Washington, DC’s new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center opens its doors to the public (today, April 15th) — and welcomes visitors with stunning public art, including vibrant glass works by Washington Glass Studio.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser reflects on the process of creating the first new hospital in DC in 25 years.
As featured in East of the River News by writer Elizabeth O’Gorek, the installations reflect the resilience and creativity of the community. One piece was created by Washington Glass Studio, and another striking glass work was made at the Washington Glass School by artist Imar Hutchins, assisted by Patricia de Poel Wilberg.
Together, these works celebrate healing, color, and the transformative power of art in public spaces.
The new glass mural, “The Legacy of the Land and the Waters” made by the Washington Glass Studio community is installed in the main entry lobby.
The recent order from President Trump to rescind DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs has led to a noticeable downplaying of Black History Month across government agencies. The U.S. State Department, for instance, has prohibited public events or messages celebrating the month, which has been a staple of American culture since the 1970s.
Michael Janis’ design for DC Ward 5 Memorial
In contrast, local organizations in Washington, DC, are stepping up to honor Black history and contributions. The Lamond Riggs Library Friends, in collaboration with the DC Office of Planning, is hosting Foundations of Freedom: Recognizing the Enslaved People Who Built the U.S. Capitol. This special event will introduce WGS Director Michael Janis’ design for a new DC Memorial to Honor the Enslaved People Who Built the U.S. Capitol for Ward 5. Along with DC’s Office of Planning staff, Michael will offer an overview of a public art proposal. The program will include storytelling, a discussion of the design process, and a Q&A session to engage the community.
Thursday, February 6, 2025 from 1 pm – 3 pm @ Lamond-Riggs DC Public Library, 5401 South Dakota Ave NE, WDC.
All of us at the Washington Glass School & Studio Wish You and Family a Joyous Holiday Season! And a Happy Healthy New Year!
(L-R) Patricia De Poel Wilberg, Erwin Timmers, Christina Helowicz, Nancy Kronstadt, Kate Barfield, Tim Tate, April Shelford, Michael Janis, Trish Kent and John Henderson. Not pictured: Graciela Granek, Sean Robinson, Diane Cabe, Gabrielle Morris, Kyle Crosby, and Daphne Matyas.
With social injustice a common theme around the world, we are also currently witnessing the injustices committed against our natural environment. Like our ancestors, we sense nature’s vastness, yet we lack the same respect those indigenous peoples had for nature as a sentient being. We take the Earth’s vastness for granted. What we experience as nature pushing back is nature seeking balance.
Michael Janis: Transformation; cast glass, ceramic
With this exhibit, Fragile Beauty, 33 DC artists seek to bring a sense of balance to an array of environmental injustices. Their art and their vision advocate awareness, mindfulness, consciousness, and stewardship, offering pathways towards personal partnership with our planet. They tell their stories with painting, sculpture, prints, photography, and installations. They inform us of both the joyful and the sorrowful, the woeful and the hopeful. Their work will challenge, enlighten, and inform your sense of wonder for exploring the beauty, power, and magnificent mystery of our home planet. We thank these artists for their commitment to illuminating the importance of nurturing and protecting the fragile beauty of the place we all call home.
Fragile Beauty is the first juried art exhibition initiated by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The new Juried Exhibition Grant provides support for DC artists to exhibit their creative vision to the residents of Washington, DC.
-Jarvis Grant
Featured artists: Tammy Barnes, Jeffrey Berg, Monica Jahan Bose, Elizabeth Casqueiro, Gloria Chapa, Michèle Colburn, Chris Combs, Shaughn Cooper with Kelsye Adams, Frank Hallam Day, Anna U Davis, R.A. Dean, Julee Dickerson-Thompson, Cheryl D. Edwards, David Allen Harris, Michael Iacovone, Michael Janis, Noel Kassewitz, Sally Kauffman, Barry D. Lindley, Patrick McDonough, Regina Miele, Steven Muñoz, Werllayne Nunes, Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, Lisa K. Rosenstein, Carly Rounds, Amanda Sauer, Alexandra Silverthorne, Ira Tattelman, Roderick Turner, Jessica van Brakle, Dawn Whitmore, Bahar Yürükoğlu.
Fragile Beauty May 9 – July 1, 2022 Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm ET
Opening Reception Thu, May 12, 2022 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT Masks are required
View of Green Community Gateway by Washington Glass Studio
The District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL) is a dynamic source of information, programs, books and services, among them is their Makers Program, that includes a Fabrication Lab. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library’s “Fab Lab”, complete with 3D printers, a laser cutter, soldering equipment, other machines is part of a new movement of public libraries embracing the “maker movement.” DCPL’s maker program is the largest of its kind in a public library, as they see the program as a force to bring together makers, artists, and creative people of all types and from all fields and backgrounds, encouraging cross-disciplinary cooperation. As part of the public engagement, the DCPL Makers & DIY Program is hosting a series of artists lectures at the newly refurbished MLK Memorial Library auditorium.
Image of Community workshop at Washington Glass School.
On Saturday, May 21, 2022, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm, Michael Janis, co-director of the Washington Glass School, will give a lecture on how the Washington Glass Studio created the “Green Community Gateway” with art made with the help of the community in Ward 7.
The “Green Community Gateway”, public art sculpture marks the symbolic entrance to the Kenilworth/Parkside section of DC’s Ward 7. Through a series of glass “quilting bees”, Washington Glass Studio brought together neighborhood residents, students of the high school, and the staff of the newly constructed Unity Healthcare facility to make glass art that would become an integral part of the arch.
This lecture program will take place in the auditorium at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20001. Register at bit.ly/labsclasses.
The renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, originally designed by Mies van der Rohe, the landmark library was rejuvenated by Mecanoo and OTJ Architects.
Environmental Justice Juried Exhibition Grant now open!
DC’s Commision on the Arts + Humanities invites District-based artists to apply for their new Juried Exhibition Grant! (Note: Must be a resident of Washington, DC)
Application deadline: Friday, January 21, 4:00 pm
Exhibition dates: May 9 – July 1, 2022
Exhibition theme: Environmental Justice. In their work, artists may address local and/or global questions of ecology, environmentalism, biodiversity, climate change, stewardship, the relationship of climate justice to social justice, and/or other related concepts and issues.
Washington City Paper’s “Best of D.C.” Awards the Washington Glass School Blog as the Second Best Arts Blog in the DC area!
The new Washington DC City Paper publisher – Katy McKegney – said that their “Best Of D.C.” would mean just that—”a celebration of this city and all it has to offer, and of the work [the] residents, businesses, and institutions do to make D.C. the best it can be”.
And with that – in the Best of Arts & Entertainment category – Washington Glass School Blog was voted as Second Best Arts Blog! Woo-Hoo!
Since 2008 we have been pumping out stories on the DC and national art scene since Sean Hennessey started the blog. A big thank you to all the writers who have worked on the blog over the years!
FY20 Art Bank Program (ABP) –In support of local visual artists, District art galleries, and District art nonprofit organizations, CAH acquires fine art from metropolitan artists to grow the Art Bank Collection. Artwork in the collection is owned by CAH and loaned to District Government agencies for display in public areas and offices of government buildings. The Art Bank Collection, which started in 1986, has over 3,400 artworks.
CAH seeks grant applications from qualified artists and District art galleries or District nonprofit organizations representing metropolitan artists for the acquisition of works of original two- and three-dimensional artwork including, but not limited to:
Paintings;
Drawings;
Mixed media works;
Prints;
Photographs;
Fabric arts;
Ceramics; and,
Sculptures.
For the purpose of this grant, metropolitan artist is defined as a legal resident of Washington, DC, or a legal resident within a 50-mile radius of the Washington, DC boundaries, for at least one (1) year prior to the application deadline.
Application Release: Friday | May 3, 2019 Application Deadline: Friday | July 19, 2019 | 4:00 pm ET
Click HERE for info on how to submit for DCCAH Art Bank.
DCCAH Staff Contact: Ron Humbertson, Art Collections Registrar | ron.humbertson@dc.gov
featuring applicants of the 2017 Artist Fellowship Program.
Tim Tate, “21st Century Guernica”; Glass, Cast Images, LED; 36″ x 36 x 4″. In this piece a ring of translucent refugee boats float in the center, all with no where to turn to.
This free exhibition presents some of the District’s finest visual artists applying for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ FY17 Artist Fellowship Program (AFP) grant. Through the AFP, artists residing in the District may be awarded up to $10,000 in unrestricted support for FY 2017. Each artist has submitted a piece that represents their body of work and artistic perspective.
Washington Glass School artists Tim Tate and Michael Janis will each have artwork on display at the gallery thru Wednesday, August 31, 2016.
The gathering of these artworks in the District’s first operated public gallery captures the broad scope of the dynamic art scene and provides an opportunity for artists to express their visions directly to the panel of peer reviewers evaluating their applications and to the public.
