Corning Museum of Glass

Because we have so many visitors, we can't accommodate RVs in our lot overnight, although you are welcome to park there during your visit to the Museum. However, there are a number of RV camps in the area. Visit the Steuben County Conference and Visitors Bureau for more information.

Yes. The Museum campus has free public wireless internet access (WiFi) in most areas including the GlassMarket Café, the Rakow Research Library and The Studio. The signal may be weaker in some areas than others.

Follow these instructions to connect on your Android device:
Go to Settings and touch “Wireless and networks.” Touch “Wi-Fi settings.” Touch to turn on your device’s Wi-Fi setting. Select “CMoG Guest” from the list of Wi-Fi networks.

Follow these instructions to connect on your Apple device:
Open the Settings app and touch “Wi-Fi.” Make sure Wi-Fi is ON. Touch “CMoG Guest” from the list of available networks.
For more information see Mobile FAQs.

Strollers are not available from the Museum, but we do encourage and allow their use in the Museum.

We accept cash and Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express credit cards. We do NOT accept personal checks or travelers checks.

Guests can learn all about glass technology in the Glass Innovation Center, which contains three galleries: Windows, Vessels and Optics (which includes an interactive exhibit specifically on fiber optics).

The Museum has over 45,000 objects in its collection. It houses the most comprehensive and celebrated collection of glass in the world. Search the collection, or see highlights of the Galleries.

%%Flash%% photography is not allowed in the galleries. Photography, using existing light (no %%flash%%), is permitted for personal use only.

No %%flash%% or tripods may be used. No photography is permitted in special exhibition areas without special permission by the Museum's Executive Director. These areas are marked with "Do Not Photograph" signs. All photography for commercial use is strictly prohibited.

It is a Robertson Ventilator. It sits on the top of the former Steuben Glass Factory. Its purpose is to circulate the heat out of the factory while keeping animals and weather elements out.

Harrison and Abromowitz designed the original building in 1951. Gunnar Birkerts designed the building housing the Art and History Galleries, completed in 1980. The Glass Innovation Center and the rest of the Museum's $65 million transformation was designed by architects Smith-Miller+Hawkinson with assistance from the exhibit design firm of Ralph Applebaum and Associates. It opened in 2001.

No, unfortunately, we do not offer this service. However, the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) has a listing of conservators who may be able to help. Find a conservator.

Because of our non-profit status, we are unable to appraise items.

In addition to The Corning Museum of Glass and its glassmaking school, The Studio, there are many smaller collections and studios across the country. Visit the website of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass (AACG) for information about exhibits and collections, or check out our list of glass schools.

Yes. You can search our library catalog and the Article Index at http://rakow.cmog.org/ from anywhere you have access to the Internet.

Yes. WiFi access to the Internet is available in our reading room.

Our Library does have some information about Corning Incorporated. For more complete documentation concerning the company, you may contact the Corning Incorporated Archives at 607.974.8457.

The Library is free and open to the public from 9-5, Monday-Friday and on Sundays from 12-5 when the Studio is in session. You do not need an appointment to visit the Library. Please contact us at 607.438.5300 or rakow@cmog.org, if you would like to have preliminary research materials pulled in advance of your visit.

The Studio is part of the Museum, but admission to this facility, along with the GlassMarket, the Carder Gallery and the Rakow Research Library, is free. However, there is a charge for Make Your Own Glass.

We do not sell film. However, we do sell single-use cameras in the GlassMarket.

Ferenbaugh, a campsite nearby, can take care of your needs. (A fee is charged.)

At Black's Sunoco Station on West Pultney St. near Route 414.

Corning sits on the banks of the Chemung River. The Chemung River starts in Painted Post at the juncture of the Cohocton and Tioga rivers. It flows southeast and eventually joins the Susquehanna River.

Visit web sites of Finger Lakes Wine Country, the Corning Chamber of Commerce, Corning Finger Lakes and the Tourism Trail, for information regarding local events, lodging, and attractions in the region.

Yes. Volcanic glass is called obsidian. Glass formed when a meteorite strikes sand is called a tektite. Glass formed from a lightning strike is called a fulgurite.

To start the initial bubble, the glassmaker uses as much pressure as you would use to blow up a party balloon. Once started, the glass inflates very easily. As the glass cools, it continually stiffens, becoming harder and harder to inflate. Most items made at the Hot Glass Show are “off-hand” formed without molds. Mold blowing often requires high pressures, sometimes glassblowers even use compressed air to fill out a complex mold.

Glass does not flow once it reaches room temperature. The myth that glass flows over time has been perpetuated for years. You may have heard from your high school science teacher that the glass in an old stained glass window thickens at the bottom because it has “flowed down” over time. The glass in these windows is, in fact, often of varying thickness, but that is because of how the sheets of glass were made. There are many glass objects thousands of years older than those windows that show no sign of flow. Scientists at Corning Incorporated have conducted experiments simulating millions of years of gravity on glass and have proven that even on a geologic time %%scale%%, glass does not flow.

Yes. Much of the clear glass scrap from the Hot Glass Show is re-melted, however “crack-off” is not re-melted. Sometimes scraps of colored glass are used to make paperweights. Other glass waste is sent to a municipal recycling center.

The Hot Glass Show gaffers use colored glass in two forms: bar and frit. Color bars can be used to achieve solid colors, while frit (crushed up colored glass) is used for different mottled looks.

The camera behind the glory hole is protected by a sheet of fused silica glass and cooled with a stream of air. Fused silica is a high-temperature/low-expansion glass developed by Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated) in 1930. It is made up only of chemically rendered silica and melts at 3800ºF, or 2000ºC, and can easily withstand the 2300ºF heat of the furnace.

Many factors tell the glassmaker how long to heat the glass. Glassblowers can see and feel the glass move on the end of the pipe. They watch the color of the glass and develop a sense of timing with practice.

Glassmakers often start the glassblowing process by the “blow and cap” method, wherein pressurized air is trapped in the pipe by the thumb. This air forms a bubble in the glass after a short delay. The delay is caused by a temperature differential in the glass. Near the pipe, the glass is cooled by the pipe head which is 1,000 degrees cooler than the glass. Some say the bubble is formed simply from the pressure of the initial breath, some say that air trapped in the blowpipe is heated by the hot glass and expands, forming the bubble. As gasses heat, they expand in accordance with “Charles’ Law.”

Gaffers activate a small solenoid valve with a foot pedal, which introduces additional gas into the furnace’s flame.

Generally, it takes about six years to become a professional glassmaker. There are many who are very capable with less experience, but they may lack versatility.

750,000 BTU on high fire.

In a production factory, it is not unusual for a team of three glassworkers to make 200+ items in one day. Some artisan studios make two to four complex pieces per day. Hot Glass Show glassmakers usually make 12 to 15 items each day.

For professional glassmakers, it is uncommon to be burned in the studio. Burns that do happen, most often occur by touching hot metal and not glass. There are many hot surfaces and tools of which glassmakers must constantly be aware.

Molds for glassblowing can be made of many materials. Early Roman ceramic and bronze molds for glass have been found. Today, most optic or pattern molds are made of bronze and aluminum, and most blow molds are made of wood or cast iron coated with cork.

The Museum’s furnace is made of several types of ceramic refractory brick. These bricks are more heat and corrosion resistant on the inner face, and more insulating on the outer surface.

Natural gas. The Museum also has a furnace fueled with propane, and one that is electrically powered.

Approximately 80% of the glass containers turned in for recycling are made into new containers. Each recycled container saves enough energy to run a 60-watt light bulb for four hours. There are also many secondary uses for recycled glass, including aggregate for concrete and blacktop, a melting agent used in forming bricks, for filtration, and as an abrasive.

Glass is a state of matter that possesses the atomic structure of a liquid and the physical properties of a solid.

Pyrex is the brand name of Corning Incorporated’s borosilicate glass. Borosilicate glass was developed in the late 19th century by the German glassmaker Otto Schott. Borosilicates have a composition of silica sand and boron. The biggest benefit of borosilicates is that they have very low thermal expansion, allowing them to heat and cool rapidly without breaking. Borosilicates must be shaped at higher temperatures than soda-lime glass.

Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is added to the glass as a “flux,” or an agent used to lower the melting temperature. Traditionally, sea plants were processed to yield soda ash. Today, soda is mined (in Wyoming) and refined into soda ash and baking soda.

The term “crystal” originally referred to any high quality clear glass (a glass that resembles natural rock crystal). The Venetians first called their clear glass Cristallo in the 14th century. Today crystal most often refers to “lead crystal,” which uses lead as a flux in place of soda ash, giving the glass an incredibly clear appearance.

Glassblowers must wear safety glasses to protect against flying glass and harmful UV and IR radiation. It is also common for glassmakers to wear natural fibers and not synthetics, which %%melt%% when hot. Glassmakers sometimes wear gloves, but typically do not in order to retain dexterity and grip.

Glass shaping blocks are made of fruit woods: apple, cherry, and pear. These woods a have a dense and even grain, absorb water, and burn out evenly. For the first 10 to 15 seconds that a glassmaker uses the wood block, the glass rides on a layer of steam rather than burning the wood away.

The furnace on the Hot Glass Show stage has a heat recuperation system. This system pre-heats the combustion air to 500ºF by circulating it around the hot exhaust flue.

Silica is commonly mined throughout the Southern and Mid-Western United States.

There are hundreds of metallic compounds and combinations of compounds that make color in glass, but here are some of the most common: cobalt = blue, iron  = green, copper = turquoise blue or ruby red, manganese = amethyst, gold = ruby or purple, cadmium = red, selenium = yellow, tin + antimony = white.

The water vaporizes too quickly at the interface with the glass. Molten glass will crack on the surface when submerged in water, but not when using the block.

Our blowpipes don’t get hot for a number of reasons. Mostly, the pipes are only briefly exposed to heat themselves when gathering. When re-heating, the glass is heated and not the pipe. Glass is an excellent insulator, and does not conduct heat into the pipe. Today, our pipes are made of stainless steel which also helps, since stainless is a poor conductor of heat. In addition, pipes are long enough that the glassmaker can always hold the pipe safely.

While there is no concrete answer, there are several plausible origins of this term. In an old factory, where smoke and dust were everywhere, a 2100° opening would have created an illusion not unlike that seen in paintings of saints and angles where “The Glory” radiated from their heads. A break in the clouds where sunlight passes through is also called a glory hole. However, the term has more recently fallen out of use and the term “Reheating Furnace” is more widely used.

Most believe that the word marver is derived from the French word for marble “marbre.” Traditionally, a stone surface would have been used to roll and shape the glass. Today, marvers are made of stainless steel because it is a poor conductor of heat.

Glass objects that can be safely washed (most objects in the collection except ancient and some modern and composite objects) are washed with tap water and a mild conservation-grade detergent (any mild detergent without dyes or perfumes would work), followed by thorough rinsing with de-ionized or distilled water. The glass is then either toweled dry with paper towels or air dried. For some objects, like bottles with narrow openings, the inside is rinsed with a small amount of acetone to help remove moisture. Old adhesives from previous repairs or labels are removed with solvents, mostly acetone, ethanol, or a petroleum distillate like naphtha.

The time it takes to do one conservation treatment can differ greatly. A simple treatment can take as little as 15 minutes, while a very complicated one can take hundreds of hours over many months. Most treatments take between 10 and 30 hours of active work over a period of several months. Many of the materials we use require long setting times, so we can’t do an entire treatment at once. Sometimes we can only glue one fragment a day. The treatment ends up taking months, but we’re really only working on it for a few minutes a day. This is one of the reasons we usually work on several objects at a time.

Confusion sometimes arises about the terms “restoration” and “conservation.” Restoration is actually a type of conservation treatment. Specifically it refers to an attempt to bring an object closer to its original appearance. The other type of conservation treatment is stabilization, which refers to an attempt to prevent further deterioration of an object. In all conservation treatments the integrity of the object and maintaining as much of the original material as possible is important.

In glass conservation, a stabilization treatment might include re-assembling the fragments of a broken object, but not making any fills to replace the missing pieces unless they are needed for structural support. A restoration treatment would include making fills to replace the missing fragments so that the object looks whole once again. Conservators do not want to deceive anyone into believing an object is undamaged when it’s not, but the repairs also should not distract from the object itself. As a general rule, restorations should be invisible/unnoticeable from 6 feet away, but visible (to a trained eye) from 6 inches away.

If you have any questions while using the app at the Museum, please ask a Museum associate.  Or, you can email us at web@cmog.org.

Follow these instructions to connect on your Apple device:
Open the Settings app and touch “Wi-Fi.” Make sure Wi-Fi is ON. Touch “CMoG Guest” from the list of available networks.

Yes. The Museum campus has free public wireless internet access (WiFi) in most areas including the GlassMarket Café, the Rakow Research Library and The Studio. Connect to “CMoG Guest” from the list of available Wi-Fi networks. The signal may be weaker in some areas than others.

Yes, but giving through a charitable trust, foundation, or donor-advised fund carries certain restrictions. Please contact the Membership Department at membership@cmog.org or 607.438.5600 for more information.

Membership cards are not transferable; only the cardholder is entitled to use the card. Museum membership makes a great gift for family and friends, though. Visit the Membership section of our website for more information.

Yes, Members receive a generous 15% discount, with special sales throughout the year. Please present your membership card when you check out.

Upgrading your membership gives you access to additional benefits and opportunities. You can upgrade your current membership at any time. Simply call the membership office at 607.438.5600 or visit the Membership section of our website, and select your new level. You can also upgrade when you renew your membership.

There are several ways to join, or to renew your membership: Visit the Membership section of our website; call 607.438.5600; or mail the membership form to The Corning Museum of Glass, Membership Office, One Museum Way, Corning, NY 14830.

We offer a variety of benefits, ranging from free admission to a subscription to The %%Gather%%, our Members-only magazine. A full list of benefits can be found inside the membership brochure, or in the Membership section of our website.

This unique program makes it possible for members at one museum to enjoy the benefits of membership at another participating museum. Corning Museum Members at the Donor level and above are entitled to receive the same benefits offered to members of other museums, upon presenting their specially marked membership card. Benefits typically include free admission, and discounts in the museum stores. (See the complete list.)

Your membership cards will arrive approximately two weeks from the day your membership is processed. If you would like to visit the Museum, but have not yet received your card, simply present your photo ID at the membership desk and a temporary membership card will be issued.