The first thing we learned is that back in 1972 the Chemung River (one block away from the museum) flooded and caused massive destruction to some of the precious glass pieces which were tumped over and broken, and to the library of books in the basement. (why are books always kept in basements?)
The
Contemporary Art and Design section was - well, it's amazing what they do with glass these days... I've included a few of those items in this post.
The
Innovation Center was great fun. We watched glass-blowing from start to finish; we watched a demonstration of how different kinds of glass break, from a plain window pane to tempered glass. We saw how automation changed the way everyday bottles are made. Watched a lady make a little glass swan. There was so much to see and do in that one section!
And finally, we spent most of our time on the
35 Centuries of Glass exhibit. Glassmaking began about 4000 years ago near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia. We followed the timeline around the exhibit, and after a few hours my head was spinning and I was going into overwhelm! My goodness! Who knew glass was such a part of our past?! Every bit was interesting from start to finish. This is the kind of museum I could visit over and over and still find new things. We took well over 200 pictures in that museum, and I have managed to cull out just a few for you. Wish you could see them all, though!
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| Glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. |
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| Butterflies chandelier........ |
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| .... and the butterflies are made of solar panels which powers the light! |
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| another interesting piece. |
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| can you believe this is all made of glass? |
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| another amazing glass sculpture. |
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| Lynx created out of glass - wow! |
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| This was a piece hanging from the ceiling; I just thought it was interesting. |
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| Glass blowing; she's shaping it....... |
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| ...... now she's preparing to finish it off. |
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| Just love the cobalt color here. |
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Massive glass table and equally ornate boat on top; these items
were created for special events such as World Fairs and Expos. |
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| Lalique pussycat. Just loved this one. |
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| Tiffany. |
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This shows the method of creating a cut-glass goblet.
Just thought this was interesting. |
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| This is the biggest and fanciest punch bowl I ever saw! |
I had to look it up -- Jimmy and I visited the Corning Museum in 2007 on our very first Tergel trip. Sounds like the museum has expanded. I could easily return!
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