Two New Exhibitions at Museum of Glass Encourage Visitors to Interact with Art and the Process of Glassmaking

Photo by Chuck Lysen.

 

Submitted by Museum of Glass

The Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum, and Washington State History Museum are all conveniently located in downtown. Courtesy of Museum of Glass.
Tools of the Trade and Treasures from Glass Collectors, which both opened on July 13, 2015, invite visitors to not only view art, but also actively engage with the displays.

Museum of Glass (MOG) visitors have the opportunity to learn about glass within every new exhibition, however, two of the Museum’s latest exhibitions take MOG’s mission to educate audiences one step further. Tools of the Trade and Treasures from Glass Collectors, which both opened on July 13, 2015, invite visitors to not only view art, but also actively engage with the displays.

Tools of the Trade tells the complete story of the processes, tools, and techniques used to make glass art. While the Museum’s Hot Shop features live-action glassblowing narrated by an emcee and supported by video on a large projection screen, the basic steps of the art-making process are not always available to visitors, who can arrive at any point in the creation process. “Visitor experience is of high importance to Museum of Glass,” notes Artistic Director Susan Warner. “Tools of the Trade seeks to fill a gap in the visitor’s Hot Shop experience by pairing objects from MOG’s collection with the tools used to make them.” Visitors are encouraged to interact with the exhibition by touching and lifting tools such as jacks, shears, and glassblowing pipes, as well as wearing the Kevlar® gloves and face shield frequently seen by audiences in the Hot Shop.

Treasures from Glass Collectors also offers Museum visitors an opportunity to interact with the art by gathering feedback to crowd-source pieces for an upcoming exhibition. The current exhibition showcases items that were treasured by private collectors and have been gifted or loaned to Museum of Glass so that the public can enjoy and appreciate these remarkable pieces from the Studio Glass movement. The artwork on display includes pieces by Dale Chihuly, Dante Marioni, April Surgent, Lino Tagliapietra, and Cappy Thompson. After viewing the works of art on display, visitors are invited to fill out a ballot selecting their top three choices to be featured in next year’s exhibition.

The public can also wear their curator cap online if unable to visit the Museum. Images of the art in Treasures from Glass Collectors can be viewed on MOG’s Facebook page. Online audiences are asked to cast their vote by “liking” their top three image Lino Tagliapietra (Italian, born 1934); Manhattan Sunset, 1997; Blown glass with canepick ups, battuto and incisocut; steel and glass base; 67 x 60 x 20 inches; Collection of Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington. choices and are encouraged to leave comments about why they voted for their selected pieces. These comments will be included in next year’s crowd-sourced exhibition. Images can be viewed at museumofglass.org/exhibition/treasures-from-glass-collectors. Tools of the Trade and Treasures from Glass Collectors are both on view at Museum of Glass through September 7, 2015.