Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tim Tate. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tim, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I have been making my living full time as an artist for more than 20 years at the Washington Glass School. Our first class was on 9/13/2001. We were so very worried after 9/11, but everyone showed for the class and begged us to keep the school open. It seems that challenging times were very encouraging with the creation of art

When we first began, we had a women who frequently got very upset when someone besides herself succeeded at something. Everyone had to pretend they weren’t doing well to make sure she was happy. She left, and we decided on a few rules to guarantee the longevity of the school.

#1). We would always embrace new members into our studio. This would keep it fresh.

#2). Everyone who comes in must agree with this statement : No one else’s success is never at our expense, we cheer for all here.

#3). Only the studio coordinator would be paid. All other staff, including the 3 Co-Directors had to earn their money by making work, and selling it. These keeps us all from becoming merely administrators.

#4). All in the studio enter into an “Artist’s Covenant” with all the other studio artists here. If one of us gets a show, we ask if others can be in the show as well. If one get into a gallery, then they ask the gallery if others in the covenant can have their work there as well. thats the idea….a rising tide floats all boats..

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Washington, DC native, and have been working with glass as a sculptural medium for the past 35 years. I have shown nationally and beyond since the 1990’s, including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Boca Raton Museum, Art Basel Scope in Switzerland, Art Miami during Art Basel-Miami, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the Hermitage State Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and commercial galleries from Washington, DC to London and Berlin.

I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship from the University of Sunderland, England in 2012. My work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, the Mint Museum, the Fuller Museum, the Katzen Art Center of American University, the Milwaukee Art Museum and Vanderbilt University Museum.

I have spent many years championing LGTBQ rights in all its forms. As a 40-year HIV+ Queer Man,I founded the Triangle Artist Group in the early 90’s and helped curate the very first HIV+ art show there. I am also the designer of the New Orleans AIDS Monument.

I have spoken at Yale University on Glass and Conflict…. detailing my own LGTBQ activism in glass. I have participated in Glasstress 2019 at the Venice Biennale, 2021 at the Boca Raton Museum and the Glasstress at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. I am also a co-administrator and founder of the discussion group, “21st Century Glass”.

I never fit well into the Studio Glass movement, so I founded the school purposely as a non-studio glass school. I modeled it as a combination of Penland School of Craft in N.C. and the Crucible in Oakland, Cal.

The school, and I, lived between those lines. Always being difficult to define worked incredibly well for both.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I remember writing a short essay for a show that the Washington Post cut and pasted ands used.. 6 months later I saw the identical text come across my desk. I then realized that when people read anything, they believed it. I knew immediately that we had to join this thing called “Facebook”.

I befriended every artist, curator, writer, gallery personnel, museum staff, and board of directors of every art institution I would ever want to be in…..every founders circle members, every acquisition committee member, etc. I was surprised that at least 1 out of 3 always said yes.

This is what built my foundation for social media.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Many years ago I received a terminal diagnosis….I had one year to live. I realized that my family had veered me towards a safer course in life than being an artist. I decided to embrace risk from then on. The terminal diagnosis hung over my head for 10 years, till I realized that perhaps they were wrong.

But I had gotten so good with my art, I couldn’t go back now. So I jumped into risk, and never looked back.

Contact Info:

• Website: TimTateGlass.com
• Instagram: @TimTate
• Facebook: Tim Tate
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/tim-tate-50b84429