Ann Gardner (born 1947) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

glass artist known for her large-scale sculptural and architectural installations. She was born in Eugene,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Career

Gardner began her career studying at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. In 1974, she received a degree in Ceramics and Fine Arts from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

. As a developing artist, she incorporated painting, ceramics, and drawing into her work. Gardener moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in 1979 where she continues to work. Gardner's early training and work used hand-painted ceramics. In 1985, Dale Chihuly invited her to be an artist-in-residence at the

Pilchuck Glass School Pilchuck Glass School is an international center for glass art education. The school was founded in 1971 by Dale Chihuly, Anne Gould Hauberg (1917-2016), and John H Hauberg (1916-2002). The campus is located on a former tree farm in Stanwood, W ...

where she adapted her ceramics experience to working with glass. During her second residency at Pilchuck, Gardener developed techniques that lead her towards the use of largely monochromatic glass tiles (

tessera A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae The oldest known tesserae ...

) and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. She is best known for using these techniques to create large-scale architectural installations and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

, such as ''Convergence, Lebeg,'' and ''Earth, Fields, Forest, Night, Sun and Water.'' Gardner has her work featured in the collections of the

Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning, New York in the United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works and currently has a collection of more than 50,000 glass obje ...

, the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

, the

Tacoma Art Museum The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an art museum in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It focuses primarily on the art and artists from the Pacific Northwest and broader western region of the U.S. Founded in 1935, the museum has strong roots in the c ...

, the American Museum of Crafts in New York City, among other places.

Awards

Gardner has worked as Artist in Residence at the

and

Museum of Glass The Museum of Glass (MOG) is a 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m²) art museum in Tacoma, Washington, dedicated to the medium of glass. Since its founding in 2002, the Museum of Glass has been committed to creating a space for the celebration of the st ...

, and received multiple

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

fellowships. In 1993 she was awarded the

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

Award. Her work ''Ring of Water'' was recognized in 2004 as one of the best public art projects by

Americans for the Arts Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit organization whose primary focus is advancing the arts in the United States. With offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, with more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to repr ...

. ''Fog'' received the Juror's Choice Award in ''New Glass Review''. In 2011, Gardener became the first mosaic artist to receive the Rakow Commission for her work ''Five Pods''.

References

External links

Ann Gardener website

2011 Rakow Commission Artist: Ann Gardner
(video)
Meet the Artist: Ann Gardener
(video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Ann American glass artists Women glass artists Living people 1947 births American mosaic artists Pacific Northwest artists 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors American installation artists American women installation artists Recipients of the Rakow Commission Artists from Eugene, Oregon Portland State University alumni 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Women mosaic artists