Corning Museum of Glass
I enjoy planning our travel. Usually, we know the main cities we want to visit, and I connect the dots and plan our route based on interesting things to see and do along the way. Then I book accommodations. I prefer to do this months in advance, so that I have more options to choose from. So it was unusual (and a little unsettling) that when we left Chicago, I still hadn’t finalized the route or booked accommodations for nearly half of our long trip to Newport. I’m explaining all this because it was a last-minute decision to detour through upstate New York. And I’m proud to say that it was totally worth all the stress and all the extra driving, because the Corning Museum of Glass was fantastic.
I was naive to think we could visit the museum in a couple of hours and then resume our journey. The CMoG is HUGE. It could be split into an art gallery, a science museum, and a history museum, each one impressive on its own. We could have spent several days there; we settled for four hours.
Art
The Contemporary Glass Galleries have the world’s largest display of glass art and design by living artists. I loved the way the pieces were bathed in natural light. For many of the pieces, it was hard to believe they were made from glass. (Click image and hover to see captions.)
Science
The Innovation Galleries showcased advances in glass technology and how it has changed the world. We learned about the evolution of glass windows, containers, and optics. We watched a glass-blowing demonstration in a fully-electric hot shop, and another live demonstration showing how different kinds of glass break. And we saw the only thing I remember from my childhood visit around 50 years ago - the largest piece of glass ever made, a 200-inch Pyrex disk (the failed first attempt at creating a mirror for the Hale Reflecting Telescope in Palomar, California).
History
The 35 Centuries of Glass galleries were a comprehensive collection of glass through the ages and around the world. I needed another day to fully appreciate the rich cultures and variety of techniques on display here. (Click image and hover to see captions.)
The CMoG also had a vast (and frankly, ovewhelming) gift shop. It also offered a variety of Make Your Own Glass experiences. I have two friends who are taking glass-blowing classes, and now I see the fascination. Perhaps one day we’ll be able to return and spend more time exploring the fascinating world of glass.
