The new exhibition at the Corning Museum of Glass Contemporary Art + Design Wing offers so much to capture your attention. At your feet, sunlight flickers on the red shards of “Carroña,” a shattered chandelier with crows picking at it, while towering over your head, 2,000 green drinking glasses stand stacked into the likeness of trees in a piece entitled “Forest Glass."
However, what you might not notice is the material surrounding each of these beautiful pieces of art work. And that is perfectly fine with the Corning Museum of Glass.
This spring, the Museum unveiled the new and expanded gallery space filled with contemporary art in glass. Before opening the new wing, the Corning Museum of Glass teamed with Corning Incorporated to solve how to make delicate pieces of glass artwork feel accessible.
“The architect of this new wing did not want barriers around the art. He pictured visitors freely engaging with each piece,” explained Warren Bunn, manager of the Museum’s collections and exhibitions. “However, we needed to protect both our fragile works of glass, and our visitors.”
“To keep with the architect’s vision, the thinness and durability of Corning’s Gorilla Glass provided a very elegant solution for us,” said Warren.