September 28, 2023
When Crystal Worl and Fumi Amano were selected to create public art installations for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s (SEA) C Concourse Expansion project, they embarked on a unique collaboration with two top Pacific Northwest cultural institutions.
These public art commissions are attached to a first-of-its-kind residency program made possible through a new partnership between SEA Airport, and two iconic glass art entities — Pilchuck Glass School and Museum of Glass. The Pilchuck residency is designed for the artists to explore potential ideas; the Museum of Glass residency is designed to produce these ideas into a final product that will be displayed at the airport.
This summer, Worl and Amano completed their two-week residencies at Pilchuck, and will each complete a second five-day residency at Museum of Glass, likely in 2024. Their finished pieces will be on display at the airport in 2026 with the opening of the new C Concourse.
SEA is the first airport known to launch a groundbreaking partnership like this, combining its resources and reach to support artists’ careers and inspire the development of the pieces that will be created and displayed in the C Concourse.
First of its kind 
The spark for the residency formed through some out-of-the-box thinking and ongoing connections between SEA Airport Public Art Program Manager Tommy Gregory, former Pilchuck Artistic Director Benjamin Wright, and Museum of Glass Hot Shop Director Ben Cobb. Gregory completed his own artist residency at Pilchuck in 2022.
“With the rapport that I was super lucky to build we kind of spitballed the idea before I proposed it to the C Concourse Expansion project team and they loved it,” Gregory said.
The partnership also builds on an ongoing collaboration between Pilchuck and Museum of Glass that began in 2004. Through the existing partnership, Pilchuck artists in residence and instructors are selected to come to Museum of Glass following Pilchuck’s summer sessions to further explore ideas and the medium of glass through access to its hot shop and world-class team.
Like the existing partnership, the new residency allows artists to take a piece from concept into fruition with support and resources along the way.
“Usually, the path between a creative idea from an artist and their ability to get it to the public is really convoluted and it can be mired with all kinds of things,” said Raya Friday, Education and Outreach Supervisor at Pilchuck Glass School. “This is the first collaborative project I've seen through separate institutions that breaks those barriers down, that builds these bridges so that the artists can freely be creative and physically create those items, and then have a place where it's going to be displayed. And it feels really holistic and circular.”
Gregory said the residency is a win-win for the artists and the entities involved.
“It's a rare opportunity for an artist to have a public art commission. It's even more novel and unique to have a residency component attached to it where you get to experiment and you work with the best makers in the world, quite literally, who come through Pilchuck and the Museum of Glass to see those ideas to fruition,” he said. “The airport benefits because it gets to collaborate with prominent cultural partners, and it also gets the resulting product and to put a label on it that says ‘part of the collection of the Port of Seattle’.”
Tim Butler, Marketing and Communications Director for Museum of Glass said it’s also an opportunity to communicate the significance of the glass art movement in the
Pacific Northwest with the traveling public.
“Glass art is instrumental to the artistic identity of this region,” he said. “It’s important for visitors coming into the airport to see that communicated. It’s also important for people to acknowledge that Tacoma has a vibrant glass art scene and the Museum of Glass is instrumental in pushing the medium forward. It’s extremely important that we have a presence there.”
Butler said supporting the careers of emerging artists is critical for Museum of Glass, as a museum and cultural institution. Its Visiting Artist Residency Program is designed to offer artists who may not have their own resources hot shop to work in and materials to work with, which can otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
“Working with a world-class team can also expand the insight and experience for these artists as well,” he said. “And to combine that with the opportunity to display the art at an international airport gets the artist global exposure.”
Creating opportunities
The residency is designed to create opportunities for a diverse group of artists and open up access to the medium of glass. The Port of Seattle’s call for artists provided an opportunity to bring in new perspectives from people who may not have had a connection to Pilchuck or Museum of Glass before.
Over the last few years, the Port has been working to increase representation in its public art collection through open calls for art and the acquisition of indigenous art. Creating opportunities for artists of color, female artists, and the LGBTQ+ community is part of that goal. This mission is also reflected at Pilchuck Glass School and Museum of Glass.
“Our endeavor is to bring people from a diverse background here and to create more access and have those voices not only amplified, but then also touch other people in the community. And so having artists like Fumi and Crystal here affects the entire (school) session. Their presence has a ripple effect, and that's also true for them being seen in a public space,” Friday said. “Being able to have another avenue to bring that diversity into the school is vital for the school's existence. This medium does not survive if we do not have diverse voices speaking about their experience. It's like the lifeblood of this place.”
Cobb said increasing equity and accessibility through programming and artists supports the mission of Museum of Glass.
“We want to make sure we are helping to get equal representation and footing for all makers; SEA has been making a big push to diversify the artists represented on their walls. It’s important for us to continue to do the same in all aspects.”
A legacy of glass
The SEA Airport art collection features artwork from renowned glass artists like Dick Weiss, who was a teacher at Pilchuck, and Cappy Thompson whose art is also displayed at Microsoft and Tacoma Art Museum. Through key connections, the residency is designed to keep that legacy going at the airport. The collaboration is also an opportunity to work with talented artists who may not have much experience working with glass.
“The value of having people who don't have a strong background in glass is that you get new ideas, people who are thinking outside of the box. Glass is such a process-heavy technique,” Friday said. “It takes a long time to get skills so it can kind of pin people in on thinking creatively about what the material can do.”
People who are new to glass aren’t as constrained by limitations on what could be possible. And the spirit of Pilchuck is all about trying out new ideas and stretching the realm of what might be possible with glass.
“That's when you get these leaps and bounds in process and technique. And it's amazing to see that happen within here, where people bring some really cool ideas and to see the whole community rally behind these artists who come here to try to make those ideas come to life.”
Cobb said he is excited to see where the residency takes Worl and Amano.
“It’s important to me that we are able to support emerging artists or those who typically work in other mediums and give them the opportunity to work with glass,” he said. “I’m looking forward to what these folks come up with and end up making down here. We’ve built full on exhibitions in our walls that later get shown across the country.”
He said the format of the museum, with its live demonstrations in the hot shop, set it apart.
“People who come to the museum get to learn about glass making, watch it come together in front of their eyes, and come back later and see finished product in a gallery (or at a venue like SEA). A lot of museums show historical art made by people who are no longer living. That’s not the case here. We are more of a living museum.”
Gregory said he hopes the collaboration will raise the bar for other institutions to use their resources to create opportunities for artists.
“I think it just makes sense to have big institutions work together and try to bring independent artists to the forefront of a public sphere,” he said. “These kinds of collaborations make artists more comfortable to apply to these opportunities and know that they're going to have not only the financial support from the public art program's capital improvement dollars, but also knowing they are elevating their understanding of being an artist.”
