Upcoming Visiting Artist Lineup
December
James Mongrain
December 21
Glass artist James Mongrain makes Venetian-inspired glass goblets of many shapes, sizes, and colors. During his early career, he focused his attention on becoming proficient in the Venetian tradition of goblet-making, and he continues to be inspired by traditional Italian forms. “In my work, I strive for a level of precision that unites traditional elegance with contemporary flair,” says Mongrain. “It's important for me to make something that's new, that can hold my interest, and it needs to be honest and true.”
Mongrain was introduced to glass at Moorhead State University in Minnesota, and later studied glassblowing at Massachusetts College of Art and the Appalachian Center for Crafts. He has been a lead gaffer for Dale Chihuly since 1998 and has worked with well-known contemporary artists Jim Dine, Kiki Smith, Jeff Koons, Robert Wilson, and Walter Lieberman.
Jason Christian
December 30 & 31
Jason Christian is a glass artist living in the Seattle area. He was born in 1976 to a metal fabricator and a cardiac nurse. He became involved in glass art at the age of 21- starting as a factory charger, slowly developing his glass knowledge through experience. He has worked with a variety of well-known artists in the Seattle community, including Martin Blank, Preston Singletary, James Mongraine, and Nancy Callan. For almost a decade he has been an integral member of Dale Chihuly’s Boathouse team, collaborating and working with international artists, including Pino Signoretto. His individual work explores the art of reticello, classical Venetian techniques, and modern simplicity. Recently, he has been developing art inspired by the works of Fabergé, combining the delicate complexity of reticello with the intricate detailing for which Fabergé’s eggs are known.
January
Goblet Week Artists
January 15-19
Goblet making has long been a tradition across many cultures worldwide. In the Pacific Northwest, artists and makers have been steeped in the Italian approach to glassmaking through the Studio Glass movement, and Venetian-style goblets are a fixture in our local glassmaking scene. These goblets are notable for their thinness and complexity. As our culture becomes increasingly dependent on technology, it also becomes detached from the handmade. Goblet Week began with the mission to highlight the magic of handmade functional glass pieces — specifically, Venetian-style goblets.
Goblet Week will feature four Visiting Artists who are some of the best in the game in this style: Jason Christian, Jen Elek, Jason McDonald, and Michael Schunke.
Each artist will spend their day in the Hot Shop showcasing their unique approach to making goblets (or “cups,” as they are affectionately called by the artists). On Sunday, the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team will take center stage and conclude the week making their signature goblet designs. Sunday’s programming will also feature a lecture on Venetian goblets by Hot Shop Emcee Walter Lieberman at 1pm. Each day, audiences will learn about the different techniques and processes used by each artist in their goblet designs.
Additionally, Museum of Glass will host an Artist Reception + Wine Tasting and Goblet Sale the evening of Saturday, January 18.
Fumi Amano
January 29–February 2
Fumi Amano is a Japanese artist living and working in Snohomish, Washington. Amano strives to break the stereotypes of Asian ideals of womanhood and beauty influenced by Western culture. She joins Museum of Glass in the Museum’s first-ever collaboration with Port of Seattle to create large-scale public art installations for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s C Concourse Expansion project.
February
Bri Chesler
February 12–16
Bri Chesler’s work draws inspiration from her upbringing in the swamps of Florida. She incorporates the chaotic elements of nature into her art, fusing biology and botany to create forms that seduce and engage her audience. Her residency, in collaboration with her exhibition Untamed: The Anatomy of Desire (on view through March 30, 2025), will give visitors the opportunity to immerse themselves in her artistic process.
April
Cheryl Derricotte
April 2–6
Cheryl Derricotte returns to the Hot Shop to continue a historical portrait series, illuminating the life of Sally Hemings, the enslaved woman who was the mother of six children of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. No known portraits or drawings of Hemings exist, so Derricotte has been crafting Hemings’ portrait in sculptural form. This tremendous undertaking was acknowledged at the Museum’s 2024 Red Hot Auction & Gala with the Artist’s Choice Coney Award, the prize for which included this residency.
Corey Pemberton
April 30–May 4
As a queer person of mixed race, Corey Pemberton often feels other. Knowing nothing about his African roots and very little about his European heritage, the artist considers lineage and the idea of connectedness in his work. His blown glass baskets are inspired by his presumed ancestors, created with a European technique that borrows forms and patterns from the sweetgrass weavers of South Africa. This will be Pemberton’s first residency at Museum of Glass.
May
Ben Beres
May 14–18
Ben Beres is a Seattle-based artist who has been printmaking for the past two decades, with a focus on creating detailed works through the process of etching on copper. Over the years, his practice has expanded to include work in the as-yet-experimental arena of vitreography (printing with glass plates), etching on glass, and public engagement through performance. His residency will be an opportunity for Beres to continue to experiment on vessels that combine glassblowing with this printmaking practice. His residency is in honor of the People’s Choice Coney Award, which he received at MOG’s 2024 Red Hot Auction & Gala.
June
Wendy Red Star
June 25–29
Wendy Red Star lives and works in Portland, Oregon. An enrolled member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Tribe, Red Star works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures, both historically and in contemporary society. Drawing on pop culture, conceptual art strategies, and the Crow traditions within which she was raised, Red Star pushes the conversation surrounding Native American perspectives in new directions. Her residency, part of an on-going collaboration with Pilchuck Glass School, will be an opportunity for Red Star to experiment with incorporating glass into her artistic practice.
Red Star has exhibited in the United States and abroad at venues including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY); The Newark Museum (Newark, NJ), Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY), The Broad (Los Angeles, CA); the Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA); Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain (Paris, France); Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA); Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR); the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chicago, IL); St. Louis Art Museum (St. Louis, MO); the Contemporary Austin (Austin, TX); Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, MN); Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMoCA) (North Adams, MA); The Drawing Center (New York, NY); and the Cleveland Museum of Art (Cleveland, OH), among many others. Her monumental sculpture, The Soil You See…, was included in Beyond Granite: Pulling Together, the first curated outdoor exhibition in the history of the National Mall (Washington, D.C), organized by Monument Lab in 2023. The work was then acquired by Tippet Rise Art Center (Fishtail, MT). Red Star’s was included in Acts of Resistance: Photography, Feminisms and the Art of Protest exhibition at South London Gallery, in partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK) in 2024.
