Museum of Glass

My daughter convinced me to visit the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. I am so glad that I did. During our visit "A Two-Way Mirror" Exhibition was on display. It included phenomenal works of glass art pieces blown by contemporary black glass smiths. It was also a treat to go into the Hot Shop and watch the HillTop Artists (youth program). It was awesome observing these young glassblowers working together to create some outstanding pieces. Unfortunately, the gift shop was closed, but it will be a definite stop when I visit again.

Visited the museum after watching blown away on Netflix and absolutely loved being able to see them working in the hot-shop. Beautiful art all around. Loved the experience!

Beautiful works of art in glass! It's truly amazing to see what can be created in glass. What makes this museum even more fun is that they have live glass blowing workshops that you can watch. The gift shop was super cute also and Darren, the cashier who helped us, asked us if we would be traveling with the glass pieces we bought. When we said we would, he made sure to triple wrap everything so that it was all secure and protected. He even wrote the names of stuff on the bubble wrap so we would know what was what! So nice of him and we appreciated it so much!

Genuinely one of the best museums in the entire Pacific northwest, a wild and exuberant wonderland of art and design. There is some exhilarating florid and ornate Chihuly glass displayed here, including a kaleidoscopic chandelier, as well as a lot of art inspired by the plants of the sea floor, all bizarre and fantastical and spiraling. There is also more contemporary glass art displayed, and even as someone who is a bit ambivalent about modern art, I found it thoroughly enchanting, a whirlpool of individual creativity. There is the same kind of anti utilitarian exuberance and swirling elaborateness and complex play of colors that I love in Art Nouveau, and there is also some actual Art Nouveau glass displayed by masters like Galle. This is a museum that deeply cares about history and process: spend time exploring here, and you will learn about how glass is made and the history of it being made and the artistic principles behind its making. In that spirit, there is an enormous conical room called the Hot Shop that smells distinctly of burning glass and opens to the sky at its apex. There the artisans work thoughtfully and elegantly on creating new works of art, and one can watch them. This is a museum that is both extremely artful and refreshingly unpretentious: there is a real care and love and concern for art itself that is sadly not common enough in museums these days.

Great and interesting displays across a wide variety of medium, with a focus on glass of course. Active studio where you can watch the process. Well worth a drive and visit!

The Museum of Glass in Tacoma offers a mixed experience. At $22 for admission, the price feels steep given the museum’s limited size, which can be fully explored in under an hour. During my weekend visit, the atmosphere was surprisingly empty, detracting from the overall experience. While the environment is pleasant and the store is beautifully decorated, prices for items there are also quite high. Overall, I found the museum lacking in excitement and would not recommend it unless you’re particularly interested in glass art.

Nice museum with beautiful glass art. The museum entry fee ($22) is steep for the small amount of art on exhibit. A $10 entry fee would be closer to a reasonable price. Parking is not free either. With that said, the glass objects on display are stunning. The kid-designed objects created in the on-site workshop are amazing and amusing. The giant chandelier - something from a Dr. Seuss book - is the craziest glass creation you will ever see.