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Dig Deeper: 2023 Exhibition Related to Archaeological Discovery of 4th Century Glass Workshop in Israel Announced

Last week, The Corning Museum of Glass announced Dig Deeper: Discovering an Ancient Glass Workshop, a major exhibition that will reveal new insights into ancient glassblowing and glassmaking. Presenting artifacts from a 4th Century CE glass workshop discovered in Jalame, Israel, the exhibition will also allow visitors to experience ancient glassblowing in immersive and experiential new ways. Organized by Katherine A. Larson, Curator of Ancient Glass, the show will run from May 13, 2023, through January 7, 2024.

Objects from the Museum’s permanent collection to be exhibited in Dig Deeper include: Plate, 70.1.39; Pitcher, 54.1.96; Bowl, 72.1.7, Gift of the Israel Department of Antiquities; Beaker, 79.1.176, Gift of The Ruth Bryan Strauss Memorial Foundation. Objects of these types were made in the Jalame workshop in the second half of the 4^th century. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.

The excavations at Jalame, co-organized by The Corning Museum of Glass and the University of Missouri, Columbia, were conducted between 1963 and 1971. Objects found at the site revealed that the glass workshop at Jalame made both raw glass and finished glass vessels in the same location—a notable exception to the norm. Typically throughout the first millennium CE, raw glass was made in the coastal areas of modern Lebanon and Israel and then was sold and traded throughout the Roman Empire, where glassblowing workshops transformed it into vessels for sale to neighboring people.

Igniting The Flame: Behind the Scenes on an Exciting New Film Project

Early in the morning of Monday, March 14th, 2022, I left an Airbnb apartment near Piazza San Marco in Venice and walked through the quiet alleys to catch the Vaporetto (public transit boat) that would take me to the island of Murano. The sun was just beginning to rise over the Venetian lagoon on what would turn out to be a gorgeous, sunny day as the boat made the 18-minute trip. I would soon be reunited with old friends for a full day of filming on a project very near and dear to my heart—the history of flameworking on Murano.

Sunrise over Murano from the Vaporetto with the Faro lighthouse in the distance.

As the Properties of Glass and Flameworking Supervisor for The Corning Museum of Glass, I know I have unique opportunities to research and share information about the art and craft of flameworked (or lampworked) glass that few other people have. For this reason, I have felt inspired and also obligated to dig into and share as much of this information as possible through the years and into the future. Being a part of this exciting new documentary would allow me to do that like never before.

Artist Profile: A Good Year with Cedric Mitchell

Is glass experiencing a renaissance in 2022? With the UN-designated Year of Glass well underway, the hit Netflix show Blown Away bringing glassblowing to the masses, and glass design being celebrated from Design Miami to the Venice Biennale, glass is undoubtedly in the spotlight. And along for the ride is glass artist Cedric Mitchell (@cedricmitchelldesign).

Mitchell is a fresh, friendly, earnest, and talented new voice in the glassblowing world, all qualities that Nike recognized when they made him one of the faces for the rollout of their 2022 Air Max campaign, but more on that later. A Los Angeles-based artist from Oklahoma, Mitchell discovered glass as an art form while studying business at Tulsa Community College. He was so enamored by glass, he immediately enrolled in classes. Inspired by an eccentric mix of Hip Hop, Graffiti Art, Pop Culture, and Memphis Design, Mitchell now creates work that ranges from functional to decorative, combining simplicity in design with bold colors to craft hand-blown vessels and sculptures.

The Last Engraving: Max Erlacher, a memorial

Two months on from the unexpected passing of Max Erlacher, colleagues and dear friends at The Corning Museum of Glass have shared their thoughts and memories of working alongside the legendary glass engraver.

Born Roland “Max” Erlacher in Austria in 1933, Max began working with glass at a very early age. He entered a glass technical school in Kramsach, Austria, at the age of 14. It was only ten years later that Max, now certified as a Master Engraver by Lobmeyr, a glassware company in Vienna, Austria, arrived in Corning to begin working for Steuben Glass. Over the years, Max became one of the most renowned engravers at Steuben. He was a master of cold working techniques and copper, stone, and diamond engraving.

New Glass Review 43: An Outside Perspective on the Best of Contemporary Glass

Get excited and check the mail, because New Glass Review returns this month for its 43rd issue.

An annual exhibition-in-print, New Glass Review features 100 of the most timely, innovative projects in glass produced during the year. Artworks include sculptures, vessels, installations, and other works in glass by emerging and established artists.

A flagship publication of The Corning Museum of Glass since 1980, New Glass Review is a cyclical reintroduction into the world of contemporary glass and the artists who inhabit it; artists who continually push the boundaries of the material and the limits of their expression.

Following an open call for submissions that receives hundreds of entries every year from countries across the world, New Glass Review is curated by the Museum’s curator of postwar and contemporary glass and a changing panel of guest curators. While the search for the Museum’s next contemporary curator was underway this past summer, Samantha De Tillio was invited to lead the selection process. De Tillo was joined by Davin K. Ebanks, Kim Harty, and Kimberly Thomas.

Amy Schwartz & William Gudenrath Honored with 2023 James Renwick Alliance for Craft Award

The Studio’s Amy Schwartz and William (Bill) Gudenrath were honored on Saturday, May 6 in Washington DC with the James Renwick Alliance for Craft (JRA) Distinguished Craft Educator Award for excellence and innovation in education. The biennial award was celebrated at the JRA Spring Craft Weekend with a Symposium, Gala, and Awards Brunch. Recognized for their influence on future artists and significant contributions to American education in the craft field, Amy and Bill’s selection as honorees was the first time in the ceremony’s 20-year history that both makers and educators were honored at the same time.

William (Bill) Gudenrath and Amy Schwartz with their award at the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, May 6, 2023. Photo courtesy of the James Renwick Alliance.

Amy and Bill are the latest on a long list of distinguished honorees—the JRA Award has recognized some of the most influential craft artists in American history. This year, the other nominees included ceramic artist, social activist, and spoken word poet Roberto Lugo (the youngest artist to ever receive the Master of the Medium award); furniture maker Kristina Madsen; and curator, quilter, author, art historian, and aerospace engineer Carolyn Mazloomi.

CMoG Named One of the “7 Glass Wonders of the World”

Capping a truly momentous year for glass, The Corning Museum of Glass has achieved a new distinction: being named one of the “7 Glass Wonders of the World.”

The announcement was made during the closing festivities of the United Nations International Year of Glass (IYOG) 2022. The year officially concluded with a Conference and Ceremony at the University of Tokyo, Japan, on December 8-9, which was attended by our very own President and Executive Director Karol Wight. This event was followed by an official debriefing held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on December 14.

Lino Tagliapietra in the Museum’s Amphitheater Hot Shop, May 13, 2022.

Lino Tagliapietra may be retiring, but not before one final visit to The Corning Museum of Glass. Last weekend was a monumental one for Lino, the glassblowers and staff at the Museum, and all the guests who filled the Amphitheater Hot Shop to see the Maestro at work during what will be his final performance in Corning.

To celebrate Lino’s enduring legacy, we asked those lucky enough to know and work with him, to describe the impact he has made on the glass world. To no surprise, the response was fervent and unanimous: Lino’s impact is, and will always be, extraordinary!