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Finding Marietta: Evan Turk’s Drawings Bring the Story of the Rosetta Bead to Life

This blog post comes to us from guest contributor Evan Turk, an award-winning illustrator and children’s book author. Originally from Colorado, Evan was, until recently, living in the Hudson Valley of New York, only a short drive away from the Museum.

Research into the world of glass and its storied history for his new book, A Thousand Glass Flowers: Marietta Barovier and the Invention of the Rosetta Bead (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2020), led Evan on a journey from Corning to Murano and back again as he rediscovered fantastic stories and storytellers, incredible characters, and all the bold colors of glass.

Pick up Evan’s book and get swept away in the empowering tale of Marietta and fall in love with the majesty of glass all over again.

From the first time I saw millefiori glass on a family trip to Murano as a child, it captivated me. The vivid colors, the complex patterns, the intricacy; it is an artist’s dream!

Stories in Reflection: Finding a Narrative in the Mirror

Mirrors are everywhere. We see them inside and outside, in our homes, in our cars, on walls, floors, and even ceilings. They are almost as ubiquitous as windows. Only it’s harder to resist the temptation of checking one’s hair or straightening an item of clothing as you pass by a mirror.

*Obsidian Mirror* (70.7.1) possibly about 1400-1500.

Natural mirrors, like the surface of a calm lake, have always existed, but manmade mirrors date back thousands of years to the earliest uses of polished obsidian (volcanic glass). Over the intervening centuries, the role of the mirror has evolved just as we have. Today, mirrors are an essential step in our morning routines, they keep us safe on the highway, help us to capture images for posterity, and let us see far out into space.

For a glass museum, it would be remiss of us not to have a few mirrors lying about. Examples in our collection showcase the many different ways that reflective surfaces have and will continue to be used as transformative objects. So, let’s take a look at some of them, and see what there is to see.

Remembrance and Celebration: Glass Installation Honors the Liberation of Kuwait

On the 26th of February 1991, Kuwait, a small nation on the northern shores of the Persian Gulf, sandwiched between Iraq and its southern neighbor Saudi Arabia, was liberated from the Iraqi forces that had invaded and occupied the country seven months earlier. The victory was achieved through a coalition of 35 nations led by the United States, and the short but devastating conflict became known as the Gulf War.

This small slice of history may seem a distant memory and its 30th anniversary of little importance, but for the people of Kuwait and the Allied forces that served during Operation Desert Storm, the occasion remains an emotional and poignant one.

The Corning Museum of Glass is honored to help acknowledge and remember Kuwait’s liberation by participating in a collaborative project launched by two Kuwaiti artists in conjunction with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.

Kuwaiti artists Mohammed Al Duwaisan and Lubna Saif Abbas.

The project, which paired artists Lubna Saif Abbas and Mohammed Al Duwaisan with American glass artists Claire Kelly and Jeffrey Stenbom, was spearheaded by Amy Schwartz, director at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass.

Donor Profile: David C. Burger

As a boy growing up near Corning, NY, David C. Burger visited The Corning Museum of Glass numerous times. He loved to watch the Steuben glassblowers at work. He decided that someday he would attempt glassblowing himself. When he was sixteen years old, he was invited to apply for and was accepted into, a one-year program combining his senior year in high school and his freshman year in college at the New School for Social Research in Greenwich Village, New York City. After attending Columbia College and law school, clerking for a federal judge, and then beginning work as a litigation attorney in NYC, David finally had the opportunity to try glassblowing.

He learned about the Experimental Glass Workshop (EGW) in Manhattan and signed up for an initial glassblowing class. He came to know William (Bill) Gudenrath, a glass artist intimately involved with EGW, and Amy Schwartz, who was also taking a glassblowing class there. Coincidentally, this is when Amy and Bill—who married and left NYC to build and run The Studio at the Museum—first became acquainted.

This 12″ diameter Ruba Rombic vaseline glass fishbowl in David’s collection appears to be a unique prototype for a similar patented 14″ diameter fishbowl that was marketed.

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!