I highly recommend a visit to the Museum of Glass if you’re in the Tacoma, Washington area. The museum focuses on contemporary and Pacific Northwest glass art and is a wonderful way to spend a rainy day. The building, designed by Canadian architect Arthur Ericson, is quite beautiful to behold, with a 90-foot-tall stainless steel cone housing a hot shop filled with furnaces and glory holes. Artists work on glass pieces and give glass-blowing demonstrations as visitors watch on, mesmerized, from surrounding seats in the amphitheatre.
The grounds are also a visual delight, with a joyful glass sculpture by Martin Blank called ‘Fluent Steps’ celebrating the different stages of water from mist to waterfall, all dancing over a 210 foot reflecting pool in the main plaza outside the museum.
Exhibitions are a mix of permanent and visiting collections. During my visit yesterday I saw several very different collections. Population by Ray Turner features an array of portraits painted on glass.
Maestro is a collection of recent works by Lino Tagliapietra, who trained with the glass masters of Murano and is hailed as the greatest living glassblower. Just take a look at his work and you can see why.
One of the most imaginative exhibits was a series of glass sculptures designed by children and realised by visiting artists. Here are a few of my favourites.
The Sockness Monster
Polka-dot(t)ed strange creature
Star Raccoon
Snake on a pole
There was one other exhibit I took in yesterday; it was so stunning I am giving it a post all to itself – see here.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day the museum is open 7 days a week; the rest of the year, they close on Mondays and Tuesdays. Located at 1801 Dock St. Tacoma, WA 98402. Definitely check it out if you have a chance and if you’re feeling creative, you could even take a class.
Where's my backpack? 