Corning Museum of Glass

The Ben W. Heineman Sr. Family Gallery of Contemporary Glass focuses on vessels, objects, sculptures, and installations made by international artists. The purpose of the gallery is to show the different ways in which glass is used as a medium for contemporary art. The gallery is named for the Heineman family, who donated a major collection of contemporary glass to the Corning Museum of Glass in 2005.

Large-scale work is complemented by smaller-scale objects and nonfunctional vessels in a variety of glassworking techniques, including blowing, casting, kiln forming, flameworking, laminating, stained glass, beading, and assemblage. The gallery features unique objects, rather than limited-edition or mass-produced products.

Covering the chronology of the American Studio Glass art movement, the installation includes 240 objects by 87 artists, made between 1969 and 2005. The design program called for exhibition design and architectural design to renovate and expand over 10,000 sq.ft. of the open plan contemporary sculpture galleries.

Exhibited in a series of architectural narratives, the art works are presented by artist, rather than by artistic theme, date, or technique. The installation invites the visitor on a journey, through multiple scaled spaces, to explore the historical context of international studio glass art.

Glass art works are displayed throughout in custom designed ‘vitrine’ cabinetry scaled individually to encourage viewing and a sense of intimacy. Architectural wall display elements, designed to present the interactive and graphic media, form discrete spatial divisions linking typologies and technical process. A series of large scaled furniture elements provide continuous surfaces for display, seated viewing areas and featured artist presentations.

HAIGHArchitects llc.
Principal Architect: Paul Haigh, RA AIA
Design Partner: Barbara H. Haigh

Lighting Design: Paul Haigh, Andrew M. Fortune
Video Installation: Bruce Blackburn
Graphic Design: Luckystone Partners, HAIGHArchitects
General Contractor: Streeter Associates
Exhibit Contractor: RBWoodcraft, Steve Achimore