Meet Dr. Shelly Xue

The Museum’s curatorial staff are responsible for the care, display and research of more than 50,000 objects. The Asian glass collection—small but extremely important—was one area in need of more research and evaluation. That’s where Dr. Shelly Xue comes in.

Dr. Xue arrived at the Museum in November 2018 as the Carpenter Foundation Fellow for Asian Glass. She came from Shanghai where she is on sabbatical from her position as Associate Professor for Glass and Director of the Studio at Shanghai Institute of Visual Art. Dr. Xue earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wolverhampton in the U.K., where she researched the development of glass as an expressive medium in China through direct contact with Western methods of glassmaking and decorating. She has published four books and has lectured around the world. Dr. Xue is also a glass artist and has work in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. (You may have seen the video of one of her works being broken in her solo exhibition in 2013.)

Six months into her year-long fellowship, I was able to chat with her about her work at The Corning Museum of Glass.

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A short history of Bill Gudenrath

Whether you are local to Corning, New York, or a glass enthusiast anywhere around the globe, chances are you have heard the name William Gudenrath. You might avidly follow his work and have attended his classes and lectures, or you might have stumbled upon the viral video of Bill making a dragon stem goblet, which is at 1.4 million YouTube views and counting; various shortened and sped up versions have accumulated over 50 million viewings!

Bill is a founding leader at The Studio, working alongside his wife, Amy Schwartz, and he holds the title of Resident Advisor. Read more about Bill’s work at The Studio in this Instructor Highlight.

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Bringing the heat to St. Pete

At the end of March, a team of glassmakers from The Corning Museum of Glass took the Mobile Hot Shop to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the annual Glass Art Society Conference. This three-day conference attracts between 1,000 and 2,000 glass artists and takes place in a different city every year. The Museum will often bring a mobile glass shop as an additional venue for artists invited to demonstrate at the conference.

The CMoG Mobile Hot Shop set up in front of the Imagine Museum.
The CMoG Mobile Hot Shop set up in front of the Imagine Museum.

Of course, for a city to host a GAS conference, they must have a vibrant glass scene and St. Pete has certainly become a hot spot for contemporary glass. I was amazed by how much there was to see at venues across the town. Glass studios like Zen Glass Studio, Duncan McClellan Gallery, and the Morean Arts Center have set the stage for the burgeoning popularity of glass here by creating spaces that support local collectors and generate regional interest in the material.

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Attention to detail: Tips for visitors from volunteers

April is a special time at The Corning Museum of Glass, and one of my favorites. Not just because the flowers are beginning to bloom and the leaves beginning to return, but because it is the celebration of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, April 7 through 13. This year we appreciate and recognize our volunteers by demonstrating how they contribute to our mission: To inspire people to see glass in a new light. Thank you to our docent Karen Biesanz for collecting the volunteer voices represented in this blog post, and to all of our volunteers and docents for continuing to delight and surprise us and our Museum guests.

— Jessica Trump, Volunteer & Internship Program Supervisor

The Corning Museum of Glass hopes our visitors have an outstanding experience. Our friendly volunteers help guests feel comfortable as they connect with the Museum’s displays on the science, history, and art of glassmaking through the centuries.

Here are just a few of the suggestions that volunteers like to mention to visitors:

1. Don’t miss the Hot Glass Demonstrations. Many volunteers strongly urge our guests to attend a glassblowing show to watch a blown-glass design materialize in 25 minutes.

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Featured News

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.

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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.

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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.

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The Maestro’s Farewell Tour: Corning Celebrates Lino Tagliapietra’s Impact on Glass

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!

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