Sharing Is Caring: Loans From the Museum of Glass Permanent Collection
By Rebecca Engelhardt, Collections & Exhibitions Manager
Museum of Glass (MOG) has an active outgoing loans program that is an integral part of the mission that is to fuel discovery about glass and glassmaking. Lending to other museums is a great way for MOG to share our collection and our love of the art form. It allows us to place glass in the conversation of other art mediums at museums throughout the world. Since 2007, Museum of Glass has lent nearly 200 objects from the Permanent Collection to other museums and almost 100 pieces from the Kids Design Glass collection to community organizations.
Additionally, as an active borrower ourselves, it is important for Museum of Glass to have a mechanism for reciprocation.
Here’s where you can see pieces from the Museum of Glass collection out and about this year:
TOURING
Various Venues
Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, organized by International Arts & Artists.
Exhibition Summary: “Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass is a first-of-its-kind, groundbreaking exhibition giving broader and overdue recognition to a wide range of contemporary Native American and Indigenous Pacific Rim artists working in glass, which will be touring through 2026.”
Museum of Glass Collection pieces included:
PIRI COWIE
Ngā Tuna Heke (Migrating Eels), 2019
Piri Cowie (Māori - Kāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, New Zealand, born 1974). Ngā Tuna Heke (Migrating Eels), Made at the Museum in 2019. Blown glass. 12 x 4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of the artist. Photo by Duncan Price.
JOE FEDDERSEN
Urban Vernacular: Freeway with HOV , 2008
Joe Feddersen (American / Member of the Colville Federated Tribes of Northeast, born 1953). Urban Vernacular: Freeway with HOV, Made at the Museum in 2008. Blown glass, mirroring, copper enamel. 17 1/2 x 15 x 12 1/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of the artist and Froelick Gallery. Photo courtesy of the artist.
KANSAS
Wichita Art Museum
Art of Fire: Frederick Carder and Steuben Glass
Exhibition Summary: “Revealing WAM’s rich holdings, the variety, quality, and artistry of Steuben glass will be on view. In fascinating ways, the exquisite work of the Steuben Glass Works, the world-class glass manufacturer (1903—2011), continues to beguile and inspire artists. The new installation acknowledges and examines how contemporary glass artists explore the continuing allure and legacy of Steuben. Magnificent work by such living artists as Dante Marioni and Kiki Smith will be on view.”
Museum of Glass Collection pieces included:
DANTE MARIONI
Yellow and Blue, 2002
Dante Marioni (American, born 1964). Yellow and Blue, 2002. Blown glass, wood. 31 x 19 x 5 1/2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of the artist. Photo by Roger Schreiber.
WASHINGTON, DC
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Sharing Honors and Burden: Renwick Invitational 2023
Exhibition Summary: “Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023 focuses on fresh and nuanced visions by six Native American or Alaska Native artists who express the honors and burdens that connect people to one another. The 55 artworks in the exhibition arise from traditions of making that honor family, community or clan, and require broad community participation. Six artists — Joe Feddersen (Arrow Lakes/Okanagan), Lily Hope (Tlingit), Ursala Hudson (Tlingit), Erica Lord (Athabaskan/Iñupiat), Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy) and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) — analyze the present moment by evoking historical practices and potential futures. Their works are often culturally specific, yet they communicate across cultural boundaries.”
Museum of Glass Collection pieces included:
JOE FEDDERSEN
Social Distancing, 2021
Joe Feddersen (American / Member of the Colville Confederated Tribes of the Northeast, born 1953). Social Distancing, Made at the Museum in 2021. Mirrored, blown Plateau basket form with pickups. 15 1/2 x 8 3/8 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of the artist. Photo by Duncan Price.
WASHINGTON
Children’s Museum of Tacoma - Greentrike
Works from Kids Design Glass
Exhibition Summary: Children’s Museum of Tacoma is showing a selection of pieces from Museum of Glass’s collection of Kids Design Glass pieces as part of our partnership on Illuminate: Glass Art for Early Learners. Developed by Museum of Glass with the support of Greentrike, Illuminate is an exhibition for early learners and their grown ups to explore what makes glass a unique art material - its ability to capture and manipulate light. Each piece of art in the exhibition is activated by opportunities for guests to create, to move, to play, and to experience what makes glass extraordinary.
Hotel Murano
Works from Kids Design Glass
Exhibition Summary: “In celebration of the Pacific Northwest’s central role in the modern glass art movement, we’ve carefully curated an international collection of 20th-century works in glass that mixes site-specific commissioned pieces with acquisitions from artists’ studios and galleries around the world. Forty-five artists from twelve countries are represented, showcasing an incredible diversity of glass art techniques and styles.”
Kids Design Glass image credits (left to right, top row to bottom row):
Designed by Forrest Brennan (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Pig in a blanket, 2010. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 8 1/4 x 15 x 6 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington. Photo by Duncan Price.
Designed by Austin Winters (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Bacon Boy, 2012. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 10 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Russell Johnson.
Designed by Christina Wentworth (age 11), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Corn dog, 2014. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 6 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 5 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo by Duncan Price.
Designed by Oliver Bonjour (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. AFU (or) Hungry Ghost, 2015. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.
Designed by Henry Johnson (age 10), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. The Bridge of Glass Car, 2015. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 8 7 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.
Designed by Erin Le (age 9), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. orca whale singing sensation, 2013. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 11 1/2 x 6 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.
Designed by Polina Povovoznyuk (age 9), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Big ears, 2015. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.
Designed by Jacob Schauer (age 12), made by Museum of Glass Hot Shop Team. Neon green one eyed cyclops Pickle, 2011. Blown and hot-sculpted glass with applied bits. 14 1/4 x 4 3/4 x 4 1/4 in. Collection of Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass.