DC.

The British tertiary arts education system is different from the US university model. Their MA program blends an MFA and BFA into a very concentrated program. The amount of expertise, materials and techniques they make available to students seems staggering. Sunderland’s may be the finest glass program in the world. With the National Glass Center, the physical space alone dwarfs any facility in the US (or even if one combined the arts centers of Pilchuck, Penland, Corning into one place). The University of Sunderland also offer a doctorate in glass, which is similar to an MFA, though the focus is research, as this is one of the primary methods for the University to receive funds. At the end of a student’s time at Sunderland University, they have a much broader base of knowledge regarding glass and its parameters. In many ways the educational system in the UK is ahead of the US, especially in how they treat glass sculpturally.

Our talks with the students included observations on the differences between the art practices of the two countries. The gallery/collector focus on technique driven vessels that drove the US Studio Glass Movement for over 40 years did not occur to the same extent in England. Instead of being gallery driven, the UK arts education sector seems to be more exhibition and grant driven. University and museum -sponsored art shows are more common as the way an artist would establish themselves. With this as their foundation, artists do not find it as necessary to focus on a single form. They are able operate with the freedom of each installation being potentially a different medium, voice, direction (though many times I would have liked to see the directions pushed much further.) In the US, with the galleries / collector based system, there exists the perception that an artist’s work be recognized for a particular form and for the work be within a series format.

The courses we held at the University included a mix of graduate and undergraduate students, and the workshops allowed and encouraged students working in different modules to interact. We found the students of the University to be some of the most engaged and accomplished students we have ever worked with. They wanted to absorb as much information as possible. Their energy was refreshing, and we added another workshop and added one talk more into the schedule.

Our final discussion was on Artist Covenant’s and how artists can create a network using social media as a way to support each other as a group. This informal talk was packed, standing room only. The artists were voracious in seeking advice on how to get their work seen and recognized. We hope we have helped energize them and perhaps rally them to work together towards their common good. The interest and respect we received from the students was over-whelming. Many of the artists have connected to us online.

We would like to thank all those who made this academic interaction possible: The Fulbright Commission, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), The University of Sunderland and the National Glass Center, The City of Sunderland and Creative Cohesion. Each in their own way has made our visit into a life changing experience.

Our mission is to now to reflect and contemplate on not only what we have achieved, but to think of ways on how best to extend our hand and continue our symbiotic and synergistic relationship so that it will not only survive but thrive.

Lets all bridge the Atlantic for many more decades.

Tim Tate & Michael Janis , Co-Directors, Washington Glass School

University of Sunderland Welcomes Fulbright Scholars Michael Janis & Tim Tate

World's top scholars speak in Sunderland

Released: Thursday 15th March 2012 at 10:16

Two of the world’s most renowned glass artists have spoken about their work to students at the University of Sunderland.

Fulbright Scholars Tim Tate and Michael Janis gave a talk and met staff and students at the university’s National Glass Centre this week. The Fulbright Scholarship, founded in 1946, aims to promote cultural understanding through educational exchange. Both artists travelled from Washington DC to work with the Sunderland Creative Cohesion Group, the University of Sunderland and the wider community, to share their glass and ceramics practice and art work.

Michael Janis specialises in layering glass and using glass powder to create pictures, while Tim Tate blends the traditional craft of glass making with new media technology. Both work closely with artists in Washington DC to create public sculpture using the latest glass and ceramics advances.

Professor Kevin Petrie, Glass and Ceramics Team Leader at the university, says: "This is one of several recent visits by distinguished artists and scholars from around the world to the National Glass Centre, reflecting our international status in the fields of creative Glass and Ceramics.

“Tim and Michael offer our students, local schools and representatives from the region's cultural sector important insights into methods for making glass art, perspectives on the art world in the USA and the work of the Washington Glass Studio where they are co-directors.”

The Washington Glass Studio is focused on providing public art projects and private commissions incorporating glass as a sculptural element, through collaboration with artists working in different media in the US capital.

The Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious awards programs worldwide, operating in over 155 countries. Forty-three Fulbright Scholars have won Nobel Prizes, and seventy-eight have won Pulitzer Prizes. More Nobel laureates are former Fulbright recipients than any other award program.