Museum of Glass

Museum of Glass is closed to the public today, 9/21, in preparation for our annual Red Hot Auction & Gala. Thank you for your understanding as we set up for our biggest fundraising event of the year – we look forward to seeing you when we reopen at 10am tomorrow, 9/22.

Museum of Glass will close at 3pm today, 9/20, in order to prepare for our annual Red Hot Auction & Gala. Please also note that the Museum is closed all day tomorrow, 9/21.

Thank you for your understanding as we get ready for our biggest fundraising event of the year!

“I would like folks coming to see the show to have a fun and interesting experience, and to wander through the exhibition and feel a sense of wonder and joy.”

New to the MOG blog: “A Sense of Wonder and Joy: An Interview with Nancy Callan.” Visit As the Pipe Turns to read more!

A Sense of Wonder and Joy: An Interview with Nancy Callan — Museum of Glass It’s time for Nancy Callan’s work to be seen in an in-depth solo exhibition. While she has demonstrated her craft in front of packed crowds in more than a dozen Visiting Artist Residencies in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop and her designs have been featured in our galleries as integral parts of ot...

"Guest curator Jabari Owens-Bailey’s thematic premise for 'A Two-Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists' is a shrewd and capacious way to include a wide variety of artists."

This is your final month to see "A Two-Way Mirror" at Museum of Glass! Check out this review by Matthew Kangas to see why you don't want to miss this landmark exhibition.

A Two-Way Mirror: Double Consciousness in Contemporary Glass by Black Artists / Matthew Kangas September, 2024

Have you seen this year’s Red Hot Signature Goblets and Decanters?These limited-edition beauties are on sale now.

Designed by the Museum's own Gabe Feenan and Sarah Gilbert and blown by the Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team, the 2024 Signature Goblets and Decanters are emblematic of the artists' skills and the studio's heat which make it possible for plain cullet to be shaped into intricate works of art – the basis for our glass community in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.

Only 50 goblets and 35 decanters were made for this year's Red Hot – be sure to snag yours before these limited edition items sell out! Click here to learn more: https://www.museumofglass.org/red-hot-gala

The 2024 Red Hot Silent Auction is now open for bidding!

The Museum’s annual Red Hot Auction & Gala is coming up this Saturday, and we’re kicking off the Red Hot week festivities with the opening of the Silent Auction. This year's lineup includes works by artists such as Crista Van Slyck Matteson, Cheryl Derricotte, and Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, as well as fine jewelry, local getaways, and more. Bidding will close at 7pm on Saturday, September 21.

Silent Auction packages will be displayed in-person at the Red Hot Auction & Gala for guests to explore, but everyone will be placing bids through our online bidding platform – so, whether you're bidding remotely or in-person, it's anyone's game!

Red Hot Auction & Gala — Museum of Glass Please join us for an enchanting evening as we grow toward the Museum’s future. This year’s Red Hot will be an unforgettable gathering in support of glass art and artists. Please RSVP by September 3 to Lindsay Carlisle at [email protected], 253.284.4708.

Visit the Museum Store to shop the new selection of Murano glass bracelets from Leslie Ann Genninger, in a whole rainbow of colors and designs!

Genninger Studio reflects more than 30 years of design by Leslie Ann Genninger, an adopted Venetian whose creations in Murano Glass delight connoisseurs around the world.

Visit the Museum Store in-person or online: https://museumofglassstore.org/

This weekend is your final chance to see “The Salmon School” before the exhibition swims away! Closing Sunday, September 15. 🐟

“The Salmon School” is presented as a temporary sculpture consisting of approximately 450 mirrored glass forms, suspended as if a school of fish. The sculpture’s display is concurrent with maritime or riverine environmental DNA projects – the collection of natural water samples and analysis of those samples for shed DNA – conducted with local communities, growing in both number and scale as it generates awareness.

Since its beginning at Museum of Glass,”The Salmon School” has traveled the globe on a circular journey, serving as a symbol of hope — hope that, through awareness and community building, we can inspire real change. In the summer of 2022 The Salmon School was exhibited at Balmoral Castle, the private Scottish residence of Queen Elizabeth II, the first work of contemporary sculpture to be exhibited at that historic site. With the support of the Balmoral Estate and the River Dee Trust, eDNA collection took place on the River Dee. With the support of the Atlantic Salmon Trust, in winter 2023 “The Salmon School” was at The Macallan Distillery in Speyside, Scotland. In November 2023, “The Salmon School” returned to the Pacific Northwest at Museum of Glass.

Photo by C.B. Bell

https://www.museumofglass.org/salmonschool/

The Salmon School — Museum of Glass The Salmon School is presented as a temporary sculpture consisting of approximately 450 mirrored glass forms, suspended as if a school of fish. The sculpture’s display is concurrent with maritime or riverine environmental DNA projects – the collection of natural water samples and analysis of tho...

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “Lioncrab,” designed by Mason Winchell. Created February 10, 2011.

“A few years after my Kids Design Glass experience, I had a serious medical event. It was a challenging time for me and my family. However, at one point while waiting in the ER at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, I saw my Kids Design Glass piece on display. This brief moment offered a necessary respite from the chaos of everything happening. Now, whenever I see my version of the glass, I’m both reminded of the joy in its creation and feel some relief that that time is over.” – Mason

To read Mason’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

Photos courtesy of Mason Winchell.

Visiting Artist Rogan Gregory will be in the Hot Shop September 11–15!

Gregory’s work reflects his lifelong interest in abstract forms, geology, ecological systems, evolutionary biology, and the impact of humans on the natural environment. Inspired by the ways in which elements and the continuum of time shape our world, Gregory works repetitively, emulating the recurring developmental processes of life. He meditates on line and proportion to achieve incongruous balance and asymmetrical harmony, ultimate truths in nature. Gregory works in a wide range of time-honored materials such as stone, bronze, and wood.

Gregory began his career in New York City as a design consultant for luxury fashion brands. He designed his first eponymous clothing collection in 2001, and, in 2007, he received the Vogue/CFDA fashion fund award. Gregory had his first solo exhibition with R & Company in 2016 and developed a new, highly successful body of work for his second show with the gallery in the fall of 2018. He has been featured in multiple media outlets, including Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal Design, Elle Décor, Wallpaper, and Surface.

Photo by Joe Kramm.

Nancy Callan: Forces at Play Opening Celebration | Saturday, October 5, 6–8pm

Please join us in celebrating the opening of Nancy Callan: Forces at Play at Museum of Glass!

Seeing glass through the eyes of Nancy Callan is a delight, and experiencing the material through her work is a master class in the artistic process. Her elegant, playful designs are inspired by a seemingly limitless visual vocabulary and executed with extraordinary technical expertise. Nancy Callan: Forces at Play, Callan’s first museum survey, invites visitors to experience the multitude of ways Callan has used hot glass as a canvas for her perspectives on the world around her.

Event includes light bites, a cash bar, and remarks from Nancy Callan at 6:30pm
Tickets are free for Museum members / $15 for non-members.

Nancy Callan: Forces at Play Opening Celebration — Museum of Glass Nancy Callan (American, born 1964). Cosmic Waves, 2023. Blown and slumped glass; 30 × 21 × 1 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Russell Johnson.

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “Alien Dude,” designed by Abby Wall. Created May 5, 2012.

“’Alien Dude’ inspires me to take risks and to continue creating new things. I would doodle in the margins of my homework sheets and notes, imagining an escape to space and exploring the stars instead of sitting in stuffy classrooms. I may not be in space with the stars, but imagination and creativity guide me daily through college classes and personal interactions. I try to go to art museums and gardens often to continue to be creative and explore the ideas of others around me.” – Abby

To read Abby’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

It’s almost time for the hottest party in town! MOG’s annual Red Hot Auction & Gala is coming up on September 21, and the 2024 Auction Catalog is officially available online. Visit https://www.museumofglass.org/red-hot-gala to preview all Live and Silent Auction packages; learn about online, proxy, and telephone bidding; and check out the event details.

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “Flowereyed,” designed by Mara Thomas. Created February 25, 2018.

“Kids Design Glass helped to encourage and spark that imagination and creativity that I had as a young kid and which I still grow off of now as a teenager. It meant a lot to me, and to my family, to be able to have such an experience together, and for young 9-year-old me to be able to take pride in my creativity through glass art.” – Mara

To read Mara’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

Have you seen “Untamed: The Anatomy of Desire” yet? Swipe to see some behind-the-scenes footage of Bri Chesler working with the Museum’s Curatorial Team on the exhibition’s installation!

https://www.museumofglass.org/untamed

Photos by Rebecca Engelhardt

Visiting Artist Nate Watson is in the Hot Shop September 4–8!

Watson is a visual artist and cultural organizer currently working between San Francisco and Louisville. Before pursuing his graduate degree at the California College of Arts in 2004, Watson received a BA in history from Centre College and was awarded grants from the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Rhode Island Council for the Arts for his work investigating intersections between immigration, labor and craft traditions. In 2012, Watson co-founded Light A Spark, a collaborative glass focused arts program that provides rare opportunities and resources for youth in marginalized communities of San Francisco.

Watson has lectured nationally and held teaching positions at San Francisco State University, The California College of Arts and the University of Washington. His trans-disciplinary practice ranges from photographs, architectural interventions, and poetic imagery, to works with the collective, Related Tactics from 2015 to 2024, investigating and producing creative projects, opportunities and interventions at the intersection of race and culture. Projects have been exhibited and supported by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wexner Center for the Arts, University of San Francisco Thacher Gallery, Berkeley Art Center, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery at Parsons School of Design (New York), Southern Exposure Gallery, Chinese Cultural Center (San Francisco), The Corning Museum of Glass, Museum of Glass (Tacoma), The San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, and The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Museum of Glass is open today, 10am–5pm! Today is also the last day of the year for active-duty military personnel and their families to use the Blue Star Museums Program for free admission to MOG.

New ammonites by Kelly O’Dell are now available in the Museum Store! Visit the Store in-person or online to add one to your collection before your chances to secure one of these marvelous mollusks go as extinct as their real-life brethren.

https://museumofglassstore.org/collections/kelly-odell

📣🔥 Hey, artists! Don’t forget to submit your Visiting Artist Residency application for 2025 by midnight on November 1, 2024! 📣🔥

Each year, Museum of Glass invites artists to apply for a Visiting Artist Residency in the Hot Shop to explore new ideas and techniques or push the boundaries of a current series. Selected artists will have full use of our state-of-the-art Hot Shop and the assistance of MOG’s Hot Shop Team. Applications will be selected to support a wide variety of project scopes, including one project that draws connections between science and art, which will be awarded the Sheldon Levin Memorial Visiting Artist Residency.

Visiting Artist Application — Museum of Glass Each year, Museum of Glass (MOG) invites artists to apply for a Visiting Artist Residency in the Hot Shop, to explore new techniques or continue a current series. Selected artists have full use of our state-of-the-art Hot Shop and the assistance of MOG's Hot Shop Team. Applications will be selected....

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “Girls Night!!!,” designed by Madeline Teddy. Created October 1, 2011.

“My journey with Kids Design Glass ignited a profound appreciation for artistic expression and fostered and enduring passion for museums, shaping my academic and professional pursuits. Seeing my idea translated into glass sculpture instilled a deep sense of the power of creativity. This fascination led me to pursue a master’s degree in museum studies. With my master’s, I hope to create exhibits where people feel the same joy and passion that I did because of my impactful experience with Kids Design Glass.” – Madeline

To read Madeline’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

Photos courtesy of the Madeline Teddy.

New to Frit City, the Museum of Glass podcast: “A Two-Way Conversation with Cheryl Derricotte." 🧵✂️

Frit City host Jabari Owens-Bailey interviews Visiting Artist Cheryl Derricotte about the exhibition “A Two-Way Mirror,”, her residency, and her new sculptural portrait series on Sally Hemings. Now available on Spotify.

Photo by Julian Mocine-McQueen, courtesy of Cheryl Derricotte.

A Two-Way Conversation with Cheryl Derricotte — Museum of Glass EPISODE SUMMARY A Two-Way Mirror is an exhibition of contemporary Black artists who have used glass to create work that deconstructs social, cultural, gender, and racial identity concerns. The artists range in background from African American, to British, to Puerto Rican. Each artist uses glas

Opening August 31: “Mood Swings at the Museum,” presented by the 2024 student curators of Curator High!

Museum of Glass, in partnership with Jobs 253 (Tacoma Public Schools) presents Curator High, a program for students interested in learning more about the curatorial process at museums. Working closely with the Museum's Education and Curatorial departments, students design a display for the Grand Hall with work from the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The high school curators determine the display’s topic and content, build interpretive content for the case, and work with all departments in the Museum to realize their vision.

About their installation, the curators write: “We are interested in exploring human connection through shapes, colors, and other motifs in glass that impact our perception of emotions. ‘Mood Swings at the Museum’ introduces a range of feelings we experience when viewing artworks conveying a spectrum of design features that create a visual mood swing.”

Mood Swings at the Museum — Museum of Glass Museum of Glass, in partnership with Jobs 253 (Tacoma Public Schools) presents Curator High, a program for students interested in learning more about the curatorial process at museums. Working closely with the Museum's Education and Curatorial departments, students design a display for the Grand Hal...

"I’m still entertained, fascinated by the program. It’s such an interesting opportunity for a young child to get chosen and get to see this drawing transformed into a three dimensional object.” – Sarah Gilbert, MOG Hot Shop Team

Kids Design Glass program has been changing lives, and maybe even helped save one, for the past 20 years

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “Square Shark,” designed by Adelle Patton. Created December 17, 2017.

“The whole experience was so wonderful. The employees at the Museum were SO friendly and helpful, and the glassblowers who created by shark were very engaging and informative. I was shocked at the exact replication from my drawing on a piece of paper to a 3D piece of art!” - Adelle

To read Adelle’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

Photos courtesy of Adelle Patton.

“Glass, celebrated for its inherent fragility, serves as a metaphor for the delicate equilibrium between pleasure and pain that is intrinsic to desire.”

“An Opulent Visual Feast: Bri Chesler on Untamed: The Anatomy of Desire” is the newest post on the MOG blog, As the Pipe Turns!

An Opulent Visual Feast: Bri Chesler on "Untamed: The Anatomy of Desire" — Museum of Glass By Bri Chesler, Exhibiting Artist Desire holds an indomitable sway over human existence, imprinting itself across our cultural tapestry and guiding our biological evolution. Our species has grown increasingly hedonistic, relentlessly pursuing fleeting pleasures in a quest to fill the voids that ha

The fourth segment of “Out of the Vault: Art History 101” is abstraction, illustrated here by Joel Phillip Myers’ “Uvejr (Storm)” from the “Contiguous Fragment” series.

Abstract art is a shift away from the depiction of real life, toward the illustration of thoughts, feelings, and ideas. By using lines, forms, colors, and shapes, artists create work that can inspire, challenge, and tap into our own personal and emotional perspectives.

What perspective does this piece tap into for you?

https://www.museumofglass.org/art-history-101

Object credit:
Joel Philip Myers (American, born 1934)
“Uvejr (Storm)” from “Contiguous Fragment” series, 1981
Blown glass with applied elements
10 1/2 × 4 1/8 in.
Collection of Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, gift of the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “The rainbow marshmellow,” designed by Emily Nie. Created 2017.

“Museum of Glass was so prominent in my childhood. My family took me to MOG countless times. The Museum inspires creativity in young people by showing them support and providing them with an educational, bright, colorful environment that allows them to flourish and learn.”

To read Emily’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

Photo courtesy of Emily Nie.

We’re excited to announce that Visiting Artist Ryan Thompson will be in the Hot Shop October 9–13!

Thompson joins Museum of Glass through a special collaboration with Netflix’s reality glassblowing competition Blown Away. The Museum’s Kids Design Glass program was featured in Season 4, Episode 6 of the series and Thompson’s piece was selected by MOG Hot Shop Director and Blown Away guest judge Benjamin Cobb. As the winner of the episode, Thompson will join the Hot Shop Team for a week-long residency at Museum of Glass.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Design Glass: “Bird of Free Colors,” designed by Maya Matsumoto. Created October 13, 2006.

“Kids Design Glass inspired me to look at the intersections of art and science, and even led me to graduating from college with a biology degree supplemented with a minor in STEAM (STEM + Art) so I can continue using art to learn more about science and vice versa.” – Maya

To read Maya’s full reflection and learn more about the Kids Design Glass program, please visit https://www.museumofglass.org/

Photos courtesy of Maya Matsumoto.