Michael Janis, Co-Director of the Washington Glass School & Studio, merges two decades of architectural expertise with a disciplined approach to glass art. Since 2005, he oversees the studio’s site-specific and public art commissions.
His narrative artwork draws inspiration from his multicultural background as the child of a Chinese/Filipino immigrants.
A Fulbright Scholar at the UK’s University of Sunderland, his solo exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum in 2011 became part of their permanent collection. His works are in museum collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Tacoma Museum of Glass, the Imagine Museum, the Museum of American Glass and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Honored with the 31st Annual DC Mayor’s Arts Award, Janis is the Lowe Art Museum's 2024 Distinguished Artist, where he lectured on his work and led workshops at the University of Miami in March 2024.
Engaged as a consultant to the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities for 2023/2024, Janis is working with Washington, DC’s communities creating a public art memorial for the Enslaved People Who Built the US Capitol.