Museum of Glass

The Museum of Glass (MOG) is a Template:Convert contemporary art museum in Tacoma, Washington, dedicated to the medium of glass.<ref name="architecture">Template:Cite web</ref> Since its founding in 2002, the Museum of Glass has been committed to creating a space for the celebration of the studio glass movement through nurturing artists, implementing education, and encouraging creativity.<ref name="about">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

The idea for the Museum of Glass began in 1992 when Dr. Philip M. Phibbs, recently retired president of the University of Puget Sound, had a conversation with Tacoma native and renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. Phibbs reasoned that the Pacific Northwest's contributions to the studio glass movement warranted a glass museum, and he outlined a plan for the Museum of Glass to the Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma. The timing of his proposal corresponded with the idea to redevelop the Thea Foss Waterway, an industrial site. The chairman of the council, George Russel, concluded that the Museum of Glass would be the perfect anchor for the renewed waterway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The site for the museum, directly adjacent to the Thea Foss Waterway, was secured in 1995. The Museum of Glass was established as a nonprofit organization in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Canadian architect Arthur Erickson was chosen to design the museum's building in 1997. Construction of the museum began in June 2000, and the steel frame of the iconic hot-shop cone was completed in 2001. Shortly thereafter construction began on the Chihuly Bridge of Glass to link the museum to downtown Tacoma. The museum opened on July 6, 2002, to thousands of visitors and worldwide accolades.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since its opening, the Museum of Glass has become a collecting institution, and has introduced a mobile hot-shop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2024, the Museum of Glass made history with its first permanent installation of a functional glass pipe, "Triceratops" by Ryan (Buck) Harris, known as Buck Glass. The "Triceratops" was donated to the museum by an anonymous private collector. The Museum of Glass took to Instagram breaking the news and stating in a post: " “Triceratops” is an example of this complex, and once taboo, art form. It bridges the gap between functional and fine art and is the first example of functional glass pipes to be accepted into the Museum's Permanent Collection, the tip of an iceberg of innovative and avant garde glassmakers."

Architecture

File:Museum of Glass at Tacoma Washington.jpg

Outside of the Hot Shop - the cone building

The Museum of Glass was designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson<ref name="arthur">Template:Cite web</ref> and was his first major art museum in the United States. The museum totals Template:Convert in area,<ref name="architecture" /> featuring Template:Convert in gallery space and a Template:Convert hot shop. This hot shop, shaped as an angled cone, is the museum's most striking architectural feature. The cone, inspired by the wood "beehive burners" of the sawmills that once dotted the waterway, is composed of 2,800 diamond-shaped stainless steel panels and is Template:Convert in diameter at its base.<ref name="arc">Template:Cite web</ref> Also featured in the Museum of Glass' architecture are a sweeping concrete stairway that spirals around the exterior of the building, and three rimless reflecting pools featured on the museum's terraces. Connected to the museum is the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, designed by Arthur Erickson in collaboration with artist Dale Chihuly, to connect the Museum of Glass to downtown Tacoma.<ref name="arthur" />

Exhibitions

Permanent collections

• 20th and 21st Century Glass Collection <ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Kids Design Glass Collection <ref name=":1" />
• Visiting Artist Residency Program Collection <ref name=":1" />
• Cappy Thompson: Gathering the Light <ref name=":1" />

Current exhibitions

• Kids Design Glass | 2009 – Ongoing<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Illuminate: Glass Art For Early Learners | April 29, 2023 – March 2024<ref name=":3" />
• Out Of The Vault: Family Meal | July 1, 2023 – 2024<ref name=":3" />
• She Bends: Redefining Neon Legacy | February 11, 2023 – October 29, 2023<ref name=":3" />
• Boundless Curiosity: A Journey With Robert Minkoff | April 2, 2022 – September 24, 2023<ref name=":3" />

Past exhibitions

• Out of the Vault: Soundtracks | June 18, 2022 – June 18, 2023<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Maestro Alfredo Barbini: Nature, Myth, and Magic, the David Huchthausen Collection | July 2, 2022 – April 9, 2023<ref name=":4" />
• What Are You Looking At?: An Eccentric Chorus of Artists Working in Glass | September 26, 2021 — January 22, 2023<ref name=":4" />
• Conservation From Here | April 26–Summer 2022<ref name=":4" />
• René Lalique: Art Deco Gems from the Steven and Roslyn Shulman Collection | November 27, 2020 – June 19, 2022<ref name=":4" />
• Spotlight on Dale Chihuly | October 14, 2017 – June 5, 2022<ref name=":4" />
• Transparency: An LGBTQ+ Glass Art Exhibition | October 12, 2019 – September 5, 2021<ref name=":4" />
• The Art of Being: Feelings, Memories, and Imagination | May 14 – August 29, 2021<ref name=":4" />
• A Glimpse at the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation Collection | October 16, 2020 – May 9, 2021<ref name=":4" />
• Counterparts: Glass + Art Elements | April 2, 2021 – March 13, 2022<ref name=":4" />
• Richard Marquis: Keepers | September 28, 2019 - February 15, 2021<ref name=":4" />
• Alchemy 5: Transformation in Contemporary Enamels | November 23, 2019 – October 18, 2020<ref name=":4" />
• Out of the Vault: Hidden Gems from the Museum of Glass Permanent Collection | March 30, 2019 – October 18, 2020<ref name=":4" />
• Beyond the Hot Shop: Glass in a Digital Age | January 27 – Summer 2020 <ref name=":4" />
• Translations: An Exploration of Glass by Northwest Native Carvers and Weavers | March 30 – November 10, 2019<ref name=":4" />
• Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight | October 3, 2018 – September 2, 2019<ref name=":4" />
• Foraging The Hive: Sara Young and Tyler Budge | May 26, 2018 – March 17, 2019<ref name=":4" />
• Complementary Contrasts: The Glass and Steel Sculptures of Albert Paley | September 9, 2017 – August 19, 2018<ref name=":4" />
• Michael E. Taylor, Traversing Parallels | October 28, 2017 – May 13, 2018<ref name=":4" />
• Akio Takamori: Portraits And Sleepers  | March 7 – May 6, 2018<ref name=":4" />
• Linda MacNeil: Jewels of Glass | January 21 – October 1, 2017<ref name=":4" />
• #BeTheCurator | January 16Template:SndOctober 23, 2016 <ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Ispirazione: James Mongrain in the George R. Stroemple Collection | February 10 – October 15, 2017<ref name=":4" />
• Into the Deep  |September 24, 2016 – August 20, 2017<ref name=":4" />
• Art Deco Glass from the Huchthausen Collection  | October 8, 2016 – August 13, 2017<ref name=":4" />
• David Huchthausen: A Retrospective Selection | July 23, 2016Template:SndJanuary 8, 2017 <ref name=":0" />
• Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora C. Mace: Every Soil Bears Not Everything | September 23, 2015Template:SndSeptember 6, 2016 <ref name=":0" />
• David Willis: Daisies | May 4, 2016Template:SndAugust 2016 <ref name=":0" />
• Chihuly's Venetians: The George R. Stroemple Collection | July 25, 2015Template:SndJanuary 4, 2016 <ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Vanity | March 4, 2015Template:SndAugust 30, 2015 <ref name=":2" />
• Treasures from Glass Collectors | July 13, 2015Template:SndSeptember 7, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Tools of the Trade | July 13, 2015Template:SndSeptember 7, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Kids Design Glass Too | January 17, 2015Template:SndJuly 12, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Chihuly Drawings | March 1, 2015Template:SndJune 30, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Patra Passage | February 14, 2015Template:SndMay 10, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Look! See? The Colors and Letters of Jen Elek and Jeremy Bert | February 7, 2014Template:SndFebruary 1, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Coastal Alchemy - Anna Skibska and Associates | February 22, 2014Template:SndFebruary 8, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Lightness of Being - New Sculpture - Howard Ben Tré | September 13, 2014Template:SndJanuary 4, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Hilltop Artists 20th Anniversary | September 13, 2014Template:SndFebruary 1, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Celebrating Lino Tagliapietra | September 24, 2014Template:SndJanuary 18, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Iittala Birds by Toikka | September 24, 2014Template:SndFebruary 22, 2015 <ref name =":2"/>
• Bohemian Boudoir | January 15 – May 4, 2014 <ref name =":2"/>
• Links: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest | May 17, 2013 – January 26, 2014 <ref name =":2"/>
• An Experiment in Design Production: The Enduring Birds of Iittala | September 25, 2013 – January 12, 2014 <ref name =":2"/>
• Northwest Artists Collect | January 19, 2012 – October 27, 2013 <ref name =":2"/>
• Translucent: Benjamin Moore | February 16, 2012Template:Snd October 20, 2013 <ref name =":2"/>
• Outgrowth: Highlights from the Museum's Collections | February 9, 2013Template:Snd April 21, 2013 <ref name =":2"/>
• Origins: Early Works by Dale Chihuly | May 19Template:Snd October 21, 2012 <ref name =":2"/>
• Beauty Beyond Nature: The Glass Art of Paul Stankard | November 12, 2011Template:Snd July 1, 2012 <ref name =":2"/>
• Gathering: John Miller and Friends | October 29, 2011Template:Snd June 19, 2012 <ref name =":2"/>
• Mildred Howard: Parenthetically Speaking: It's Only a Figure of Speech | July 2, 2011Template:Snd April 29, 2012 <ref name =":2"/>
• Glimmering Gone: Ingalena Klenell and Beth Lipman | Oct. 23, 2010Template:Snd March 11, 2012 <ref name =":2"/>
• Peter Serko: Transformation: Art Changes a City | August 7, 2011Template:Snd January 8, 2012 <ref name =":2"/>
• Kids Design Glass | October 31, 2009Template:Snd October 30, 2011 <ref name =":2"/>
• Fertile Ground: Recent Masterworks from the Visiting Artist Residency Program | October 9, 2010Template:Snd October 16, 2011 <ref name =":2"/>
• Masters of Studio Glass: Richard Craig Meitner | July 17, 2010Template:Snd June 19, 2011 <ref name =":2"/>
• Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows | July 11, 2009Template:Snd September 19, 2010 <ref name =":2"/>
• Incoming: Selections from the Permanent Collection | May 16, 2009Template:Snd July 5, 2010 <ref name =":2"/>
• Contrasts: A Glass Primer | November 11, 2006Template:Snd October 11, 2009 <ref name =":2"/>
• White Light: Glass Compositions by Daniel Clayman | September 14, 2008Template:Snd June 14, 2009 <ref name =":2"/>
• Dale Chihuly: the Laguna Murano Chandelier | September 14, 2008Template:Snd April 19, 2009 <ref name =":2"/>
• Dante Marioni: Form | Color | Pattern | February 16, 2008Template:Snd March 8, 2009 <ref name =":2"/>
• Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass | February 23Template:Snd August 24, 2008 <ref name =":2"/>

Hot shop

The Museum of Glass features a Template:Convert hot shop amphitheater that provides seating for 145 guests to watch live glass blowing demonstrations. The hot shop contains both a hot glass studio for blowing and casting glass and a cold working studio. Hot shop activity is streamed live through the Museum of Glass’ website and is also archived online. The Museum of Glass hot shop also provides residencies for both visiting and featured artists.<ref name="arc" />

Visiting Artist Program

File:Hot Shop.jpg

Glassmaking in the hot shop

The Museum of Glass hosts internationally acclaimed and emerging artists through its Visiting Artist Residency Program. The residencies range in length from one day to several weeks, and a piece is selected from each residency for inclusion in the museum's collection. Most residencies are streamed online through the museum's website and conclude in a "Conversation with the Artist" lecture. Since its opening, the Museum of Glass has partnered with Pilchuck Glass School to produce the Visiting Artist Summer Series, in which artists who attend or work at Piilchuck are invited to a residency at the Museum of Glass.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The first ever visiting artist to the Museum of Glass was Dale Chihuly at the museum's opening in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007 and 2009, Australian glass artist Clare Belfrage was the visiting artist. Some of her work is held by the museum.<ref name=cv>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• www.museumofglass.org