May 23, 2021

Nan Phillips

Nan Phillips was originally from Chicago and left at age eight when her family moved to Houston, where she lived until 1983. That year she came to Dallas, and she has lived in Richardson ever since. She recalls always creating things, mostly three-dimensional work, and filling her parents' home with what she made, though she never thought of it as artwork at the time. She married and raised three children, and her family's own history of immigration remains meaningful to her.

Trained in business, Phillips planned to return to school for a master's degree once her youngest child was old enough, and she was considering MBA programs when her husband suggested art instead. Told that a master of arts program would require going back for a bachelor's, she chose instead to take glass, pottery, and figurative sculpture classes. She began making pieces to give as gifts, and when people started buying them, her career as an artist took shape. Her primary medium is glass, predominantly fused glass along with some stained glass, both of which she teaches.

Phillips was one of seven founders of the Texas Jewish Arts Association, having recognized a need for a group where Jewish artists would not have to choose between attending openings and observing Shabbat and holidays such as Yom Kippur and Pesach. Having previously led the Texas Sculpture Association, she initially served as treasurer and membership chair for four years before becoming the group's president. Her Judaic work often incorporates the shin, flames, and the tree of life, inspired by the prayer that the Torah is a tree of life. Among the pieces she discussed were a menorah she titled Jacob's Coat Menorah and a work on immigration, and she hopes viewers find their own interpretations and a sense of inclusiveness in her art.

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