One of the most rewarding parts about working in the Education and Interpretation Department here at The Corning Museum of Glass is interacting with all of the children and teens who come through our doors on field trips. We served over 6000 students in the 2022-23 school year and this year we expect to see even more!
Museum Guides facilitate engaging activities with students throughout the Museum during their field trip. The best part is hearing about what resonated with them. We get all kinds of thank you notes, from elementary all the way up through high school students. Here are some examples of notes they sent us last year.
Some visitors drew their favorite artworks.
One child’s depiction of the Ennion Cup, a mold-blown cup made of blue glass with two handles on opposite sides.
This student drew Fern Green Tower, a Jeep, and a hot glass demonstration. Fern Green Tower by Dale Chihuly is a large-scale sculpture made of over 700 yellow-green glass elements in loose spiral shapes. The sculpture stands over 15 feet high.
Megaplanet by Josh Simpson is the largest paperweight in the Museum’s collection, about the size of a basketball and weighing around 100 pounds!
Virtue of Blue is a popular chandelier in the Contemporary Art and Design galleries. A kaleidoscope of blue butterflies surrounds a large, white, blown glass orb.
The pink drawing at the bottom of this student’s note resembles Erbium Chandelier with Gilded Putto by Dale Chihuly.
One student drew It’s Raining Knives by Silvia Levenson. A village of cast glass houses in multiple colors sits below a cloud of glass knives dangling overhead.
Some visitors expressed themselves with their words rather than through drawing. Here are some excerpts from heartfelt thank you notes we received.
- “Thank you for sharing the Dig Deeper exhibit with us. My favorite activity we did is when we got to look at glass with a microscope. It was really interesting looking at all of the small details.”
- “Thank you very much for taking us on an amazing adventure through The Corning Museum of Glass. I really liked the village being attacked by glass knives exhibit. Not only was it really nice to look at, you told the backstory of the artist so well, you could almost feel the presence of the artist. If I could come back, I’d wish to see that display again. I will forever remember my trip to The Corning Museum of Glass.”
- “You were a very nice docent. I am writing this letter to thank you for everything you did. First off, thank you for being patient with the group. Second of all, thank you for giving us choices on what to do. Third of all, thank you for being thoughtful. Finally, thank you for being yourself. You were the best docent ever and always will be. [in Morse code] Sincerely, Ava.”
- “I love going to the Museum to see all the wonderful pieces of art. I would also love too [sic] shout out Mr. Griffin. You were always making sure we had fun, which I loved the tour and had lots of fun. All the staff members were great. [in Morse code] Thank you.”
- “Thank you so much for allowing/welcoming our group to the Museum. The glassblowing activity will definitely be a unique memory as well as seeing all of the beautiful pieces. The artists have created amazing works, and everybody was so friendly and helpful. I’ve learned a lot from this trip and can’t wait to visit again. Once more, thank you for this great visit!”
- “Your museum has to be one of the coolest places I have ever been to. To say the least, your museum is awe-inspiring. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making today amazing.”
- “Thank you for paying the buses so I could come. The CMoG is my favorite museum. Thank you for letting me come.”
And of course, no field trip would be complete without a hot glass show. These engaging demonstrations are always popular among students during their visit.
If you are a teacher interested in bringing your class to the Museum, visit https://visit.cmog.org/visiting-with-kids/school-tours to schedule a field trip.
We hope to see you soon!