American Style

Two interesting articles in the current issue of American Style magazine, both good reasons to go pick up an issue.

-- This article highlights the top 25 American cities for art (according to the magazine's national readers). New York, of course, is number one. Behind the Big Apple are Chicago, (No. 2), Washington, D.C. (No. 3), San Francisco, (No. 4), and Boston, (No. 5). I realize that this rather great ranking is (I suspect) mostly based on our plethora of great museums (from the readers' perspectives), but I hope that it also raises some tiny issues with the editors at the Washington Post and the Washington Times, and their abysmal coverage of DC area art galleries and artists. And, over a year after the new Style section editor at the WaPo stated that they'd be looking to add a second freelancer to the "Galleries" column, so that the column could return to its once-a-week schedule, we're still waiting for Ms. Heard to hire a freelancer.

-- And the second reason to read this issue is (are you ready for this?)... the magazine has a huge article focusing national attention upon our own Washington Glass School and the whole "context in glass" movement that the school is a part of nationally. The article by Lee Lawrence reveals that

"It's addictive to make the perfect vessel," Tate admits. "The trick is to overcome that." Janis calls this hard-to-resist attraction "the quest for the perfect bubble," and he, too, confesses he is not immune. But, like a growing number of artists, Tate and Janis subscribe to the motto their glass school hammers home to students: "Learn your craft, then move beyond it."

Read the whole article by Lee Lawrence here. The "Compelled by Content II" show runs through June 4, 2006. Visit the Washington Glass School here.