Museum of Glass

The idea for the Museum of Glass began in 1992 when Dr. Philip M. Phibbs, recently retired president of the University of Puget Sound, had a conversation with Tacoma native and renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. Phibbs reasoned that the Pacific Northwest's contributions to the studio glass movement warranted a glass museum, and he outlined a plan for the Museum of Glass to the Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma. The timing of his proposal corresponded with the idea to redevelop the Thea Foss Waterway, an industrial site. The chairman of the council, George Russel, concluded that the Museum of Glass would be the perfect anchor for the renewed waterway. The site for the museum, directly adjacent to the Thea Foss Waterway, was secured in 1995. The Museum of Glass was established as a nonprofit organization in 1996. Canadian architect Arthur Erickson was chosen to design the museum's building in 1997. Construction of the museum began in June 2000, and the steel frame of the iconic hot-shop cone was completed in 2001. Shortly thereafter construction began on the Chihuly Bridge of Glass to link the museum to downtown Tacoma. The museum opened on July 6, 2002, to thousands of visitors and worldwide accolades. Since its opening, the Museum of Glass has become a collecting institution, and has introduced a mobile hot-shop. In 2024, the Museum of Glass made history with its first permanent installation of a functional glass pipe, "Triceratops" by Ryan (Buck) Harris, known as Buck Glass. The "Triceratops" was donated to the museum by an anonymous private collector. The Museum of Glass took to Instagram breaking the news and stating in a post: " “Triceratops” is an example of this complex, and once taboo, art form. It bridges the gap between functional and fine art and is the first example of functional glass pipes to be accepted into the Museum's Permanent Collection, the tip of an iceberg of innovative and avant garde glassmakers." == Architecture ==

The Museum of Glass was designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson and was his first major art museum in the United States. The museum totals in area, Also featured in the Museum of Glass' architecture are a sweeping concrete stairway that spirals around the exterior of the building, and three rimless reflecting pools featured on the museum's terraces. Connected to the museum is the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, designed by Arthur Erickson in collaboration with artist Dale Chihuly, to connect the Museum of Glass to downtown Tacoma. == Exhibitions ==

Permanent collections • 20th and 21st Century Glass Collection • Kids Design Glass Collection • Illuminate: Glass Art For Early Learners | April 29, 2023 – March 2024 • Maestro Alfredo Barbini: Nature, Myth, and Magic, the David Huchthausen Collection | July 2, 2022 – April 9, 2023 • Ispirazione: James Mongrain in the George R. Stroemple Collection | February 10 – October 15, 2017 • Vanity | March 4, 2015August 30, 2015 • Treasures from Glass Collectors | July 13, 2015September 7, 2015 • Tools of the Trade | July 13, 2015September 7, 2015 • Kids Design Glass Too | January 17, 2015July 12, 2015 • Chihuly Drawings | March 1, 2015June 30, 2015 • Patra Passage | February 14, 2015May 10, 2015 • Look! See? The Colors and Letters of Jen Elek and Jeremy Bert | February 7, 2014February 1, 2015 • Coastal Alchemy - Anna Skibska and Associates | February 22, 2014February 8, 2015 • Lightness of Being - New Sculpture - Howard Ben Tré | September 13, 2014January 4, 2015 • Hilltop Artists 20th Anniversary | September 13, 2014February 1, 2015 • Celebrating Lino Tagliapietra | September 24, 2014January 18, 2015 • Iittala Birds by Toikka | September 24, 2014February 22, 2015 • Bohemian Boudoir | January 15 – May 4, 2014 • Links: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest | May 17, 2013 – January 26, 2014 • An Experiment in Design Production: The Enduring Birds of Iittala | September 25, 2013 – January 12, 2014 • Northwest Artists Collect | January 19, 2012 – October 27, 2013 • Translucent: Benjamin Moore | February 16, 2012 October 20, 2013 • ''Outgrowth: Highlights from the Museum's Collections'' | February 9, 2013 April 21, 2013 • Origins: Early Works by Dale Chihuly | May 19 October 21, 2012 • Beauty Beyond Nature: The Glass Art of Paul Stankard | November 12, 2011 July 1, 2012 • Gathering: John Miller and Friends | October 29, 2011 June 19, 2012 • ''Mildred Howard: Parenthetically Speaking: It's Only a Figure of Speech'' | July 2, 2011 April 29, 2012 • Glimmering Gone: Ingalena Klenell and Beth Lipman | Oct. 23, 2010 March 11, 2012 • Peter Serko: Transformation: Art Changes a City | August 7, 2011 January 8, 2012 • Kids Design Glass | October 31, 2009 October 30, 2011 • Fertile Ground: Recent Masterworks from the Visiting Artist Residency Program | October 9, 2010 October 16, 2011 • Masters of Studio Glass: Richard Craig Meitner | July 17, 2010 June 19, 2011 • Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows | July 11, 2009 September 19, 2010 • Incoming: Selections from the Permanent Collection | May 16, 2009 July 5, 2010 • Contrasts: A Glass Primer | November 11, 2006 October 11, 2009 • White Light: Glass Compositions by Daniel Clayman | September 14, 2008 June 14, 2009 • Dale Chihuly: the Laguna Murano Chandelier | September 14, 2008 April 19, 2009 • Dante Marioni: Form | Color | Pattern | February 16, 2008 March 8, 2009 • Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass | February 23 August 24, 2008 == Hot shop ==

The Museum of Glass features a hot shop amphitheater that provides seating for 145 guests to watch live glass blowing demonstrations. The hot shop contains both a hot glass studio for blowing and casting glass and a cold working studio. Hot shop activity is streamed live through the Museum of Glass’ website and is also archived online. The Museum of Glass hot shop also provides residencies for both visiting and featured artists. The first ever visiting artist to the Museum of Glass was Dale Chihuly at the museum's opening in 2002. In 2007 and 2009, Australian glass artist Clare Belfrage was the visiting artist. Some of her work is held by the museum. ==References==