Corning Museum Of Glass - New York State
2008-08-12

                                                                            Corning Museum Of Glass - New York State 

 

 

Tower sculpture consisting of 600 glass bowls

 

The Corning Museum of Glass (www.cmog.org) is home to the world’s most comprehensive and celebrated collection of glass, with more than 45,000 objects reflecting 3,500 years of glassmaking history. An independent, non-profit, educational institution, the Museum is dedicated to the art, history, science, research and exhibition of glass. Located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York State, The Corning Museum of Glass is the world's largest glass museum, featuring 35 centuries of glass artistry, live glassblowing demonstrations, Make Your Own Glass experiences for all ages and an international glassmarket. It is also home to the Rakow Research Library, which is the library of record on glass and glassmaking, and The Studio, a highly respected glassmaking school.

The Glass Collection

The Glass Collection Galleries explore Near Eastern, Asian, European, and American glass and glassmaking from antiquity through present day. They tell the story of glass creation, from a full-scale model of an Egyptian furnace to the grand factories of Europe, and, then America, and finally, to the small-scale furnaces that fueled the Studio Glass movement that began in America in the 1960s. The galleries contain objects representing every country and historical period in which glassmaking has been practiced. The Rakow Research Library The Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library of The Corning Museum of Glass is the world’s foremost library on the art and history of glass and glassmaking. Its mission is to acquire everything published on the subject of glass, in every format and in every language. The library’s collection of more than 300,000 items includes publications in more than 40 languages, and half of its books and periodicals are in languages other than English. These holdings range in date from a 12th-century manuscript to the latest biographies of contemporary glass artists. The library’s holdings also include personal and corporate archives and manuscripts, as well as sound recordings, postage stamps, calendars, and other glass-related resources.

The Studio 

 

The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass is an internationally renowned teaching facility that also offers various residency and scholarship programs. Instructors from the United States and abroad teach at The Studio. Students at The Studio range in experience from beginning to advance. Classes at The Studio are held throughout the year. The Studio also offers half-hour Make Your Own Glass workshops for Museum visitors, as well as group glassmaking experiences. Both include activities appropriate for children as young as three-years-old.

The Museum's History

Conceived of as an accredited educational institution and founded in 1950 by the Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated), the Museum has never been a showcase for the company or its products, but rather exists as a non-profit institution that preserves and expands the world's understanding of glass. When the Museum officially opened to the public in 1951, it contained a significant collection of glass and glass-related books and documents: there were 2,000 objects, two staff members, and a research library, housed in a low, glass-walled building designed by Harrison & Abramowitz. Under its first director, Thomas Buchner, the Museum continued to assemble a comprehensive collection of glass, and its library acquired rare books related to the history of glassmaking. When Buchner accepted the directorship of the Brooklyn Museum, he was succeeded by Paul Perrot, who continued the expansion of the collection and the staff.

Museum Underwater In June 1972, disaster struck as Hurricane Agnes emptied a week's worth of rain into the surrounding Chemung River Valley. The river overflowed its banks and poured five feet of floodwater into the Museum. When the waters receded, staff members found glass objects tumbled in their cases and crusted with mud, the library's books swollen with water. At the time, Buchner described the flood as "possibly the greatest single catastrophe borne by an American museum." Museum staff members were faced with the tremendous task of restoration: every glass object had to be meticulously cleaned and restored, while the library's contents had to be cleaned and dried page by page, slide by slide, even before being assessed for rebinding, restoration, or replacement. On August 1, 1972, the Museum reopened with restoration work still underway.

Growth and Renovations By 1978, the Museum had outgrown its space. Gunnar Barkers designed a new addition, creating a flowing series of galleries with the library at their core, linked to the old building via light-filled, windowed ramps. With memories of the hurricane still fresh, the new galleries were raised high above the flood line on concrete pillars. The new Museum opened to the public on May 28, 1980, exactly 29 years after its first opening. By the early 1990s, The Corning Museum of Glass was once more overflowing its exhibition space, and increasing visitation put a strain on guest facilities. In 1996, the Museum embarked upon the first phase of a planned five-year, $65 million transformation. Under the directorship of Dr. David Whitehouse, the first element to be added was The Studio. This state-of-the-art teaching facility for glassblowing and cold working opened for classes in 1996. Architects Smith-Miller + Hawkinson designed an addition to the main Museum building, using glass wherever possible to convey the beauty and elegance of the art form in the building itself. The Museum's renovation was completed in 2001, and included a new visitors' center, Sculpture Gallery, Hot Glass Show demonstration stage and a hands-on Innovation Center with exhibitions designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. A redesigned 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) Glass Market, one of the largest Museum shops in the country, filled the entire bottom of the Museum. The Rakow Library was relocated to new quarters across the Museum campus. The renovated facilities now welcome more than 300,000 visitors from around the globe each year and the Museum actively acquires new objects.

 

There are many  museums around the world, which are about arts, architectures, music and so on. Today, I will introduce you a new type of museum about glasses, the name is Corning Museum of Glass.