Disclosure: The Whiteness of Glass is a research-based exhibition organized by artist collective Related Tactics (Michele Carlson, Weston Teruya, and Nate Watson) that examines systemic racism, exclusion, and inequity in the field of glass. Much like a game of telephone, Disclosure invited a series of artists to creatively translate hard data about the demographics of the glass field. The exhibition showcases three iterative stages of interpretation: originating data visualizations by Related Tactics; artist instruction responses by Joyce Scott, Ché Rhodes, Einar & Jamex de la Torre, Cheryl Derricotte, Corey Pemberton, and Emily Leach; and glass responses by Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez, Vanessa German, Helen Lee, Pearl Dick, Kim Thomas, and Raya Friday.

Related Tactics’ experimental approach to collaborative art-making uses their research about the whiteness of the glass field as a launching point and creative parameter for the project participants. Their process also builds space for artists of color to create meaningful connections with one another as well as to process and examine collective experiences of negotiating systemic racism in the field. The works on view range widely in scale and form, from ephemera of the glass studio–shards, raw materials, and artist sketches– to neon and sand-cast glass sculptures. Viewers have a rare opportunity to step into this novel, iterative creative project that harnesses the social nature of glassmaking– a discipline that requires connection, communication, and teamwork.

Their original dataset, which was produced for a 2020 essay in New Glass Review, published by Corning Museum of Glass, includes demographic data of tenured faculty in glass programs, directors and board chairs of craft institutions, and directors and board chairs of glass community organizations. Related Tactics notes, “We have seen the impact a lack of representation of Black artists and other artists of color has had on ourselves, our peers, and the artistic community as a whole, and seek to build transformative networks between practitioners in the field that shift those engrained dynamics.” This exhibition asserts the potential of artistic research to work towards cultural equity, institutional critique, and community-building.

‍Related Tactics are the recipients of the Center for Craft’s 2021 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. Each year this substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.