Thomas Anderson
Date/Place of Birth: 1951; Salt Lake City, Utah
Now Residing At: Olympia, Washington
Education: 1971 A.A. Clark College, Vancouver, WA
1973 B.A. Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
Awards/Commissions: The Washington Center for the Performing Arts, Olympia, WA
St. Peter hospital Chapel, Olympia, WA
Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute, Tacoma, WA
Haines and Dolgash Oral Surgeons, Olympia, WA
Scott Windus Photography Studios, Beverly Hills, CA
Stevens Restaurant, Incline Village, Lake Tahoe
Cheyenne Mountain Inn, Colorado Springs, CO
Heartwood Convalescent Center Chapel, Tacoma, WA
Evergreen Hospice Center Chapel, Evergreen Hospital, Kirkland, WA
Kaiser Permanente Hospital Chapel, Portland, OR
Park of the Seven Oars; City of Olympia, Art in Public Places Program, Olympia, WA
Worthington Conference Center, St. Martin’s College, Lacey, WA

Tom Anderson was born in 1951 in Salt Lake City, the son of a jazz musician. By the time the family settled in Vancouver, Washington, Anderson’s formative years has been shaped by syncopated rhythm and life on the road (39 states by the age of four).

Part of his education included three months of travel in Europe, where he studied firsthand the works of the great masters. In the autumn of 1971, he enrolled at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. There, in addition to his Asian art and Philosophy studies, Anderson made some meaningful contributions to the first years of the experimental college’s development. He initiated the use of the 16mm animation facilities, helped to establish the FM Radio station KAOS, co-created the four-story library mural, and worked as an assistant graphic designer, developing the College’s catalogs and visual identities.

In 1973, Anderson co-founded Mansion Glass Studios in Olympia. This collaboration won recognition locally and nationally for their design and fabrication of Architectural Art Glass commissions, as well as for their restoration projects. Anderson first attended the highly esteemed Pilchuck Glass School in 1986, as a teaching assistant to Henry Halem. He returned in 1987, on a scholarship with Susan Stinsmuhlen-Amend, and again in 1988 and 1989 as a teaching assistant in the advanced graduate program, specializing on glass casting and enamel kiln firing.

In 1990, Anderson established his own studio in Olympia. Over the past eight years he has continued his work in painting, metal fabrication, mixed media constructions, and printmaking. He is represented by galleries in Oregon, Washington, Florida, New Mexico, and California. In addition to commissions, Anderson exhibits regularly and his work can be found in over 400 public and private collections including the Oregon Arts Commission, the Washington State Arts Commission, Delta Airlines, the city of Olympia, Hewlett Packard, and US Bank.