Pilchuck director quits

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Less than two years after becoming executive director of Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Barbara Johns has resigned.

"It was a matter of principle." she said. "It was a situation that was presented to me that was not negotiable and, I felt, potentially damaging."

Johns would not give specifics but said her disagreement was with the board. "I believe the situation they presented to me would have undermined any executive director," she said.

Bryce Seidl, a Pilchuck board member who's filling in as interim director, described the reason for Johns' departure as "the result of a divergence of views on the leadership of the organization." He would not elaborate, except to say that it is not a financial problem. "We are very sorry to see her go."

Pilchuck was co-founded in 1971 by glass artist Dale Chihuly with the support of patrons Anne Gould Hauberg and John H. Hauberg and attracts a stellar cast of artists for its faculty and residency program. Former executive director Marge Levy led the school for 10 years and helped it establish a reputation as one of the world's top glass schools.

Johns, a widely respected former chief curator at Tacoma Art Museum, was enthusiastically welcomed on board at Pilchuck after a national search.

Now Seidl says: "It's not unusual to have a leader change after a short period of time. Pilchuck has got its own legs, and it can go on."