marvels at the museum
TRANSCRIPT
Our online educational seriescontinues!
MARVELS AT THE MUSEUM
The Crystal Kingdom:Discovering Wildlife Through the Magic of
Glass!
Artists and craftspeople have celebrated wildlife through the medium ofglass for over two thousand years! Perhaps more than any otherglassmaking genre, glass animals have enchanted viewers (particularlychildren!) with their beauty, expressive power, whimsy, and humor. At theNew Bedford Museum of Glass, we are building a comprehensivecollection of this work, a see-through zoo of crystal wildlife from aroundthe world and across the centuries!
NBMOG is grateful to members Norman & Nora Stevens for launchingthis remarkable quest. In 2011 they donated their collection of 500 torch-worked, miniature glass animals, most of which measure less than oneinch in height! Norman and Nora also donated an important group ofglass animal sculptures from the famous Orrefors glassworks of Sweden,and since that time the museum has sought outstanding examples by theworld’s leading glassmakers, artists, and designers. Each employs thespecial properties of glass to create a unique statement about our worldand its richly varied animal inhabitants.
Helping NBMOG to develop and display this growing collection are thefollowing generous underwriters and supporters: Karilon Babbitt-Grainger, Carol D. & Richard M. Bacik, Judith & Brook Baker, Carl &Ruth Barron, Philip & Kate Beauregard, the Blanko Glass Company, AmyBoches, Angela Bowey, Bob & Barbara Burford, Laura Coffin, DavidDeterra, Tom & Peetie Dimitroff, Gerry Eggert, the Fiber Optic Center,Inc., the Founders Chapter Glass Club, the Fuller Craft Museum, EileenGrafelman, Dianne Gregg, Nancy Hillman, Mark Jeffrey, Eric Johnson,Alan Kaplan, Fred Kasap, Barry Knowles, LeeAnne & Jeff Kornbau, Edie& John Lawson, George J. Leontire, the New England PaperweightCollectors Association, Jim & Betsy Lessig, Maria Martell, ShannonMcManus, Karen Mendzela, Johnpaul Moccia, John B. Mordock, AndreaNatsios, David Nelson, Ross Nelson, Gary R. O’Brian, Ellen O’Brien, Mr.& Mrs. Frederick W. Parsons III, Karen & Vaughn Petraglia, Bill Pitt,Jacqueline & Richard Pope, Allan & Jane Port, the President’s Office ofthe University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth, Eleane T. Rini, Joanne M.Rodgers, Michael B. Rukin, Mary E. Sayer, Richard Schimmelpfeng,Dean Six, Elaine Sokoloff, Michael W. Sprague, Norman & Nora Stevens,Debbie Tarsitano, Judy & Dick Usen, John & Mariena Whitmer, GordonA. Wildes, Harry Wurth, and Sophia Grace Yanni.
In 2017 the museum displayed a selection of animals from its collectionat the Newton Free Library outside Boston. Program Director EllenMeyers wrote, “As you may know, we are the busiest public librarybuilding in Massachusetts, with over 1,500 patrons coming in on a dailybasis. In my ten years of coordinating the displays for our Main Hall,which rotate on a monthly basis, this has been among the most popular!Every day countless families have stopped by to enjoy the colorful glassanimals, take time to name them, and generally appreciate the beautyand variety of the pieces.”
Future displays are being planned as we continue to develop thisinspiring collection. Please participate! We invite you to visit and join ourFacebook group “Collecting Glass Animals at NBMOG” to seemore glass animal highlights from the collection. And please contact themuseum via email at [email protected] if you might be interested in
“adopting” a glass animal as one of our underwriting donors! The magicalmenagerie awaits!
-- Kirk J. Nelson, Executive Director
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Content includes: the mystery behind a magnificent Pairpoint stag, KateGreenaway vases, Mt. Washington art glass, Sandwich glass, historicglassmaking photographs, Trevaise Ware, a very impressive video of the
museum cat hurdling past the contemporary glass display, and even atour of our new home, the spectacular James Arnold Mansion!
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