Corning Museum of Glass, Glass museum in Corning, New York State, United States
The Corning Museum of Glass occupies a complex in Corning, New York, whose 2015 Contemporary Art + Design Wing by Thomas Phifer has a flat pale roof overhang above a glass curtain wall of rectangular panes, with smooth gray panels below and a band of white louvers at the left edge. A lower glass entrance with a dark flat canopy projects to the right, and short gray bollards line a low stone wall in front.
Corning Glass Works founded the institution in 1951 to document the story of glass production. A severe flood in 1972 damaged many exhibits and roughly half the library holdings.
The museum's name is often shortened locally to CMoG, pronounced "see-mog". The Rakow Commission, begun in 1986 with funds from Dr. and Mrs. Leonard S. Rakow, awards $25,000 each year for a new work in glass, first shown at the annual seminar. The Hot Glass Show, narrated by a second glassblower, lasts 20 to 40 minutes and travels to other museums in the US and abroad.
Workshops let participants craft their own glass pieces, with sessions ranging from simple ornaments to advanced glassblowing courses. The corridors are wide enough for wheelchairs, and demonstrations take place several times each day.
The Rakow Research Library, open to the public, holds the world's largest collection of literature and media on the art and history of glass and glassmaking. After Hurricane Agnes flooded the museum in June 1972, staff and volunteers dried, cleaned and restored over 7,000 water-logged and frozen books in two years, working from an abandoned Acme grocery store across the street.
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