New $53 million studio at the Corning Museum of Glass' offers more to artists and visitors
The city of Corning has a brand new 60,000-square-foot space for artists who specialize in glass.
The new facility is an expansion on existing studio space at the Corning Museum of Glass. It is called "The Studio," a $53 million project that has taken over B Building in Corning Incorporated's corporate campus located on Pulteney Street.
The museum's footprint now includes the Rakow Research Library building, The Studio and the glass museum itself.
The new space expands on the original glassmaking studio first established in 1996.
Karol Wight, the president and CEO of the museum, who started in 2011, sees a big difference in what the museum can now offer to visitors and artists.
"It was pretty clear that the studio at that time was already bursting at the seams, in terms of the spaces that we had available to try and to teach, to bring in resident artists, and to have our visitors try their hand at making glass," said Wight. "And so, with this expansion, we are finally at a footprint that gives us a little breathing room for all of these activities and more."
The expansion includes a more robust visitor glassmaking experience, a new dedicated year-round artist residency space, seven dedicated artist studios, and a two-year Glassmaking Institute certificate program. The program is the first of its kind in the U.S.
"I like to describe us as kind of a stool with three very strong legs," said Wight. "We have the museum and its collections that talk about the main object and its history over 3,500 years. We have the studio and all of its educational programs and its creative programs. And then we have the Rakow Research Library, which is the library of record for the art and history of glass as well. So it's a very rich offering here."
New York state provided $9.4 million to the project including $4 million through the Southern Tier Soaring Upstate Revitalization Initiative, a $900,000 Market NY grant and $4.5 million from the New York State Council on the Arts Capital Projects Initiative.
The Glassmaking Institute certificate program is expected to start in the fall of 2025.
