Bill Glass Jr., Five Faces Speak
Bill Glass Jr.
1950-
Cherokee
Date
1999
Classification
Ceramic
Dimensions
8 x 6 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm)
Accession Number
2018.35.30.06
Credit
Gift of Dair and David Rausch
Memo / Artist Statement
Bill Glass Jr. works in a contemporary style. Starting a sculpture piece on the wheel, a bowl is formed & collapsed. Bill responds to the sagging & bulging clay, trying to control but not dominate the clay, allowing his spirit to coincide with the spirit of the clay. Bill proceeds with hand-building & burnishing techniques, & bisque fires the piece. The piece is then ready for glazing. Bill considers the glazing process as a painting on a three-dimensional surface. Using design elements, abstraction, movement, whatever traditional or contemporary technique needed to bring life, a freshness to a piece, Bill tries to create artwork that brings about a response of excitement in the viewer.
Biography
Bill Glass Jr. was born on March 15, 1950 at the W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma to Bill Glass Sr. and Ellen Jean Justic Glass. Bill Glass Jr. spend much of his childhood traveling with his family the Southwest where his father (a former welding instructor at Haskell Institute now Haskell Indian Nations University) was working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a student counselor.
He studied at Northern Arizona University & Central State (Oklahoma) University before enrolling in the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM where he studied sculpture under Allan Houser. He studied ceramics & graduated from IAIA in 1975 with an Associate of Fine Arts degree.
Returning to Talaquah, he set up arts & crafts classes in numerous NE Oklahoma communities as the Arts & Crafts Director for the Cherokee Nation. Bill's dedication & hard work with Cherokee artists & craftsmen helped establish the Cherokee Artist Association, Inc.
Glass has been a full-time artist since 1977. He has received numerous awards and accolates including induction as a Master Artist of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum (1986) and the Cherokee Medal of Honor from the Cherokee Honor Society (1999). Glass has participated in exhibitions across North America.
http://www.nativeartsofamerica.com/artists/glass-bill-jr
Also see 'Bill Glass Jr' by Candice Byrd, First American Art Magazine, No. 28, Fall 2020: 44-49.
http://bdglassstudio.com
He studied at Northern Arizona University & Central State (Oklahoma) University before enrolling in the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM where he studied sculpture under Allan Houser. He studied ceramics & graduated from IAIA in 1975 with an Associate of Fine Arts degree.
Returning to Talaquah, he set up arts & crafts classes in numerous NE Oklahoma communities as the Arts & Crafts Director for the Cherokee Nation. Bill's dedication & hard work with Cherokee artists & craftsmen helped establish the Cherokee Artist Association, Inc.
Glass has been a full-time artist since 1977. He has received numerous awards and accolates including induction as a Master Artist of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum (1986) and the Cherokee Medal of Honor from the Cherokee Honor Society (1999). Glass has participated in exhibitions across North America.
http://www.nativeartsofamerica.com/artists/glass-bill-jr
Also see 'Bill Glass Jr' by Candice Byrd, First American Art Magazine, No. 28, Fall 2020: 44-49.
http://bdglassstudio.com
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