Incredible field trip- Corning Museum of Glass!

Recently, my children and I traveled to New York State to visit our family. When I asked them what they’d like to do while we were there, first on the list was to just visit with their Pappy and Grammy and other family members. Second on the list was to enjoy black raspberry/strawberry twist soft ice cream from The Royal Treat. And third on the list was to visit Corning Museum of Glass again.

When I was growing up in NY, each year our class trip took us to CMOG. It was great fun to walk through this factory and watch glass being made. A few years back, my children and I were in NY and I wanted to share this memory with them. We made a short trip to Corning and they had an absolute blast touring the museum and listening to my stories. 😉

On this trip to CMOG, we were able to add new a new, fun memory- glassmaking experiences! Rebecca and I made glass flowers, Thomas made a blown glass ornament, Natalie made a fused mirror, and Mary made her own glass bead.

We arrived first thing Monday morning. That would be my first tip- begin your day early. There was no line ahead of us, we walked in and went right to the desk. The helpful folks at the desk were able to answer all of our questions and directed us to where we needed to go for our glass making experiences. This was a walk out of one building, across a large walking area, and into another building. There is some construction going on as CMOG is expanding. It was not noisy or otherwise distracting, though!

We found our way to the glassmaking area and were greeted by the most friendly teachers I’ve ever witnessed in a public setting such as this. We were given instructions for our individual tasks. Safety is definitely first at CMOG. We all were required to wear the proper safety gear before we could begin. Another arriving early in the day tip here. We walked right in with no wait time at all as we were the first appointment times of the day. When we finished, there was quite a line of folks waiting for their turn.

The young ladies who assisted us with our glassmaking experiences, Heather, Alli, and Kalli, were pleasant, helpful, and seemed to genuinely love what they were doing. I was able to speak with two of them during our glassmaking time, who related their CMOG work experience to me. It was interesting to note that they all shared similar things with me. They all told me how much they loved working at CMOG, especially in this particular area. They liked getting to expose others to the thrill of making glass.

One young lady in particular was most helpful to me. Since I was also making my own glass flower, I couldn’t take as many photos as I would have liked. There was also areas that were off-limits to anyone not working on the actual project. No problem as Heather took photos for me! What fun I had looking at the photos she took of us all while we were busy creating!

 

After we finished our glassmaking experiences, we headed back over to the museum area. Anything and everything you could ever want to know about the past, present, and future of glass and glassmaking is covered here! From fun interactive displays, to live demos, to fact-filled displays, the museum translated this mystery of glass quite clearly. Every employee we encountered was friendly and helpful.

If we had been staying longer, enjoying a lunch in the museum’s cafeteria area would not have broken the bank. There was a wide variety of foods, all at reasonable prices.

The history area of the museum was fascinating. It was filled with very, very old glass artifacts, along with clearly labeled signs and information. This area of the museum went on and on. It was a winding path of wonderment!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Corning Museum of Glass. We eagerly look forward to our next trip to New York so that we can add another stop at CMOG! Too bad we were flying home, the shops at the end of our visit were filled with goodies I would have loved to have brought home!

Since we were flying home, we asked the fine folks to ship our glass projects to us. They handled this shipment perfectly. The large box was waiting for us when we got home. Great care was obviously taken to ensure our treasures would still be intact when we saw them again. Integrity is one word that comes to mind when I think of CMOG. Another word is FUN!