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Glass and the Wonderful: Josh Simpson’s Planets Travel into Space

Josh Simpson at The Corning Museum of Glass in 2019.

“As a glass artist, I’m inspired by the planets. Actually, I’ve always been inspired by the planets, even when I was a kid I loved looking up at the stars,” says Josh Simpson in the new Netflix documentary The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station.

The documentary, which had a short run at Corning’s Palace Theatre recently, tells the stories of the men and women from around the world that have lived on the International Space Station (ISS). There is plenty of footage of rockets blasting off and stunning views of Earth. We can see our fragile atmosphere shimmering with the Aurora Borealis and share in the moment when the crew witnesses 9/11 unfolding from 250 miles up. There are disasters and triumphs and by the end, if you’re anything like me, you’re in awe of what people can do when they work together.

But what’s this all got to do with glass?

Aaron Colton is ready to ride his motorcycle through The Corning Museum of Glass. *

As the world’s foremost glass museum, we often entertain some interesting ideas—but perhaps the wildest one yet was a call we received two years ago from Red Bull. “We’d like to have a stunt motorcyclist drive around The Corning Museum of Glass—kind of like a ‘bull in a china shop.’” Sure, it would have been easy to see the impossibilities in that simple concept. We’re a glass museum! Motorcycles and glass absolutely do not mix. But… could they? Often, it’s the out-of-the-box ideas that yield the biggest rewards. And so, we embarked on an exciting collaboration that culminated in a video released today on Red Bull’s channels.

Red Bull athlete and stunt motorcyclist Aaron Colton was engaged to create a custom-built, all-electric bike for this unique exploration of our galleries and hot shop. Colton’s Bike Builds series is a staple of Red Bull’s offerings, and this episode would follow his journey of not only building a type of bike he hadn’t built before—during a global pandemic, no less!—but would show the effort it takes to turn “no”s into “yes”s. Too many times, an exciting idea comes about, and it stops in its tracks because a location can’t accommodate a traditional, combustion motorcycle complete with fuel and noise. Colton and Red Bull would literally be creating a way to turn ideas into realities.

Burning Questions Answered on #AskACurator Day

The leaves are changing from green to orange, the glass pumpkins are fully on display: fall is here at the Museum!

With fall comes one of our favorite virtual events: #AskACurator Day, where folks from around the world can ask museum professionals questions about their work. This year, #AskACurator Day fell on September 15 and we were lucky enough to have all of CMoG’s curators available to answer questions on Twitter.

Up in Flames: Turn of the Century Glass Factory Fires and Firefighting Reform

At 8 o’clock in the evening on Monday, December 30, 1907, the Uniontown Flint Glass Factory in Uniontown, Pennsylvania went up in flames. The Morning Herald, the city’s only daily paper, described throngs of people flocking to watch the glassworks burn to the ground as firefighters struggled to keep the fire contained to the confines of the factory. The factory was empty except for the night guard and a single worker who lost his life. However, the company sustained the total loss of its uninsured property.

People line up along the railroad tracks to watch the destruction of the Uniontown Flint Glass Factory on the evening of December 30, 1907. Image Credit: *The Morning H*erald, Tuesday, December 31, 1907.

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!