Bill Glass Jr. facts for kids

Bill Glass Jr. is a famous Cherokee Nation artist. He creates amazing art using clay, makes sculptures, and designs public art for everyone to see. In 2009, he was given a special award called Cherokee National Treasure. This award means he is highly respected for his art and for sharing Cherokee culture.

Bill Glass Jr.'s Early Life and School

Bill Glass Jr. was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He spent his childhood there and also in Arizona. Living in Arizona helped him fall in love with Native American art and culture.

In 1973, he started college at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma. He first planned to study computer science. But during his first year, he took art classes. His teachers were T.C. Cannon and Sherman Chaddlesone. Both of them had studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Bill Glass Jr. liked art so much that he decided to transfer to IAIA in 1973. There, he learned from a famous sculptor named Allan Houser. The teachers at IAIA encouraged Bill to learn more about his own Cherokee family history and traditions.

Working for the Cherokee Nation

After finishing art school, Bill Glass Jr. went back to Oklahoma. He worked for the Cherokee Nation in the late 1970s. His job was to coordinate art programs.

He organized workshops where people could learn arts and crafts. Sometimes, he visited schools to share art with young students. He also showed people different art techniques.

Bill Glass Jr.'s Art

In 1977, Bill Glass Jr. decided to become a full-time artist. He uses a special type of clay from Georgia. This clay lets him bake his art at very high temperatures. Higher temperatures mean he can use many more colors for his glazes.

His art is inspired by the ancient art of the Southeastern Native American people. These people lived during a time called the Mississippian era. Two artists, Willard Stone and Cecil Dick, helped Bill Glass Jr. learn and grow as an artist.

Bill Glass Jr.'s art has been shown all over the country. He has won awards at many big art shows. Some of these include the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Museum Guild Fair.

Public Artworks

Bill Glass Jr. is the father of another artist, Demos Glass. In the early 2000s, this father-son team started making large public sculptures together. They share a big studio where they create these huge art pieces.

They formed a group called Team Gadugi. This group included artists from different Native American tribes. Together, they created a large sculpture called The Passage in 2003. This artwork is in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It tells the story of the Trail of Tears.

Bill and Demos also created a sculpture called Touched to Above. You can see this artwork at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Bill Glass Jr. also led a team to create Origins. This artwork is at the Cherokee National History Museum in Tahlequah. It shows the Cherokee oral history of an ancient migration.

Awards and Special Honors

Bill Glass Jr. has received many important awards for his art:

• In 1986, the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma, named him a Master Artist.
• In 2009, the Cherokee Nation gave him the title of Cherokee National Treasure.
• The Red Earth Festival honored him in 2012.
• In 2015, the Tulsa Indian Art Festival named him their Honored Elder Artist.

Helping Other Artists

Bill Glass Jr. helped start the Cherokee Artists Association. This group later grew into the Southeastern Indian Artists Association. It is a non-profit group based in Tahlequah that supports Native American artists.

About His Life

Bill Glass Jr. lives with his wife. Their home is east of Locust Grove, Oklahoma.