With the July 2002 opening of a new and unique art museum in Tacoma, the architectural and cultural landscape of the Pacific Northwest has been changed forever. It is called the Museum of Glass but dont except all of the exhibits to be works of glass art; it is an International Center for Contemporary art, dedicated to presenting artistry in glass, among other media.

The $63 million museums most distinctive architectural feature is a 90-foot cone tilted 17 degrees to the north, measuring 104-feet in diameter at the base, that is wrapped on the outside by 2,800 diamond-shaped stainless steel panels. Within the museum, the cone houses the hot shop. Designed by the acclaimed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, the 75,000 square foot museum includes 13,000 square feet of gallery area, outdoor plazas, an Education studio, a 180-seat theater, the Hot Shop Amphitheater, a museum store and a cafe. Erickson's other notable architectural structures include the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC.

The museum includes an architectural feature of bodies of water with an invisible edge, an effect achieved by making water flow over an edge. Three pools, holding more than 79,000 gallons of water, serenade visitors as they descend from the roof level to the main museum entrance level through the switchback ramps, eventually leading them to the Thea Foss waterfront. A sweeping outdoor concrete staircase around the cones exterior offers another route with views of the Tacoma Dome, Mt. Rainier, Thea Foss waterway and the SR-509 Foss Waterway Cable Stayed bridge.

Within the hot shop amphitheater, visitors can watch artists at work blowing glass. Physicists and Chemists will occasionally be in residence experimenting with the scientific properties of glass as well. On the day that we visited, three artists were making wineglasses, creating the cup, stem and base separately and gluing them together to produce the masterpiece. Seating is limited for the half hour programs so plan on arriving early. Failing which, there is plenty of standing room on the ramps around the stage. A docent interpreted the artists work and a large video projector displayed live close-up views of the work in progress.

The galleries currently host two exhibitions. The Inner Light by Czechoslovakian artists Stanislav Libensk and Jarolsava Brychtov showcases monumental glass sculptures. The sheer size of these works and the delicate plays of light within will amaze the viewer. Sounds of the Inner Eye, by John Cage, Mark Tobey and Morris Graves, features varied works by these artists, including sketches and other artwork of mixed media. It will be interesting to note that each of these artists have a relationship with the Pacific Northwest. Libensk and Brychtov have taught at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA and Cage, Tobey and Graves met each other in Seattle and influenced each others work. Gallery exhibits will be changed every few months.

In addition, the museum currently hosts works by five distinctive artists. Gregory Barsamians Die Falle is an entrancing sculpture that couples a high velocity-spinning pattern with strobe lighting to produce an effect similar to a motion picture. Four other artworks featured in the outdoor plazas will be changed every year or so and are open to the public for free from dawn to dusk. Patrick Doughertys Call of the Wild beside the main plaza reflecting pool is woven from twigs and saplings of vine maple, willow, red twig dogwood and bitter cherry wood. Depending upon how you interpret this artwork, it might suggest the pouring of molten glass or twigs. Mildred Howards Blackbird in a Red Sky (a.k.a Fall of the Blood House) is an installation beside the Mezzanine reflecting pool made of red glass, iron, wood and resin. The five hundred apples floating in the nearby pool represents the houses orchard.

Also at the mezzanine level is a Remann Hall womens project entitled Remorse Reconstructed. This is a wonderful example of the museums unique approach to education. By going out to the community and asking what people needed, it was determined that a good program was necessary for incarcerated juveniles, especially girls. The Remann Hall project was built from the ground up in conjunction with the Pierce county detention center, using a grant from the Governors Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and two private donors. Over a 10-month period, this installation, consisting primarily of graffiti, was created by approximately 200 women in detention, in conjunction with professional artists. The aperture house provides a vent for the girls to vent their feelings and talk about their past. The hummingbird house represents their future and the armor on the hummingbird symbolizes their protection in the world. The goal of this project is to reduce violent and anti-social behavior in young female offenders. The museum has been awarded a second year of funding and is developing a new project. Some of those released from detention continue to work with the museum.

Buster Simpsons Incidence is a series of 36 glass panels at the top reflecting pool. Inside the museums Grand Hall is seen The Glass Kingdom by Gronk. If you look carefully, you can find the birth of a new entity on the upper level from graffiti-like artwork on the lower level.

Two permanent public structures were commissioned around the museum include the Chihuly bridge of glass and Howard Ben Tres Water Forest. The bridge of glass is a 500-foot pedestrian bridge featuring three exhibitions by the Tacoma native and renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. It connects the museum with Tacomas art and education district, comprising of University of Washingtons Tacoma campus and a Washington State History museum. Tacoma Art Museum is slated for a move to this vicinity in 2003.

The highly colorful Bridge of Glass consists of three permanent exhibits of Dale Chihulys glass works. As visitors approach the museum on the bridge, they will first pass under the Seaform Pavilion. Consisting of 2364 objects from Chihulys Seaform and Persian series, this ceiling exhibit will remind you of the ocean and the beach with its otherworldly colors and forms. Natural light filters through the exhibit to produce an array of colors and fluorescent lighting has been set up for the more common overcast days and nighttime illumination. The Crystal Towers are two massive installations rising forty feet above the center of the bridge desk. The large glacial blue crystals are made from a polyurethane material to withstand the weather. Closer to the museum, the 80-foot Venetian Wall consists of 109 of Chihulys sculptures from the Venetians, Ikebana and Putti series. Once again, a translucent glass wall behind exhibit has been employed to enhance the color of this exhibit by transmitting natural light. Concrete benches are provided on the other side of the walkway for visitors to sit and enjoy the exhibit. More Chihulys works can be seen at the nearby Union Station, Tacoma Art Museum and the local university campuses.

The Water Forest sculpture consists of twenty vertical elements made of industrial glass tubing and bronze, arranged concentrically around a granite bench. Symbolizing a sacred grove of trees, public can not only observe but also be within this sculpture. Water rises and falls through the vertical elements, signifying tidal cycles in the nearby Thea Foss waterway.

The museums education programs are very unique. Two docent-led tours introduce visitors to the exhibitions and the architectural installations. The Object theater program is designed to go out to schools, primary middle schools, and educate the children about contemporary art through enactment of an easy-to-understand storyline. The visiting artist program, featuring internationally known artists, provides classes and lectures. The Education Studio provides opportunities for students to actively engage in hands-on learning activities with the ideas behind art and the theater has scheduled programs for similar education through a different approach. Programs relate to the artwork displayed in the galleries, helping visitors get an in-depth look into the concepts and ideas behind the artwork. On the day I visited, the education studio offered a program by Dan Senn to demonstrate how John Cage employed an ancient system of I-Ching to obtain guidance and direction while producing his artwork. The hands-on exper iment transcended the age barrier and the process of producing a variety of music on Tibetan bells using an indigenously developed I-Ching system fascinated kids as well as adults.

A visit to the Museum of Glass will provide a unique experience for the entire family. It is architecturally different from any other art museum in the Pacific Northwest region. The hot shop amphitheater is one of a kind, not typically seen outside of glass studios and schools. Novel education programs will leave you with a better understanding of contemporary art.

I sat by the roof level pool on this later summer evening, watching the alpenglow on Mt.Rainier in the distance. As the sun set on this warm summer evening, the sky turned a shade of pink and cast an ephemeral glow on the cone. The Thea Foss waterfront has just earned itself a facelift and this is just its beginning; the city of Tacoma is planning to extend the waterfront esplanade northwards, all the way to Point Defiance. Many of the old buildings in the neighborhood are giving way to new construction. A new chapter is being written on the history of Tacoma. Any way you look at it, the Museum of Glass represents a transformation of Tacoma from an industrial to a modern city.

Seaform Pavilion

Seaform Pavilion