Corning Museum Takes Glassmaking To Nationwide Studios

Conceived and developed by the Museum, the Roadshow pairs master glassmakers with unique mobile hot glass workshops, recreating a state-of-the-art studio environment on the road and allowing the Museum's expert staff to demonstrate complex hot glassmaking techniques at venues worldwide in conjunction with exhibitions and other art and design world initiatives.

Engagement with live glassmaking is central to the experience at the Corning Museum. These programs complement the history and the artistry of glass showcased in the Museum's exhibitions and permanent collections, and allow visitors to learn about the full scope of the material, from its creation to its myriad uses. The Hot Glass Roadshow was developed to extend this experience beyond the walls of the Museum with a wide range of programs at such venues as the Getty Villa, SOFA Chicago, Art Basel Miami/Design Miami, the Museum of Science and Industry, Domaine de Boisbuchet, and Art Basel. Staffed by Museum glassmaking experts, the Roadshow presents complementary programming at each venue.

"This initiative brings the experience of live glassmaking into the communities where we are collaborating in exhibitions, art fairs, and other civic events, furthering our mission to showcase not only the art and history of glass, but the artistry and traditions of glassmaking itself," said executive director Dr. David Whitehouse. "Our programs are developed to provide educational experiences that encompass both contemplative displays as well as an active engagement with glass, and the Roadshow allows us to fulfill our mission among an even broader audience."
Hot Glass Roadshow Presentations

This October, the Hot Glass Roadshow will travel to the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, where live glassblowing demonstrations will provide visitors with a greater understanding of the glass objects on view in the exhibition Reflecting Antiquity: Modern Glass Inspired by Ancient Rome, co-organized by The Corning Museum of Glass. Artists will create works that reproduce the forms used by Roman glassmakers and showcase the techniques used by artists of the ancient era. William Gudenrath, resident advisor for The Studio at the Corning Museum, will also provide solo demonstrations. Mr. Gudenrath—a glassblower, scholar, lecturer, and teacher of glassblowing—is an authority on historical hot glassworking techniques from ancient Egypt through the Renaissance, and worked with the British Museum to reveal how the Portland Vase, the renowned first century BC Roman cameo vase, was created.

The Roadshow will then make its sixth annual appearance at SOFA Chicago in November, where SOFA artists such as Giles Bettison and Laura Donefer will work on stage with Corning Museum glassmakers. The Roadshow will return to Chicago in early 2008 for a collaboration with the Museum of Science and Industry as part of an exhibition on glass history and technology.

Successful partnerships with the Vitra Design Museum in 2006 and 2007 at the international summer design workshop at Domaine de Boisbuchet served as the genesis for a new initiative, the glassLAB project, which will debut at Art Basel Miami/Design Miami in December 2007. This resource creates a unique opportunity for contemporary designers to work with Roadshow glassmakers and technicians to rapidly prototype their design ideas using the immediacy of glassmaking. Leading designers, including the Campana Brothers, Paul Haigh, Sigga Heimis, design director of IKEA, and Constantin Boym, will participate in design performances exploring glass' capacity as both a solid/static and liquid/fluid medium. The design performanceswill be presented in a dramatic space on Oak Plaza designed by Paul Haigh

"The glassLAB adds an innovative dimension to the Hot Glass Roadshow initiative, serving as an experimental resource for emerging and established designers," noted Robert Cassetti, director of marketing and creative services. "This unique resource brings together the ancient techniques and skills of glassmaking and creative minds in design world, providing a rare platform for designers to use glass as catalyst for innovation and invention to push the boundaries of design exploration and rapid prototyping."

Hot Glass Roadshow Technology

The Hot Glass Roadshow includes two working hotshops, a large Mainstage Hotshop and an Ultralight version. The Mainstage hotshop is a fully equipped, self-contained mobile glass studio, featuring a 300-lb. glass melting furnace; two glory holes, to melt and reheat glass; an annealer (an oven designed to slowly cool glass creations); and a full complement of irons, blowpipes, and hand tools, for handblown items. Commissioned by the glassmaking experts at The Corning Museum of Glass, the Hot Glass Roadshow Mainstage was created in 2001 and made its inaugural appearance at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. The 29-ft. long and 8-ft. wide, 35,000 lbs. unit runs on natural gas or propane.

The Ultralight Hotshop is a highly-portable, modular hot glass workshop―an energy-efficient, compact alternative to the Mainstage Hotshop. Its flexible layout can be configured to fit the space and needs of each individual partner venue. The Ultralight had its debut in 2006 at the annual CIRCEA/Boisbuchet summer workshop, where it served as an experimental resource for rapid prototyping of contemporary design ideas. Depending on the needs of the venue, the Ultralight can include all or part of a variety of modular units (three 50-lb. electric glass-melting units; one 75-lb. propane glass-melting unit; two glory holes; two annealing ovens; warming garage; portable pipe warmer, to pre-heat blowing pipes; fusing/pick-up oven, to fuse or slump glass; marver, a steel plate table used when working with hot glass; and two glassworking benches). -- www.cmog.org