Last week I made a day trip to Tacoma to visit the Museum of Glass. It’s in a striking 75,000 square foot building completed in 2002.  I had plans to walk across the adjacent Chihuly Bridge of Glass, but the museum’s demonstrations and exhibits were so engaging they filled all the time I had. Hopefully the walk can happen during another visit and on a warmer, drier day.

My time there started in the Jane Russell Hot Shop (no kidding, real name) where  glass technicians, called gaffers, conjure creations from molten glass. The demonstration alone was worth the trip. MOG has a robust artist-in-residence program and installation artist, Fred Wilson, was directing the creation of large tear-shaped pieces intended for inclusion in a piece similar to one of his earlier works, Drip Drop Plop.

Drip Drop Plop    2001

An exhibit of paintings, drawings and sculpture, Every Soil Bears Not Everything, by Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora C. Mace, is in the galleries. These 2 artists have worked collaboratively for more than 30 years using blown and cast glass, fabricated wood and bronze.   http://www.kirkpatrick-mace.com