Michael Janis
Turning Public Places into People Places
Michael Janis presents key public art projects by the Washington Glass Studio. As Co-Director of WGS, Michael will discuss the process and methodologies they employ to involve community and create art that addresses cultural identity, civic pride and act as an educational forum for urban neighborhoods.
After a 20-year career as an architect in the United States and Australia, Michael Janis returned to the US with a focus on working with glass. In 2005, Janis became the Co-Director of the Washington Glass School and Studio in Washington, DC. Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2012, Janis went to England's University of Sunderland and taught at the UK's National Glass Centre where he became an Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for International Research in Glass (IIRG).
Janis has received numerous awards for his artwork. His artwork was twice featured in Corning Museum of Glass’ “New Glass Review”. Massachusetts’ Fuller Craft Museum mounted a solo show of Janis’ glass panels and sculpture in 2011.
The James Renwick Alliance named him Distinguished Glass Artist for 2014, and he presented and lectured about his work at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2014.
In 2016, The DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities (DCCAH) awarded Michael Janis the 31st Annual Mayor’s Arts Award for “Excellence in the Arts”.
