Each year, the talented designers of Steuben continue their long-standing tradition of conceptualizing annual holiday ornaments. These ornaments, some of Steuben’s most popular products, begin as simple ideas that will eventually live in the homes of many who covet a touch of Steuben to complete their holiday embellishments.
Steuben’s Holiday Ornaments are a timeless addition to every household. Photo courtesy of Molly Cagwin.
This year, although unpredictable in many respects, was no different regarding the design process for the annual heirloom. The 2020 Ornament was designed by long-time Steuben artisan, Taf Lebel Schaefer. Schaefer has provided inspiration for the majority of Steuben’s annual ornaments over the last 30 years. This year, her depiction offers a timely sentiment embossed into the surface of the glass: Peace.
Like forensic investigators, conservators collect, examine, and document evidence to help solve mysteries. This is the story of one such investigation.
A group of Blaschka models in storage, some no longer attached to their original support cards.
The Backstory
The incredibly life-like and detailed invertebrate models made by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka in the mid to late 19th century were used as teaching tools in universities all over the world. Many of the models were neatly glued or wired to paperboard cards, which provided a safe way to handle the fragile models but also contained their identifying information including the name of the species and the Blaschkas’ catalog number.
When Cornell University’s collection of Blaschka models came into the care of The Corning Museum of Glass in 1963, the models were in various stages of disrepair and many were already detached, and sometimes separated, from their original cards. While this was likely not a problem for the biology students who originally used them (and knew what species they represented), some of the models entered the Museum with the wrong cards or completely unidentified.
Correctly identifying what these models are and, where possible, reuniting them with their original paperboard cards is part of a multiyear project to clean, re-house, and re-organize the Blaschka holdings at the Museum (which include over 350 models and hundreds of loose and broken glass bits).
Ready for the season, Beekman 1802 in Sharon Spring, NY. Photo courtesy of Beekman 1802.
Have you ever visited Sharon Springs, NY? Or, do you like to shop on QVC from the comfort of your own home? Have you ever tried goat milk soap? Or have you been obsessing over everything Schitt’s Creek-related like just about everyone else these days?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then there is a good chance that you’ve already discovered Beekman 1802, a small mercantile with a larger-than-life story. Founded in 2008 by New Yorkers Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge, winners of the 21st season of The Amazing Race on CBS, along with a friendly herd of baby goats, Beekman 1802 is the realization of a dream to escape the city and enjoy the beauty and peace that only country living can bring. And where better to do that, than in tiny Sharon Springs, 50 miles west of Albany in upstate New York?
12 years later and Beekman 1802 has become a thriving beacon for homegrown quality, unique artisanal products, and a good-sized dollop of kindness. Not to mention the goat milk soap that has put the Beekman name back on the map. And you’ll find plenty of other products for sale too, like delicious gourmet foods, sumptuous bath and body items, and things for the home, including, most noticeably, handmade glassware.
So, when the team at Beekman 1802 reached out to The Corning Museum of Glass earlier this year to collaborate, we thought it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Freda Diamond, “Designer for Everybody.” Life Magazine, April 5, 1954.
In the decades after the second world war, millions of Americans unknowingly allowed a communist into their homes in the shape of innocent housewares. How? Through the designs of Freda Diamond (American, 1905-1998), industrial designer and tastemaker with almost unmatched influence in the post-war American home. Diamond’s greatest success was her work with Libbey Glass, designing almost 80 glassware patterns between 1946 and her retirement in 1988. Despite her influential and prolific career, only in the past twenty years has her legacy in the history of design begun to be cemented. But one question that has yet to be asked is whether Diamond’s political and social beliefs influenced her body of work.
Diamond was born in New York City in 1905 to Russian Jewish immigrants. After her father departed when she was only three-years-old, Diamond was raised solely by her mother Ida, a costume designer and anarchist. Ida soon began a relationship with Moe Goldman, brother of prominent anarchist political activist and thinker Emma Goldman. Moe became a surrogate father to Diamond, and Emma a lifelong friend. Diamond studied decorative design at the Women’s Art School at Cooper Union and soon after worked for the high-end interior design firm William Baumgarten & Co. Designing for New York’s ultra-elite proved unfulfilling, so Diamond worked at the mid-market department store Stern Brothers for six years before starting her own design consulting business in 1930.
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.
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.
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!
