During a recent plane trip, I came across a mention of the Dana House in an airline flight magazine. (The Dana House—now known as the Dana-Thomas House—was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; the maquette of the dining room windows is in the Contrasts exhibit.) While the state of Illinois has owned the property […]

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The lavish Laguna Murano Chandelier—recently on exhibit at the Museum of Glass— is part of the George Stroemple collection. It was included in an exhibition at The Portland Art Museum (PAM) in 1997, entitled Dale Chihuly: The George Stroemple Collection, featuring 350 works.* As a collector of art, Stroemple was drawn […]

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One of the unexpected perks that comes with volunteering at the Museum of Glass are the wonderful associations we form with others who, like us, are crazy about this place and crazy about glass. Not surprisingly the staff and volunteers may be artists themselves or keenly interested in art and all of them […]

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Kathy, a Charter Docent and current Docent Council Chair, says she has three passions: her family, teaching and creativity in any form. Most recently she joined the Green River Community College team, teaching GED courses. Her volunteer work includes: being involved with the Tacoma Model T Club and their fundraising efforts for an […]

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Casting: The process of pouring hot glass into molds of various materials, the simplest being sand. Casting can also be done from the kiln, where the glass starts in a cold state then melted into plaster/silica molds.
Flat Grinding Wheel: Machine consisting of a large flat spinning wheel that is used to flatten […]

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Karen Lewis: When my family decorated our Christmas tree long ago, there was an ornament made in the early 1940’s, when metal was not available. The ornament has a paper hangar instead of the usual metal that we have today. It is very simple with just a few lines of color wrapped on colorless glass. […]

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As docents, we spend much of our time at the museum watching various artists blow glass in the Hot Shop and giving tours of the galleries. I have often sat in the Hot Shop thinking about how fun it would be to make my own glass art. Last May, my husband and I […]

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The Hotel Murano collection of glass is not to be missed. It includes an impressive sampling of our Northwest favorites, including Dale, Preston and Dante. However, there is a broad spectrum of artists, new to me, from all parts of the world of studio glass, some dramatic and some quite humorous. Each floor […]

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The Museum’s very own Mick Newham has a show up at the Fulcrum Gallery here in Tacoma until October 12th. The pieces, large wood carvings, drawings and glass cylinders, are influenced by Aboriginal art, pop culture, and symbolism.
My husband and I went to Mick’s lecture on Sept. 28th to support him in his efforts […]

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Have you ever thought of music while viewing a work of art? While not every movement in visual art has its parallel in music, quite often musical styles do correspond to similar periods in art. This is certainly true for both rococo and minimalist styles.
In music, the rococo style is often referred to as “gallant […]

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As we say goodbye to Lino Tagliapietra and welcome in Daniel Clayman and Dale Chihuly, it is hard not to notice the amazing array of contrasting styles in contemporary studio glass currently represented in our galleries. The two new exhibitions, White Light: Glass Compositions by Daniel Clayman and Dale Chihuly: The Laguna Murano Chandelier, will […]

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With the unveiling of Mirrored Murrelets and the installation of Fluent Steps on the way, we have a great opportunity to educate our visitors in the open-air once again. Though the weather may not always cooperate, our outdoor stage at MOG provides an excellent setting for very meaningful tours.
The experience of an architectural […]

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By MOG Docents, November 1, 2003
What is a safe distance for visitors to view art in the galleries?
If a visitor is injured what is the procedure for docents to follow?
What safety procedures should be followed if an earthquake occurs?
What happens if there is a power outage?
What happens if there is a fire alarm?
Answers:
The general […]

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The Tall Ships® Tacoma 2008 Festival is a free international sailing event and festival that is part of the American Sail Training Association’s Tall Ships CHALLENGE®. More than 32 sailing vessels will visit Tacoma during the festival and will be available for tours and sailing adventures. The festival will be held along Tacoma’s […]

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Photo by Barb White
Summer is here and beachcombing is a popular past time in our coast region. A notable item to look out for is the glass fishing float. Glass floats have been used by European and Asian fisheries for well over 80 years, possibly more.
In recent times due to the less costly and […]

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Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
By Danny Danziger (Viking, 2007)
Reviewed by Joan Soderland Hommel
Museum is an intriguing, although sometimes annoying, look inside New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world’s largest and indisputably greatest museums. If you are looking for a discourse on the Metropolitan’s collection management […]

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Early in May, I took a senior citizens tour to Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. Coincidentally, I had just finished reading Pilchuck: a Glass School by Tina Oldknow. The book is the history of the founding and development of the school conceived by Dale Chihuly. On the day of the visit the sky was […]

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Thea Foss Waterway, summer 2005
Photo by Barb White
Next time you are in the MOG Grand Hall, take a moment to look out the window. What do you see? For many of us, the view beyond the promenade is a very familiar vista. We see boats; we sometimes see Mount Rainier; we see a lot […]

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The Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Glass exhibition has been open for nearly two months now and this is the perfect time to pause, reflect and discuss the docent experience with the exhibition. As one docent noted in regards to the Lino exhibition “it’s like trying to write a masters thesis!” […]

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I grew up in a house full of Math and Science. My dad, a USAF Officer, started his career as an Atmospheric Scientist and in the late 60’s switched to Computer Science. Like Maxwell Smart in the television sitcom, Get Smart, Dad would enter a little shed in the middle of a field in Nebraska […]

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