The Museum of Glass (MOG) is a contemporary art museum in Tacoma, Washington, dedicated to the medium of glass. Since its founding in 2002, the Museum of Glass has been committed to creating a space for the celebration of the studio glass movement through nurturing artists, implementing education, and encouraging creativity.

History

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

thumb|Outside of the Hot Shop - the cone building

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.

  • 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

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

  • www.museumofglass.org