Corning, New York: The Museum
From Furnace to Flame: A Journey In Glass
Entrance to the Corning Museum of Glass
I really enjoyed some of the modern art pieces that were on display even though my mission was to find the pre-modern glass.
Some of the modern pieces connected with my love of glass, history, and even sci-fi. The collection of green and brown glass arranged as trees was a direct connection to forest glass. Ravens feasting on a glass chandelier connected with my appreciation of the ravens’ role in mythology. The glass beast on display looked a lot like the crystal foxes in Star Wars. Then, there was the history of population growth told through glass.
The museum has a multi-story gallery dedicated to the science of glass and its industrial use.
And of course, there are the demos, including ones on glass blowing. We watched this flameworker making items that were going into a future exhibit.
The best demo was the hot shop demo, which we saw twice.
I really enjoyed all the Stuben glass on display. We went through the exhibit twice.
My partner and I spent most of our time looking at the history of glass exhibit. I learned a lot about pre-modern and modern glass history. I found so many things to inspire my future work including eye beads, vessels, Egyptian mosaic plates, and even enameling.
Everything about our two days was inspiring and informative.
