Rainy weather and a thumbs up from my Cornell friend John got us to go to the Corning Museum of Glass and I am sooo glad we did! The new contemporary wing, a high-ceilinged white glass box, is stunning, both the architecture and the contemporary glass artwork. What a perfect place to go, especially on a gloomy day. I recognized several artists whose work is at The Des Moines Art Center (Fred Wilson, Judith Schaechter) and the omnipresent Chiluly. But there is so much more going on in the glass art world beyond Chiluly, I learned.
We also went to the exhibit tracing the history of glass, which was fascinating and to a glassblowing demonstration. The latest clever pandemic-induced accommodation: instead of blowing the glass, the glass artist used some sort of foot-peddled contraption so he could keep his mask on. Whatever works. The weather cleared enough for us to eat lunch outside on the cafe patio. (Good southwest salad, tuna sandwich). We also spent a lot of time in the huge gift shop and I found a wonderful glass jewelry maker from Bridgeport Connecticut, conveniently located near Myra, who also liked his work.
We spent 3 1/2 hours at the museum and could have stayed longer but we wanted to check out downtown. Glad we did. Corning is a very well -heeled town with a healthy historic district with massive two-story elegant brick storefronts filled with galleries, restaurants, antique shops (including an outpost of FLX Provisions, the well-regarded restaurant in Geneva).
TakeBetsywithyou 