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With the eyes of the world on China for the Olympic Games starting today 08.08.08, it only seems appropriate to share some Hot Bits on China’s lucky number…
• Eight is a lucky number in China, because the word for it — ba — sounds so close to the word for wealth (fa) that many people […]
A glass bottom boat is a boat with sections of glass below the waterline allowing passengers to observe the underwater environment from within the boat. Over the years the design was converted around the paddle boat. Between 1945 and 1994, eight glass bottom boats were built, experiencing few alterations other than replacing the canvas top, […]
Update on Museum Café
The Museum sent Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) to selected food service providers and those who chose to submit proposals have done so. The next step is the review of those proposals, which is underway.
Search for a Curator
We continue to accept resumes and interview qualified candidates.
Water Forest
The City of Tacoma […]
Joyce Scott creates stories with her quilting. She also puts a narrative into her beaded sculpture by placing jars filled with memories inside the form. By doing this, Scott makes visible what is often unseen.
Minkisi are carved wooden figures made by the Kongo people in Africa. An inner cavity is filled […]
René Roubíček (b. 1922) is one of the many Czech artists who expressed their abstract art ideas in glass to avoid censorship during the Communist occupation. While the official aim of the Communists was to rebuild the glass factories for production of industrial goods, the artists’ agenda was glass as fine art. The […]
By Annette Holzworth
According to an ancient myth, Pygmalion, a sculptor disenchanted by mortal women, created an image of a feminine perfection. Venus–the Greek Aphrodite–responded to his prayers and brought the statue to life as Galatea.
Through the centuries, art and fashion have also gone through transformations as styles of dress from Classic and […]
3000 BC: There are a lot of stories about how the secret of glass making was discovered. Therefore it is difficult to fine evidence as to who first managed to create enough heat to be able to melt silica sand, soda, and limestone to produce the first usable Glass.
The most popular version […]
It took Trimpin several years just to develop a prototype of Fire Organ, then additional time to learn its capabilities and how to play it.
For Trimpin, sound is spatial. A sound is defined not only by tone and tempo, but also by which direction it’s coming from. Although he’s been a professional […]
Hot Bits
Annette Holzworth
1: What do the following well known people have in common: King Farouk, Eva Peron, Peter Jennings, Henry Winkler, Johnny Carson and John Madden?
Answer: All are (were) serious collectors of glass paperweights.
2: The highest price that a glass paperweight has sold for at auction is:
a. $1,500
b. $9,850
c. $95,000
d. $258,000
Answer: d. $258,000. An […]
Image:Sample-national-park-service-pictographs
A pictogram or pictograph is a symbol which represents an object or concept by illustration.
Early written symbols were used by various ancient cultures in the Alps, Asia, Egypt and the Mediterranean around 5000 BC and are still in use in some non-literate cultures in Africa, the Americans and Oceania.
The letters of the Roman […]
By Annette Holzworth
1. What is the difference between “hard” glass and “soft” glass?
Today’s flameworkers call borosilicate glass “hard” glass as opposed to soda lime glass, which is called “soft” glass. Flameworking (also called lampworking) can be done with both, but only borosilicate glass is used to create pieces in large scale.
2. Where […]
1. Both Morris and Ruffner express through on the creative process. What similarities do the two artists share in defining creativity (in words or visual pieces)? How are they different?
2. Think about how both artists express their feelings about nature and our relationship with nature. What are the similarities and differences?
3. The theme of affirming […]
Q1: In the William Morris: Myth, Object and the Animal exhibition, several pieces focus on the ancient Egyptian use of Canopic Jars. How did this religious tradition evolve?
Central to ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, preservation of the body was essential for an afterlife. They believed that the human body contained the […]
By Lorraine Brusseau
1. The Polaroid 20 x 24 inch camera is used by artists such as William Wegman to photograph his dogs, Timothy Greenfield-Saunders for photographs of celebrities, and Douglas Kirkland to photograph dancers in motion. The camera was originally designed for what purpose?
The Polaroid 20 x 24 inch camera was developed to accurately […]
1. Early in relationship between man and dog, large dogs were valued for their hunting skills and their instinct to project their pack and territory. Later smaller dogs were valued by royal and wealthy individuals. What unusual and yet desirable services did the dogs provide?
Small dogs were put under the covers of the mater’s […]
