Glassmaking -- It's Hot

If you're casting about for something unusual to do this summer consider a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass. The ultramodern facility in Corning, New York, not only displays some of the world's finest works in glass and holds continuous glassmaking demonstrations, but it also gives you the opportunity to make some art yourself. Discovering that creating glass isn't as easy as the demonstrators make it look is one of the many revelations a trip to this marvelous complex yields.

This museum, a nonprofit institution whose major benefactors include the glassmaker Corning, Inc., turns out to be not all that far from New York City (258 miles away), Philadelphia (235 miles), Washington, D.C. (280 miles), and Cleveland (310 miles). Your visit to south-central New York can be combined with side trips to the famed Finger Lakes, beautiful themselves but also home to several dozen wineries.

Science Class

On a recent visit to the museum, my mind occasionally glazed over (pardon the pun), as often happened in science class, during the explication of technical matters - the molecular structure of glass, for instance, and the evolution of glass in windshields, telescopes, fiber-optic cables, and other essentials of life today. But odd details piqued my curiosity and occasionally made me wonder if I'd paid any attention at all in science class (sorry, Miss Mjasyck). Did I ever even know that glass is actually a liquid whose molecules have been rearranged by high heat and are unable during the cooling process to reassemble in their original state? I'm not sure. I definitely remembered that Thomas Alva Edison invented the lightbulb, but it was news to me that it was the invention of the ribbon machine for making the glass casing for lightbulbs that allowed them to be mass produced. And it was news too that their proliferation resulted in safer mines and factories, among many other benefits.

The stuff of science didn't physically overwhelm me, though, until I got to the trippy flight-simulator mirror, an ingenious application of the properties of glass. Pilots use the mirror to learn how to orient themselves in the air. Perhaps I've been watching too much of That '70s Show in syndication, but I found most addictive the mirror's ability to upend one's equilibrium.

Hot Glass

Equally enthralling is Hot Glass Show, during which two expert glassmakers create vases, plates, and other items. The show is narrated by one of the glassmakers, and an overhead camera and six large monitors ensure that the audience doesn't miss a step. I sat in on a couple of sessions, mesmerized by the orange glow of the ovens - the ones operating at 2,100° Fahrenheit hold globs of glass waiting to be shaped; in 2,300° to 2,400° ovens the glass is reheated for further manipulation - and the zenlike process that transforms those globs into a handsome object.

At the Walk-in Workshop, I got the chance to make my own object - with the help of a professional glassmaker - and my little flower didn't turn out half bad. (An extra fee is charged to create your own artwork.) Some visitors find the glassmaking process so captivating they sign up for workshops of a day or longer.

Into the Galleries

With all the attention the museum pays to the process of making glass, the works of art on exhibit might become an afterthought, but the Corning collection is so comprehensive that nothing of the kind has occurred. The highlights for me included the display of Venetian glass, the gallery of glass by Frederick Carder - one of the founders of the Steuben glassmaking concern, which Corning, Inc., now owns - and the modern works in the Sculpture Gallery.

All This and Shopping, Too

Perhaps because I'd already created my own little piece of art, I showed great restraint in the museum shops, where the glass-viewing experience continues. The various shops sell works by renowned glass artists like Josh Simpson, whose signature works include paperweights based on planetary themes.

"2300°" - It's Hot

In November 2002, Simpson took part in one of Corning's monthly "2300°" events. A few hundred locals showed up to watch musical and dance performers, sip wine and munch on hors d'oeuvres, and watch Simpson demonstrate some of his techniques. The engaging Simpson chatted so much about his life and art that he lost his attention and crafted one of the most god-awful-looking vases I've ever seen. One of the artist's vignettes, told with mild chagrin, was about making and selling wine goblets for $3 that now go for $150 at Sotheby's and other auction houses. Perhaps to prevent a similar incident with his bizarre goof, he dropped the vase into a bucket of water, where to the sighs of the audience it instantly disintegrated. Ah, the drama of glassmaking.

The "2300°" shows - your museum ticket gains you admission, though the food and wine cost a nominal extra fee - are well produced and good fun; it's worth the trouble if you can time a visit for the third Thursday of the month, when "2300°" takes place.

In the Area

Not far from the museum is the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, which exhibits a tasty slice of Western Americana and revels in the clash between past and contemporary takes on the West. The all-stars of Western American art - Bierstadt, Catlin, Remington, and Russell - are all represented, along with Taos Society of Artists members like Ernest Blumenschein and contemporary Native American painters such as Kay WalkingStick and Judith Lowry. The dialogue the works create about the West is fascinating and provocative.

The museum is inside Corning's former town hall, a jolly Romanesque Revival building from the 1890s. A top-to-bottom renovation a few years ago left little evidence of the past inside, but with one exception - the mounted sculpture of a bison that appears to be ramming its way through the wall of an upper floor - the exterior retains its original look. You can buy a discount combination ticket for admission to the Rockwell and Corning museums.

Historic Market Street, several blocks of two-story, mostly 19th-century storefronts a block or so from the Rockwell Museum, makes for a pleasant morning or afternoon stroll. Antiques shops, specialty stores, restaurants, and bars line the street, and one of the storefronts contains an exhibit of Steuben glass.

Essentials

Getting There

By Car. Take Route 17/Interstate 86 (Exit 46) to Corning.

Where to Stay

The Radisson Hotel Corning (125 Denison Pkwy. East, Corning, NY 14830, tel. 607/962-5000) is a few blocks from the Corning Museum of Glass.

Where to Eat

The Cantina, part of the Rockwell Museum complex, serves Southwestern cuisine.

The Gaffer's Grille and Tavern (35 East Market St., tel. 607/962-4649) is named for the master craftsperson who leads a team of hot glassmakers. The restaurant serves contemporary cuisine.

Contacts

Corning Museum of Glass (1 Museum Way, Corning, NY, tel. 607/937-5371).

Finger Lakes Wine Country (tel. 607/937-5386).

Rockwell Museum of Western Art (111 Cedar St., tel. 607/937-5386).

By Danny Mangin