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May I Hold That For You? Mount Making for a Major Exhibition

Mountmaking is the process of designing, fabricating, and installing the structures (called mounts, brackets, or armatures) that safely support collection objects and artifacts while they are on exhibit. I learned how to make mounts while working as an Exhibit Fabricator in New Mexico and I have now worked at The Corning Museum of Glass for two years.

For the Museum’s major exhibition this year, Past | Present: Expanding the Stories of Glass, the Curatorial team asked the Collections Management team for several mounts to be made. Objects may be mounted for many reasons and the mounts in this exhibition were to make certain objects stable and secure and to hold them in a preferred orientation.

*Past* | *Present* is now on view in the 35 Centuries of Glass galleries.

In this blog, I will talk about some of the objects from Past | Present and the mounts that I made for them.

Celebrate PRIDE With a New Self-Guided Gallery Tour

Will you be visiting The Corning Museum of Glass during Pride month this year? Then why not try our new, self-guided Pride Tour through the galleries to discover glass objects through an LGBTQIA+* lens. Some stops on the tour show the long history of queerness and the diversity of human sexuality across time, while other stops offer contemporary, Pride-inspired takes on historical objects. The tour was put together thanks to a joint effort by the Museum’s Curatorial and Education Departments.

The Progress Pride Flag will fly in front of The Corning Museum of Glass throughout June.

Each of the objects on the tour has a unique story to tell. Follow the links to learn more about each object or pick up a gallery guide on your next visit and see if you can find them all yourself.

Recharge at The Corning Museum of Glass

Summer is here, and for many, it’s time to hit the road and do some sightseeing. With the rising cost of gasoline and related environmental concerns, more and more people are beginning to move to electric vehicles, known as “EVs,” that are either fully electric or plug-in hybrids.

And, did you know, The Corning Museum of Glass has installed new charging stations in its Welcome Center parking lot to support these new vehicles? This makes the Museum a convenient place to stop for a break or as your final destination.

This blog post comes to us from guest contributor Dr. J Fremont, an author from Southern California. Fremont’s debut novel, Magician of Light (She Writes Press), was published last week on May 17, 2022.

For more than 25 years, Fremont practiced as a veterinarian in addition to serving as an adjunct professor at a local university and community college. In retirement, Fremont has focused on the arts, in particular jewelry making, glass fusing, and sewing. But her passion lies in research and writing. Magician of Light is the fruit of that passion.

The Maestro’s Farewell Tour: Corning Celebrates Lino Tagliapietra’s Impact on Glass

Lino Tagliapietra in the Museum’s Amphitheater Hot Shop, May 13, 2022.

Lino Tagliapietra may be retiring, but not before one final visit to The Corning Museum of Glass. Last weekend was a monumental one for Lino, the glassblowers and staff at the Museum, and all the guests who filled the Amphitheater Hot Shop to see the Maestro at work during what will be his final performance in Corning.

To celebrate Lino’s enduring legacy, we asked those lucky enough to know and work with him, to describe the impact he has made on the glass world. To no surprise, the response was fervent and unanimous: Lino’s impact is, and will always be, extraordinary!

Aaron Colton is ready to ride his motorcycle through The Corning Museum of Glass. *

As the world’s foremost glass museum, we often entertain some interesting ideas—but perhaps the wildest one yet was a call we received two years ago from Red Bull. “We’d like to have a stunt motorcyclist drive around The Corning Museum of Glass—kind of like a ‘bull in a china shop.’” Sure, it would have been easy to see the impossibilities in that simple concept. We’re a glass museum! Motorcycles and glass absolutely do not mix. But… could they? Often, it’s the out-of-the-box ideas that yield the biggest rewards. And so, we embarked on an exciting collaboration that culminated in a video released today on Red Bull’s channels.

Red Bull athlete and stunt motorcyclist Aaron Colton was engaged to create a custom-built, all-electric bike for this unique exploration of our galleries and hot shop. Colton’s Bike Builds series is a staple of Red Bull’s offerings, and this episode would follow his journey of not only building a type of bike he hadn’t built before—during a global pandemic, no less!—but would show the effort it takes to turn “no”s into “yes”s. Too many times, an exciting idea comes about, and it stops in its tracks because a location can’t accommodate a traditional, combustion motorcycle complete with fuel and noise. Colton and Red Bull would literally be creating a way to turn ideas into realities.

A Bordeaux Wine Glass by Riedel (83.3.222), featured in the 2021 exhibition Fire and Vine: The Story of Glass and Wine

It seems obvious to say it out loud, but we see glass everywhere these days. Funny, right?

For centuries we’ve thought about glass as something to be looked through but not seen. The cleaner the window, the clearer the uninterrupted view. Or glass is utilitarian to the point of invisibility. After all, it’s about the wine and not the vessel; it’s our reflection, not the quality of the mirror that is important. Often—if glass does its job correctly—it goes unnoticed, working not to draw attention to itself but to instead bring everything else into sharp focus.

But that’s not necessarily true anymore, and perhaps never was. Glass has long been changing the game. From early obsidian tools to revolutionary advancements in modern science and technology, from the Venetian masters to the American Studio Glass movement and beyond, glass has been a trusted tool and commodity, shaping cultures on almost every continent. Whenever the proverbial “lightbulb moment” happened, glass has transformed and illuminated the world we live in, right up to and including the COVID-19 pandemic, during which optical fiber was essential to keeping people connected virtually and Valor® glass vials have delivered life-saving vaccines to millions across the globe.

No Sign of Slowing Down: The Corning Museum of Glass Turns 70!

For America, the 1950s was a decade of highs and lows. In the wake of the second world war, the nation experienced a booming economy, a rapidly growing population, and watched as its cities and suburbs spread across the land to house a new generation. But the 50s were also the dawn of new conflicts, including the Cold War and the fight for Civil Rights.

In the spring of 1951, five people witnessed the unfolding of this new America from the small galleries and offices of the newly opened Corning Museum of Glass. Those five made up the entire staff back then! Conceived as an educational institution entirely separate from its benefactor, Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated), the Museum sought to expand the world’s understanding of glass. And ever since, the Museum has inspired people to see glass in a new light, a mission that remains at the forefront of our institutional culture 70 years later.

To celebrate the Museum’s 70th anniversary, we’ve taken a trip through the archives to highlight some unforgettable moments.

So, let’s go back to where it all began.

The Life-Saving Work of Glass: Corning’s Valor Glass Houses COVID-19 Vaccine

The lightbulb. Pyrex®. Optical fiber. The catalytic converter. Gorilla® Glass. Valor® Glass. You’ve likely heard of most of these revolutionary innovations in glass, all of which came out of Corning, NY. And although the last one may be unfamiliar to you now, it’s about to serve a very significant purpose: housing and transporting the life-saving vaccine for COVID-19.

Valor Glass Lab. Photo courtesy of Corning Incorporated.

Corning Incorporated has been on the cutting edge of glass innovation for nearly 170 years, providing solutions to problems and shaping the way we live our daily lives. It’s a company many across the world have never heard of, however, nearly everyone has interacted with technology developed here in this small town of 11,000 people.

Although you likely don’t realize it, Corning’s technologies have played a role in how we’ve adapted to the COVID-era from the beginning. Never before has there been such an intense need to remain connected while we’re apart. And how have we done that? By interacting with each other through glass displays and transmitting all communications with co-workers, loved ones, and others, via optical fiber. We are literally connected by glass, and so it’s somehow unsurprising—yet immensely remarkable—that Corning’s technology is also on the frontlines of the fight against the virus itself.