Meet the Artists
Margaret Halpin
Artist statement
As an artist and art educator I have explored many forms of the visual arts. After about ten years of working in glass, I find my work is influenced by nature and cultural experiences. I also just enjoy playing with basic design elements to create a sense of the spirit of a place, object or emotion. Tapestry glass techniques are often included in my work. My jewelry creations are miniatures of the spirit of my larger work. It is all a great expressive adventure of head to heart to hand.
Biography
Margaret Halpin is a Studio Artist at the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo Park and exhibits her work in a variety of venues in the Washington, DC area. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in International Programs brought her to the DC area from the New York area. She studied art at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and was an art educator in public schools. She holds a Masters in Art Education from State University College at Buffalo and an MBA in Arts Administration from Binghamton University. Her work has been exhibited in a variety of venues in New York State. After many years as an Associate Dean for Finance and Administration at the Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, and then Chief Operating Officer of The World Justice Project, Margaret is following her passion for the arts.
Email: halpinm50@msn.com
Facebook: Margaret Halpin@halpinmArt
202-997-0250 – mobile 202-244-6143 - home
Merrilee Harrigan
Artist Statement
I found my passion for art at a glass workshop while engrossed in a career in clean energy and environmental education. I was surprised by the joy I felt in the creative process and chose glass as my artistic medium. More recently I added glass jewelry with silver in addition to my glass art. Learning to trust my own voice and my eye has been exhilarating and deeply satisfying. I found learning venues and teachers who taught me the skills and, more importantly, encouraged me to follow my muse, take chances and chart my own path.
My inspiration starts with the forms of the natural world – circles, arcs, spirals and more -- transferred to glass and precious metals. Much of my glass art uses layers of patterns and colors creating a depth of beauty you can lose yourself in. The other style of glass I create incorporates silver into certain types of clear glass that transform into tones of gold, bronze and turquoise, becoming organic, stone-like pieces that I have dubbed Silvitrum. I love that I can infuse the silver scraps and filings from my silverwork into glass to create unique glass art. Making art doesn’t take place in isolation, but rather as part of the neighbors, customers and businesses who make up my community. Having built a solar house and championed energy efficiency, I was a bit chagrined that I use four electricity-using kilns – so I covered all my available roof space with solar panels. Missing my environmental education work, I started teaching glass workshops; when the federal government was shut down, I offered free workshops to furloughed federal workers. Concerned by the economic pain in my community, I contributed 25% of the purchase price to the local food bank during the summer of 2020. We are stronger together, and those connections also bring me joy.
My mission is to bring joy through art. Hearing my customers tell me that the art I have created makes them happy is my greatest satisfaction.
Biography
Merrilee Harrigan is a glass and jewelry artist based in Washington DC. While embarked on a career researching and teaching renewal energy and energy efficiency, she discovered the pleasure and excitement of the creative artistic process. She took her first fused glass class in 2003 and was immediately hooked on the beauty and creative process of glassmaking. Her art includes wall art, bowls and plates and fine jewel.
Merrilee studied fused glass at Vitrum Studio, Bullseye Glass, the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo, and Helios Studio in Austin Texas. She learned silversmithing at Silverworks at Glen Echo and studied with Ronda Coryell in New Mexico to learn to craft silver settings to add to her fused glass jewelry.
Her work has been exhibited at art shows and exhibitions around the region, and her piece “We Are All Beautiful 2” was awarded first prize at the Workhouse 6th Annual National Glass Exhibition in 2012.
Merrilee brings her environmental values to her art, using solar panels to power her home studio and using only recycled precious metals.
Harrigan@joyofglass.com
202-365-1813
Katherine Siena Hubley
Artist Statement
As a young girl my mother taught me to sew and I learned to make art with fabric. I have always loved the way the colors and patterns in fabric work together to create unique pieces. I find that working in kiln-formed glass gives me a similar opportunity to work with colors and patterns in a new and challenging way. I enjoy making my own patterned glass and using this to create new pieces. As a lifelong perfectionist, the interaction of glass and heat in the kiln has given me the freedom to embrace a measure of unpredictability. Ultimately, I am thrilled by the rhythms of line and curve imparted by the kiln as glass melds together in the heat. I find inspiration in assembling colors and patterns using various techniques both in and out of the kiln.
Biography
Katherine Siena Hubley alternated growing up between Stanford, California and the D.C. Metropolitan area. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Stanford University she returned to the Washington area and worked at an economic research firm. She went back to school to get her Nursing Degree after several years at home full time with her three children. She has recently retired from a long career at the Medstar Georgetown University Hospital Center for Wound Healing. Katherine spent years creating fabric art – quilting and making clothing for her family and friends. At the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo she discovered a new medium to express her art. She is influenced by her quilting experience and loves to create patterns and shapes from glass. She is currently has a home studio and is a Studio Artist at the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo Park.
Email: kjshubley@gmail.com