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| Established | 1951 |
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| Location | Corning, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°8′59.3″N77°3′15.5″W / 42.149806°N 77.054306°W |
| Visitors | 400,000 (2012) [1] |
| Website | www |
The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning, New York in the United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works and currently has a collection of more than 50,000 glass objects, some over 3,500 years old. [2]
The Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) is a not-for-profit museum dedicated to glass, first created as the Corning Glass Center, in 1951. It was built by Corning Glass Works [3] (renamed Corning Incorporated in 1989 [4] ) upon the company's 100th anniversary. [5] Thomas S. Buechner, who would later become director of the Brooklyn Museum, was the founding director of the glass museum, serving in the post from 1951 to 1960 and again from 1973 to 1980. [6]
The original museum and library were housed in a building designed by Harrison & Abramovitz in 1951. [1] Gunnar Birkerts designed a new addition, which was opened on May 28, 1980. [7]
The Studio opened for classes in 1996. [8] [9]
The museum was renovated in 2001, with exhibitions designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. [5] [1]
In 2012, the museum again expanded, [10] with a redesign by Thomas Phifer. The Contemporary Art + Design Wing opened on March 20, 2015. [11] [10] [12] [1] [13] [14] [15]
In 2015, Karol Wight was appointed president and executive director of the museum. [16] [17] She is also curator of ancient and Islamic glass at the museum. [18]
In December 2023, the museum opened The Wendell Weeks & Kim Frock Residency Center, an expansion of The Studio from 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) to 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2). The expansion provides space for artists and students for short and long-term residency. The Residency Center also hosts the Glassmaking Institute, which offers a two-year program. [19]
In June 1972, Hurricane Agnes severely damaged the museum. A case holding 600 rare books was tipped over, and the books were covered by mud and shards of glass panes. Half of the entire library collection was damaged in the flood, and according to Martin and Edwards, 528 of the museum's 13,000 objects had sustained damage. [20] : 11 [21]
During the extensive recovery efforts, the library occupied an abandoned Acme grocery store across the street from the museum. Altogether, staff and volunteers dried, cleaned, and restored over 7,000 water-logged and frozen books over the next two years. The rare books were sent to Carolyn Price Horton, a leading restoration expert, who disassembled, washed, deacidified, and rebound them. [22] On August 1, 1972, the museum reopened with restoration work still underway. [23]
The museum's collection of contemporary artworks includes pieces by significant artists such as Klaus Moje, Karen LaMonte, Dale Chihuly, Libenský / Brychtová, Ginny Ruffner and Josiah McElheny. [24] The galleries include: Glass in Nature, Origins of Glassmaking, Glass of the Romans, Glass in the Islamic World, Early Northern European Glass, The Rise of Venetian Glassmaking, Glass in 17th–19th Century Europe, 19th Century European Glass, Asian Glass, Glass in America, Corning: From Farm Town to "Crystal City", Paperweights of the World and Modern Glass.
In addition to these galleries, there is the Jerome and Lucille Strauss Study Gallery, Frederick Carder Gallery, Ben W. Heineman Sr. Gallery of Contemporary Glass, and the Contemporary Glass Gallery.
The museum's Ben W. Heineman Sr. Gallery of Contemporary Glass focuses on vessels, objects, sculptures, and installations made by international artists from 1975 to 2010. The purpose of the gallery is to show the different ways in which glass is used in art, craft, and design. The gallery is named for the Ben W. Heineman Sr. family, who donated a major collection of contemporary glass to the museum in 2005.[ citation needed ]
The CMOG offers exhibitions year-round. Past exhibitions have included: Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes and Peasants, [25] East Meets West: Cross-Cultural Influences in Glassmaking in the 18th and 19th Centuries [26] and Mirror to Discovery: The 200-Inch Disk and the Hale Reflecting Telescope at Palomar. [27] Several special exhibitions are offered at the museum and the Rakow Research Library each year, from shows focused on specific artists to major exhibitions on important topics in glass and glass history. [28]
Inaugurated in 1986 by the CMOG, the Rakow Commission supports the development of new works of art in glass. This program, which provides $25,000 each year, is made possible through the late Dr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Rakow, who were museum fellows and benefactors of the museum. Each commissioned work is added to the museum's collection and is displayed publicly for the first time during the annual seminar. [29]
Visitors can watch live glassmaking, [30] or learn to make glass at the museum. [31]
The museum offers several live glassmaking demonstrations. [32] The Hot Glass Show is a demonstration where one of the museum's glass blowers provides a live glass-blowing demonstration, which is also narrated by another of the glass blowers. The Hot Glass Show is performed at the museum, on the road, and at sea on three Celebrity Cruise ships.[ citation needed ]
At the museum, the Hot Glass Show is offered daily and is included in the cost of admission. [33] At each demonstration, the glassmaker takes a glob of molten glass and shapes it into vases, bowls, or sculptures. Throughout the demonstration, a narrator describes the process, and cameras give viewers a close-up look into the furnaces where the glass is heated. The show gives viewers a look into an ancient Roman technique that is still used today for glass making. Each show lasts between 20 and 40 minutes. [34] The museum takes the Hot Glass Show on the road, bringing the demonstration to the public, designers, and other museums in the US and abroad. [35]
GlassLab is the design program at the museum. GlassLab's focus on material and process aims to help designers and artists realize new forms, functions and meanings for glass. The program is by invitation only and provides designers with access to explore concepts in glass. GlassLab designers come from various disciplines, such as product, graphic, and fashion design. In public "design performances" or private workshops, designers and glassmakers collaborate and prototype design concepts. [36]
The museum actively researches, publishes, and provides lectures about a range of glass topics. [37] It hosts The Rakow Research Library, which houses a collection of materials on the art and history of glass and glassmaking, and is open to the public.
The Rakow Research Library, founded as part of the CMOG in 1951, [38] is a public institution that houses a comprehensive collection of materials on the art and history of glass and glassmaking. [39] The library collection ranges from medieval manuscripts to original works of art on paper to the latest information on techniques used by studio artists. More than 130 archives contain unique material from individual artists, galleries, companies, scholars, and organizations. The library also presents exhibitions featuring rare items from its collection. In 1985, the museum renamed its library the Leonard S. and Juliette K. Rakow Library in honor of donors Dr. and Mrs. Rakow. The collection does not circulate. However, the library is a member of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), an international bibliographic service, and microfiche copies of books on glass and photocopies of periodical articles can be borrowed through interlibrary loan. [40]
The Canadian reality glassblowing competition television series Blown Away includes an artist residency at the CMOG as part of its prize. The museum also provided assistance during the series' production. [41]
Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks in the fine arts. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement, and typically serve no useful function. Though usage varies, the term is properly restricted to glass made as art in small workshops, typically with the personal involvement of the artist who designed the piece. This is in contrast to art glass, made by craftsmen in factories, and glass art, covering the whole range of glass with artistic interest made throughout history. Both art glass and studio glass originate in the 19th century, and the terms compare with studio pottery and art pottery, but in glass the term "studio glass" is mostly used for work made in the period beginning in the 1960s with a major revival in interest in artistic glassmaking.
Frederick Carder was a glassmaker, glass designer, and glass artist who was active in the glass industry in both England and the United States, notably for Stevens & Williams and Steuben, respectively. Known for his experimentation with form and color, Carder's work remains popular among collectors and can be found in numerous museum collections, including The Corning Museum of Glass, which houses theFrederick Carder Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. He was born in Staffordshire, England, and died in Corning, New York, where he had made his home in 1903.
Harvey Littleton was an American glass artist and educator, one of the founders of the studio glass movement; he is often referred to as the "Father of the Studio Glass Movement". Born in Corning, New York, he grew up in the shadow of Corning Glass Works, where his father headed Research and Development during the 1930s. Expected by his father to enter the field of physics, Littleton instead chose a career in art, gaining recognition first as a ceramist and later as a glassblower and sculptor in glass. In the latter capacity he was very influential, organizing the first glassblowing seminar aimed at the studio artist in 1962, on the grounds of the Toledo Museum of Art. Imbued with the prevailing view at the time that glassblowing could only be done on the factory floor, separated from the designer at his desk, Littleton aimed to put it within the reach of the individual studio artist.
Josiah McElheny is an artist and sculptor, primarily known for his work with glass blowing and assemblages of glass and mirrored glassed objects. He is a 2006 recipient of the MacArthur Fellows Program. He lives and works in New York City.
Michael M. Glancy was an American glass and sculpture artist and arts educator.
Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová were Czech contemporary artists. Their works are included in many major modern art collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
David Scott Patchen is an American glass artist who uses the techniques of cane and murrine in an American style. Patchen's work is known primarily for a combination of complexity and scale in densely patterned glass. His work is in many private and public collections internationally, featured in many publications and frequently in juried shows such as SOFA, Chicago, ART Shanghai and ART Palm Beach. His work is shown in galleries in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Patchen was awarded an artist residency in 2010 in Seto city, Japan where his visit was covered by the local media and included lectures, demonstrations and a show of his work at the Seto City Art Museum. His work has won awards and is in both private and public collections internationally. Based on Patchen's expertise, his book is part of the permanent collection of Giorgio Cini Foundation's Centro Studi del Vetro library in Venice, Italy and the Rakow Library at the Corning Museum of Glass.
Dan Owen Dailey is an American artist and educator, known for his sculpture. With the support of a team of artists and crafts people, he creates sculptures and functional objects in glass and metal. He has taught at many glass programs and is professor emeritus at the Massachusetts College of Art, where he founded the glass program.
Ann Gardner is an American glass artist known for her large-scale sculptural and architectural installations.
Debora Moore is a contemporary glass artist. She is best known for her glass orchids.
Ann Wolff is a glass artist who lives and works in both Gotland, Sweden, and in Berlin, Germany. Wolff's blown, engraved, and cast work explores the lives of women, their relationship with one another, and their position in society. She is considered one of the founders of the international Studio Glass movement.
Max Lamb is a British furniture designer who combines traditional, often primitive, design methods with digital design. He is known for employing unusual approaches to using natural materials, including pouring pewter onto sand, and volcanic rock.
Amber Cowan is an American artist and educator living and working in Philadelphia. Cowan creates fused and flameworked glass sculptures from cullet and recycled industrial glass.
Jenni Kemarre Martiniello is an Australian Aboriginal (Arrernte) glass artist. She is best known for making glass vessels inspired by woven forms traditionally made by indigenous peoples. She is also known for her advocacy for and support of indigenous artists.
Thaddeus Wolfe is an American designer and artist, known for his glass vessels, light fixtures, and wall-bound pieces made through a "unique molding process that combines one-of-a-kind plaster casts and expert glassblowing". His glasswork is multi-layered and highly textured, often incorporating brass and bronze. In 2016, Wolfe was awarded the Rakow Commission given every year by the Corning Museum of Glass. Wolfe lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Karol B. Wight is a museum administrator and is currently the president and executive director of The Corning Museum of Glass. She specializes in the field of ancient glass.
Deborah Czeresko is an American glass blower known for winning the first season of the Netflix series, Blown Away.
Rui Sasaki is a glass artist from Japan. Her work is in the permanent collection of Corning Museum of Glass.
Isabel de Obaldía is a Panamanian glass artist. Her work is included in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass.
Anna Mlasowsky is a German artist. She is known for her experimental and boundary pushing work in glass and is recognized as one of the leading female artist working in glass today.
