Courtesy Corning Museum of Glass
CORNING, N.Y. — The Corning Museum of Glass has announced plans for a $64 million expansion that will feature a new North Wing with light-filled galleries for its collection of contemporary works in glass.
The expansion will also include one of the world’s largest facilities for glassblowing demonstrations.
The 100,000-square-foot expansion, scheduled for completion in 2014, is fully funded before groundbreaking by Corning Inc.
The design by architect Thomas Phifer and Partners creates 26,000 square feet of gallery space specifically engineered to showcase the museum’s growing collections of large-scale contemporary works of art and design in glass.
The new gallery building will feature filtered natural daylight using a sophisticated light-filtering system. The wing will also accommodate a new temporary exhibition gallery devoted exclusively to contemporary art and design.
“This is the first large-scale presentation of contemporary glass that takes advantage of natural light,” said Tina Oldknow, the museum’s curator of modern glass.
The new venue for the museum’s live glassmaking presentations will be in the renovated former Steuben Glass factory, which is adjacent to the museum’s current building.
The museum is also working with landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand Associates to design new outdoor gathering areas for the public, including a one-acre campus green that will provide views into the new gallery and glassmaking spaces.
The project also includes an expansion of the museum’s cafe and relocated and improved parking for bus groups.
www.cmog.org
