The Museum of Glass (MOG) is a 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m²) art museum in Tacoma, Washington, dedicated to the medium of glass.[2] Since its founding in 2002, the Museum of Glass has been committed to creating a space to celebrate 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, talked with Tacoma native and renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. Dr. Phibbs reasoned that the Pacific Northwest’s contributions to the studio glass movement warranted a glass museum. A few weeks later, he outlined his idea and rationale for the Museum of Glass to the Executive Council for Greater Tacoma. The timing of his proposal corresponded with the idea to redevelop Thea Foss Waterway, and the chairman of the council, George Russel, concluded that the Museum of Glass would be the perfect anchor for the renewed waterway.
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 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) in area, featuring 13,000 square feet (1,200 m²) in gallery space and a 7,000-square-foot (650 m²) hot shop. This hot shop, shaped like an angled cone, is the museum’s most striking architectural feature. The cone, inspired by the wood “beehive burners” of the sawmills that once dotted the waterway, is composed of 2,800 diamond-shaped stainless-steel panels and is 100 feet (30 m) in diameter at its base. Also featured in the Museum of Glass’ architecture is a sweeping concrete stairway that spirals around the exterior of the building and three rimless reflecting pools featured on the museum’s terraces. The Chihuly Bridge of Glass is connected to the museum, designed by Arthur Erickson in collaboration with artist Dale Chihuly, to connect the Museum of Glass to downtown Tacoma. Alpha Electrician Tacoma
Exhibitions
Permanent Collections
- 20th and 21st Century Glass Collection
- Kids Design Glass Collection
- Visiting Artist Residency Program Collection
- Cappy Thompson: Gathering the Light
Current Exhibitions
- “Beyond the Hot Shop: Glass in a Digital Age” | January 29, 2020 – May 2020
- Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora C. Mace: Every Soil Bears Not Everything | September 23, 2015 – September 6, 2016
- #BeTheCurator | January 16 – October 23, 2016
- David Huchthausen: A Retrospective Selection | July 23, 2016 – January 8, 2017
- David Willis: Daisies | May 4, 2016 – August 2016
Address: 1801 Dock St, Tacoma, WA
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