“Portals of Illusion”, by Peter Aldridge, is a mixture of state-of-the-art technology and hand-craftmanship located in Corning headquarters (Photo: Courtesy of Corning Incorporated, ©2019)
A stunning new global survey that reveals the breadth and depth of contemporary glassmaking is one of the highlights of a glass-lover’s dream visit to the Corning Museum of Glass. The four-day trip offers participants a true insider’s experience, and includes many curator-conducted sessions and tours.
New Glass Now documents the innovation and dexterity of artists, designers, and architects around the world working in the challenging material of glass, reflected in objects, installations, videos, and performances made in the last three years by 100 artists of 32 nationalities working in more than 25 countries.
The exhibition’s setting, the museum’s Contemporary Art + Design Wing, is an attraction in itself. Experience a guided tour of the wing, which opened in 2015. The 26,000-square-foot gallery building—in which a sophisticated system of diffused skylights supplies the majority of the lighting—is the world’s largest space dedicated to the display of contemporary art and design in glass.
Curatorial staff members lead the group through 4,000 years of glassmaking history in the Ancient Glass, European Glass, and Contemporary Glass galleries. A conservator leads participants behind the scenes to get a close-up look at the work of the museum’s Conservation Lab. The group is welcomed to the Rakow Research Library, which features an incomparable collection of works about glass.
A tour of the Corning corporate headquarters, not open to the general public, provides an opportunity to see 11 sculptural installations commissioned by noted glass artists to fill a series of striking atria. Visit the museum’s Innovations Center, and experience the fire and flow of glassmaking as you view a demonstration at the state-of-the art Amphitheater Hot Shop.
There is also free time to browse in the museum’s shops and along Corning’s Market Street.
GENERAL DETAILS
- Cost includes bus transportation, lodging, all activities (including hands on glass making), admissions and fees, gratuities, and the following meals: 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners.
- Overnight accommodations are at the Radisson Hotel Corning.
- Tour departs by bus from the Mayflower Hotel, Connecticut Ave. and DeSales St., NW, with a pick up stop at the 1-270 Exit 26 Urbana carpool lot at about 7:55 a.m.
- Single-room supplement $225 (factored into the Single Room Member and Single Room Non-Member pricing).
- Singles registering at the double-room rate are paired (on a nonsmoking basis) if possible, but must pay the single-room supplement otherwise.
- Detailed information is mailed to registrants about four weeks prior to departure.
- Registrants may want to consider purchasing trip insurance.
