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Piecing Together a Hot Shop: One Glassmaker’s Adventure into Building a Hot Shop out of Legos

When the Museum temporarily closed due to COVID-19 earlier this year, our glassmakers found themselves suddenly without access to the material they spent nearly every day shaping into beautiful objects. More than three months out of a hot shop meant they had to find new outlets for their creativity, and Museum glassmaker Chris Rochelle did just that.

“Glassmaking is therapeutic to me,” said Chris. “It’s active, it’s engaging, and it keeps my attention and focus. Not having that was tough. I missed the studio so much that I got busy making my own glass shop for a fun project during quarantine.”

Having spent more than 20 years in various hot shops—with 10 of those years at the Museum—Chris knows hot shops like the back of his hand. He could envision every piece of equipment, every tool, and all the materials that come together to enable the magic that occurs when a maker meets molten glass. Of course, creating a functional hot shop at home would be out of the question for most glassmakers for a variety of reasons. But that didn’t stop Chris from getting creative with his nephews’ Lego sets.

“I’ve always loved Legos but haven’t built anything with them since I was a kid,” said Chris.

Chris’s Lego furnace complete with a color rack (left) and pipe warmer (right).

Women in Glasshouses: The Menace of the Unorganized Woman

First, a confession: I love organizational newsletters, newspapers, and magazines in general, so when I began research for this post on women and organized labor in the American glass industry, I started with union periodicals, many of which we have at the Rakow Research Library and some of which are available to read online via the HathiTrust Digital Library.

Cover of the October 1913 issue of *The Glass Worker*.

The Glass Worker, official publication of the Amalgamated Glassworkers’ International Association, and The American Flint, official magazine of the American Flint Glass Workers’ Union of North America, provide glimpses not only into the labor struggles in the glass industry in the early 1900s but also into the labor movement as a whole, nationally and internationally.

Tools for Building Solidarity

These publications weren’t intended to provide unbiased news; they were vital tools used to organize and inspire workers, to build solidarity among workers, and to educate members in the principles, rules, and procedures of trade unionism.

Design drawing, about 1895-1905. René Lalique. CMGL 127803.

Superstitions. Everyone has them, right? I remember, as a kid, hopping down the sidewalk, trying to skip the cracks while chatting with my best friend and dodging other walkers. It was hard work, but it saved my mom some back pain and made me the excellent multi-tasker that I am today.

I had no idea, though, that there were so many superstitions tied to glass until I started reading through The Rakow Library’s files on oddities and curiosities of glass.

Most of us are familiar with the seven years of bad luck you earn for shattering a mirror. But mirrors appear in lots of superstitions. Their reflective properties give them extra mojo, with some weirdly conflicting powers. They can ward off the evil eye or sometimes trap souls who should otherwise be progressing on to another realm after death. A couple of years ago I took a Halloween tour of a Victorian house. In the room with the coffin for a recently deceased family member, the mirrors were covered to prevent the deceased’s soul from getting sidetracked and caught. And almost any kid who has been at a sleepover will know the story of Bloody Mary. Say her name three times in front of a mirror and you will have the misfortune to bring a murderous witch to life. I don’t know if this actually works, because, well, I was a big chicken as a kid.

Women in Glasshouses: The Complex Identity of Helen McKearin

Helen McKearin’s status as an expert on American glass is well earned. During her lifetime, she wrote four books on the subject, conducted glass collection surveys, curated museum exhibitions, and seemed to be constantly engaged in research on early American glass. In 1965, McKearin’s editor at Crown Publishers mentioned that she had essentially started The Corning Museum of Glass.¹ Recognizing this was an exaggeration, McKearin responded that “I didn’t really start the museum! I was midwife and then nanny for a few years.” Her word choice is intriguing; while acknowledging her role in getting the Museum up and running, McKearin also placed herself within the cult of domesticity, or women’s traditional roles.

Portrait of Helen McKearin. John “Jack” E. Whistance Collection. MS 0173. The Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.

Who was the real Helen McKearin though? Was she the “writer, lecturer, and glass industry expert” described in the 1940 Federal Census? Or was she Mrs. Albert E. Powers, “housewife and spare-time writer,” as she frequently referred to herself throughout her life? In reality, McKearin seemed to occupy two spheres. In the public sphere, she was a well-respected authority on American glass; in the private sphere, she was simply the wife of an insurance broker.

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!