Located in Corning, New York – The Corning Museum of Glass is the crown jewel in an already beautiful upstate New York city. Small enough to feel intimate, and large enough to have everything a visitor could want, Corning is a great stopping off point between Elmira, Watkins Glen and the New York City.
You might at first blush think that visiting a museum devoted to glass could be a rather dry experience. And I’m thrilled to tell you, you absolutely could not be more wrong! The Corning Museum of Glass was the most surprising stop on our tour of Mark Twain Country, and here are 6 reasons you cannot miss it…
6 Reasons to Visit Corning Museum of Glass:
1. You can get hands on. Every family has those members who want to “do” things, rather than just “see” things. And Corning Museum has you covered. Those in your group who like a little (or a lot of) hands on action – can take a one day, one weekend, or multiple – week course in glass making at The Studio. And all ages and experience levels can take part in a “Make Your Own Glass” experience. Our family made Glass Flowers and our young daughter a Glass Ornament. It really made the glass making process come alive.
2. The incredible Modern Art! This museum does an unparalleled job of appealing to all ages and generations within a family. The family historian will be overwhelmed with the all there is to learn. And the family artist is guaranteed to be blown away by the museum’s newly opened Contemporary Art + Design Wing. This striking white space is 100,000 square feet of filtered natural light`highlighting some of the most riveting modern art pieces I’ve ever seen! It feels like you’ve walked into the clouds.
3. The integration of technology. The family “techno-file” will want to download the Museums interactive app, GlassApp before arrival. Art pieces come to life through behind the scenes footage, information, and special effects when used while walking through the galleries. That’s right – this museum encourages you to be on your phone interacting with pieces in real time! You can also relive your experience once you get home with Live Streaming Events. Log on, and watch world class Glass Artists creating pieces in the same studios you toured. A great way to revisit what you’ve learned at home.
4. The Sheer Span of time the museum covers! The Corning Museum of Glass cares for, and displays the world’s best collection of art and historical glass. Unlike any other place on earth – you can get close up to more than 3,500 years of the history of glass in the museums Glass Collection Galleries. It’s truly staggering to see so many ancient examples of glass close up. Think about that. 3,500 years of History!
5. The temporary exhibits that are always changing. While we visited we got to see fragile glass marine invertebrate models by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, developed during the 19th century in order to study sea creatures. You can see them through January 8, 2017. It’s so staggering how life like they are!
6.The live action demonstrations, and touchable exhibits! Visual learners, will love watching glass artists create large works of glass up close! Glass demonstrations are scheduled all through the day, and lucky audience members may get to take home the glass art thats made! And the whole family will love Innovation Center, where you can bend light and glass and touch and play with some of the life size exhibits. You’ll learn while having fun.
Important to note: All tickets are good for two days of touring. So you can come and go, or break this activity up into multiple days for a reasonable price! You will also want to budget time for the world class gift shop; a staggering array of glass gifts and collectibles. We didn’t take that advice, and left wishing we’d had more time to shop!
The Corning Museum of Glass is committed to collecting, educating, preserving and perhaps most importantly – sharing with visitors the experience of Glass. I truly cannot recommend a trip here more. If possible devote a whole day to this venue!
To Plan Your Visit: http://www.cmog.org/visit
Or, for an inside look at our visit, check out this short video:
Special Thanks corningfingerlakes.com for hosting our visit. All opinions are my own.ย
About Shannon SchmidShannon traded in her sensible NYC TV producer shoes (they were best for taking the subway), for a pair of Texas Cowboy boots when she married her best friend! He's at fault for making this Yankee a Texan! Shannon writes about all things that make a house a home. Her chief blogging inspiration is being the proud & slightly neurotic mom of a preschool age daughter.
You can find Shannon on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and her new favorite place to hang out, Google+.
The glass museum looks like a lot of fun, course I love education and making something. It is so neat to watch hand-blown glass figures be created so I would think the ornament would be similar. Imagine this will be one of her favorite ornaments in the future.