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 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 “GlassApp & Free WiFi” 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 “GlassApp & Free WiFi” from the list of available networks.
For more information see Mobile FAQs.

Yes. We have an automated teller machine (ATM) that is located on the Lower Level, adjacent to the Café.

Yes. The Museum is wheelchair accessible, and wheelchairs are available at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis. Please ask a Guest Services Team Member or a security guard for assistance. We regret that wheelchairs may not be reserved in advance.

No, admission purchased online is valid at any time for the day selected. Reservations say 9 am because it is an all-day pass and the Museum opens at 9.

The Café is located at the rear of the Museum Shops and is open year-round. It offers hot entrees, pizza, soups, salads, and sandwiches, as well as beer, wine, freshly prepared Gimme! coffee, espresso, and other hot and cold beverages. See today's menu.

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.

Events and activities are offered throughout the region, all year long. Visit these websites to learn more about things to do in the Finger Lakes region:

Corning's Gaffer District, including Historic Market Street
Finger Lakes Wine Country
Finger Lakes Region
Corning and the Southern Finger Lakes

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

All potential acquisitions are reviewed by our curatorial team in accordance with our collections policy. Discussion with or interest from a curator is not a guarantee of acceptance. If you are interested in donating or selling your glass object to the Museum, please submit the following information using Ask a Glass Object Question: images of the object (including a detail of any signature or inscription), the history of the object (including how and when you acquired it), and any additional research or information known.

Please note: We will only consider acquisitions requests submitted in writing by mail or email. For the safety and security of the object, do not mail or bring objects to the museum.

Because of the amount of Pyrex that has been produced in the past 100 years, there is simply too much for us to know everything. We recommend checking our Pyrex Potluck website and associated resources to get you started. The Rakow Research Library’s Ask a Glass Question service also archives many Pyrex-related questions.

The almost 50,000 objects in the permanent collection of The Corning Museum of Glass are accessible through our online Collections. Although information available about each object varies, in most cases you will find a photograph, description, place and date made, artist, provenance, and whether it is on display. If you’re conducting specific research related to an object in our collection, please contact us using the Ask a Glass Object Question page.

Please refer to our Photography and Videography Policy for all questions about commercial and non-commercial photography.

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 nearly 50,000 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. To protect the artwork, no selfie sticks may be used in the Museum building.

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.

The CMoG symbol could be a stylized representation of a glory hole, the hole in the side of a glass furnace, used to reheat glass objects while they are being made, but there is no official meaning. In a July 1978 letter from Arthur A. Houghton, a past president of Steuben who was influential to the Corning Glass Center's development, to Otto W. Hilbert, a Corning Glass Works employee, Houghton stated:

We felt the need of an identifying symbol that would be equally effective if large (as on a highway sign) or small (as on a match box cover or as a printer’s logo.) It was strong, simple, colorful and easily identified and remembered.

The original logo was similar to the current “bull’s eye” design, but featured a blue outer ring, then a white ring, and a red center ring, which connected to the blue ring with a straight line.

From that moment to this I have not the vaguest idea what the symbol signifies. You are quite free to interpret the arcane meaning of this masterpiece of art in any way that you wish. If people wonder what it is, and talk and argue at length about it, what more could we want?

The logo was redrawn and rendered in one color in 1999. The symbol was redrawn to be in proportion with the letterforms used in the square “CMOG” logo.

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.

The short answer is “no.” Heating any glass is dangerous. Glass is very sensitive to sudden temperature changes which can cause it to shatter or crack. Heating can also cause a piece to change shape or color. Making new glass pieces to fill losses in an object is not feasible because it is nearly impossible to create the exact shape and size that is needed.

Cold-working techniques, such as polishing, are not used because they remove original material from the object and (minutely) change the dimensions/shape of the object. They also put added stress on objects which could cause further damage. Very rarely a contemporary art work, in which a perfect surface is integral to the meaning of the piece, may be re-polished by a skilled glass worker and often with the artist’s involvement.

In the past people have used fragments from similar ancient glass to fill in losses in almost complete objects or even joined two partial objects to create a “complete” object, but these practices are no longer considered acceptable.

Breaks and cracks in glass become visible because light moves through the air that is trapped in the crack differently than through the glass. Because light moves through materials with similar refractive indexes in similar ways, we can minimize the visibility of glue lines by using an adhesive that has a refractive index similar to glass. Glasses of different compositions have different refractive indexes. Lead glass, for example, has a higher refractive index than soda-lime glass. Luckily there are two stable epoxy resins that we can use to repair glass, one with a refractive index close to lead glass and the other with a refractive index close to soda glass. When the refractive index of the glass and the glue are very close and the break edges are clean and undamaged, the glue lines are almost invisible.

On close inspection, fine lines are still always visible along the break edges, as a result of microscopic chips missing from the very edges of the breaks.

Many of the objects that come into the lab for treatment have missing pieces. The first step is to examine the object and decide whether or not those losses need to be filled. People expect to see damage on archaeological objects, so losses in archaeological glass are often not filled, especially if they are small and don’t distract from the overall appearance of the object. If there are many losses or large losses that interfere with the structural stability or interpretation of the object, at least some of the losses need to be filled.

Fills are made out of synthetic resin, usually epoxy, which is dyed to match the color of the glass. We use several techniques to make the fills, but most are a done through a casting and molding process either directly on the object or with a plaster intermediary fill. If handles or other decorative elements are missing we can sometimes make a mold of a matching element on the object itself or from an identical object. If we don’t have a good idea of what the missing element looked like, we won’t make a replacement for it. Similarly, if the missing area has painted or enameled decoration, we only reproduce it on our fill if we are certain of what was there. For example, we would continue a repeated geometric pattern or line, but we would not re-create a figure.

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

Please be sure of the Make Your Own Glass experience that you would like to make before you place your reservation. However, you are able to change your mind within the same project category of the same price point. For example, if you originally signed up to make an ornament but decide later that you would prefer to make a sculpture we can accommodate your request as they are both glassblowing projects. If you wish to switch from making an ornament to something other than glassblowing then this is entirely dependent on our availability and we cannot guarantee you a spot.

If you would like to make more than one project in the allotted 40 minutes then we ask that they be the same item. Tickets must be purchased for each item. For example, you may make two ornaments in the same class (depending on availability) but you cannot make an ornament and a bead. You can make a maximum of 3 glassblowing projects per session (again, they must be the same project) or 2 beads/pendants per session. Additionally, only one sandblasting or fusing project may be booked per 40 minute session.

Yes, photography is allowed in the Make Your Own Glass Studio. We ask that you stand behind the glass barrier to take your pictures so as not to crowd the Studio staff and other guests participating in a Make Your Own Glass experience. For your safety, no selfie sticks may be used in the Make Your Own Glass Studio. 

We strongly suggest that you make reservations for a Make Your Own Glass experience ahead of time using our online reservation system (https://reservations.cmog.org) or by calling us directly at the Studio at 800.732.6845 (press 2) or 607.438.5000 (direct line). We cannot guarantee availability during school breaks and holidays. Payment is due at the time of placing your reservation.

A Make Your Own Glass experience can take up to 40 minutes. Within this time there is a brief instruction from The Studio staff. The remainder of the time is for you to complete your project. We ask that you arrive for your experience at least 10 minutes prior to the start time. This is especially important during school breaks, holidays and the summer months as our Studio is much busier during these times.

Yes, we offer a selection of Make Your Own Glass experiences (sculpture, ornament and some seasonal items) for participants of all ages. If you are still unsure if your child is old enough to blow glass then ask yourself, “Can they follow directions? Can they blow out a birthday candle?” If the answer is yes, then your child will be able to make a blown glass project.

If your child has special needs you may call us ahead of time so our staff can be prepared to best accommodate your child. Depending on availability, we may be able to schedule your child for a quieter time of day (first or last appointments of the day, typically) so they can get the most out of their experience.

If you cannot pick up your glass the following day we will hold your projects for up to 30 days. If you think you will be returning after 30 days, please call The Studio at 800.732.6845 (press 2) or 607.438.5000 (direct line) so that we can continue to hold it for you. We also offer shipping starting at $18. 

The Studio entrance is located at 1 Museum Way in Corning, NY, on the Museum campus. It is a separate building from the main Museum. A small parking lot separates the two buildings with a designated walkway running in between. If you check-in at the Admissions Lobby our Guest Services staff will provide you with a map and directions to The Studio. From the Admissions Lobby, it takes approximately 5 minutes to walk to The Studio. View a map.

Yes. You can search our library catalog, the Article Index, archival collections, and more on our search page. You can also use our online research guides to explore popular topics such as cut glass, drinking vessels, Pyrex, and Tiffany.

The Library provides some useful tools for genealogical research, including on-site access to Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com through our research databases page.

At this time, the Library's archives include few glass company employee records. Our collections do not include personnel records for Corning Glass Works or Corning Incorporated. We encourage you to contact the Southeast Steuben County Library to gain a greater understanding of genealogical resources available for the Corning area.

Our Library does have some information about Corning Incorporated. For more complete documentation concerning the company, please use the company’s contact page.

For individual items, please contact us at [email protected] or +1 (607) 438-5300 for further discussion on donating items. If you are inquiring about a donation of a collection or archive, contact [email protected].

The Library contains the most comprehensive collection in the world on the subject of the art and history of glass and early glassmaking, and techniques for glass artists. Visit the Library website to explore our online catalog, research guides, full-text rare books, archives, exhibitions, news about the Library, and more.

Yes, but giving through a charitable trust, foundation, or donor-advised fund carries certain restrictions. Please contact Member Services at [email protected] or +1 (607) 438-5600 for more information.

No, 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 off regularly-priced items in the Museum Shops and Cafe as well as 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 and you can upgrade your current membership any time. Simply call Members Services at +1 (607) 438-5600 or visit the Membership section of our website, and select your new level. You can also upgrade when you receive your membership renewal notice. Simply mark the new level you desire to be at and return it in the pre-paid postage envelope with payment.

There are several ways to join, or to renew your membership. You may visit the Membership section of our website, call +1 (607) 438-5600, or mail your membership renewal form to: The Corning Museum of Glass, Member Services, One Museum Way, Corning, NY 14830. Memberships can be purchased or renewed at the Admissions Desk or in The Shops at the Museum.

ASTC, NARM, and ROAM programs make it possible for members at one museum to enjoy benefits of membership at another participating museum. Members of The Corning Museum of Glass at the Donor level and above will receive discounted or free admission at cultural institutions participating in these reciprocal membership programs upon presenting their specially-marked membership card.

When you waive your benefits, you are choosing to have your gift be 100% tax deductible. You are not able to take advantage of any Member benefits.

From beautiful original works of art by more than 200 artists to everyday items for the home, The Corning Museum of Glass Shops make up one of the largest museum shops anywhere.

Choose from a global selection of over 15,000 items including fine art, jewelry, accessories, holiday ornaments, and collectibles in every price range. You’ll also find housewares, locally-made art, and books, souvenirs and videos. In addition, the Museum is the exclusive producer and seller of Steuben Glass.

We ship anywhere in the world. Just ask any of our Retail Assistants. All proceeds from retail sales support the not-for-profit Corning Museum of Glass.

CMoG is the perfect partner to steward the Steuben brand, and the ties between CMoG and Steuben are long and deep. Many of the most important Steuben creations are in the Museum’s collection, and the largest display of early Steuben glass in the world is on view at the Museum. In addition, CMoG’s Rakow Research Library holds many of Steuben’s archives, and in 2015 the original Steuben factory was transformed into the Museum’s new space for Hot Glass Demonstrations. Licensing Steuben exclusively to the Museum also underscores Corning Inc.’s commitment to supporting CMoG, since all proceeds from the sale of Steuben items go to the not-for-profit Museum.

The new Steuben is made in artisanal hotshops and by original Steuben suppliers, using the same exacting standards that made the brand synonymous with excellence.

The Museum Shops are offering select designs representing the full range of the Steuben brand, including art glass, collectibles, desk accessories, tabletop décor, stem and barware, and customizable pieces such as commemorative items and awards. Classic forms like hand coolers and animals are also available, alongside iconic designs from decades past as part of the Iconic Reintroductions series, as well as entirely new pieces from established Steuben designers. Steuben also offers signature collectibles to commemorate special occasions, including an annual Christmas ornament series. In addition, special commissions are also accepted and designs from a wide variety of categories can be personalized. Just look for the “Personalization” indicator in the item description online.

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 Demos 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.

Learn more about this myth: Does Glass Flow? and A Common Misconception

Yes. Much of the clear glass scrap from the Hot Glass Demos 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 Demo 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 glass left over on the blowpipe will crack away in time. This is a result of the way the glass contracts as it cools.

Today, it is most common to learn glassmaking in an art program at a college or university. The focus at a university is typically on expressing oneself in glass and not on technique. Glassmaking can also be learned at public access workshops, or by apprenticing at established studios.

Hot Glass Demo glassblowers work the glass at 2100º F (1150º C).

Glass is colored by adding different metallic compounds to the batch (iron is added for green, cobalt is added to create cobalt blue, etc.).

About 50 lbs of glass are melted for the Hot Glass Demos every day, which takes about eight hours to melt down and refine.

The Museum has nearly 50,000 objects, representing every civilization and time period in which glass has been made.

A typical glass studio such as the Museum’s would use as much gas as approximately 10 homes.

The glass used in the Hot Glass Demos begins to soften around 1,200° F or 650° C. Shaping on the pipe occurs in the 1,500° to 2,100° F range, or 800° to 1,150° C.

Marvers at the Museum are made of stainless steel. Marvers on the ship are made of bronze to protect against the corrosive sea air.

Lead crystal has several desirable attributes, including a higher index of refraction (the way in which light reflects within the glass) and the fact that it is softer when cold,  allowing it to be more easily cut and engraved. Unlike soda lime glass, lead glass can also be brought to a high polish in a bath of acid.

The glassmaker is not able to draw enough air out to the pipe to accidentally inhale hot air. Some glassmakers purposely collapse a bubble by inhaling to achieve certain designs.

An oxide of the element boron is used as a flux and gives glass its low thermal expansion. There’s actually a town named Boron, CA, where borax is mined.

Limestone, or calcium carbonate, is needed to stabilize glass and make it resistant to weathering.

Silica is silicon dioxide, the compound that makes up quartz and sand. Silica is the most abundant mineral in the crust of the earth.

Also known as sodium carbonate, soda ash is derived from a sodium compound mined mostly in Wyoming. Traditionally, soda ash was derived from the ashes of sea plants.

The Hot Glass Demo gaffers use a “soda-lime” glass, which has a basic composition of silica sand (70%), soda ash (20%), and limestone (10%).  This mixture is called a “batch.”

Optic molds are used to give a bubble a pattern, which can be further inflated and formed out of the mold. Blow molds can be used to give an object its final form. Blow molds can be seamed for irregular shapes or turn molds for symmetrical forms with no seams.

Ancient glass that has been buried over centuries often develops an iridescent surface. This is due to the interaction of elements in the base glass with the soil in which it was buried. Today, iridized surfaces can be produced using two methods: fuming and reducing. In fuming, the still hot glass is sprayed with metallic salts such as stannous chloride. In reducing, reactive gasses are applied to the surface of a piece, and the glass is then exposed to a reduction flame (gas rich) in the furnace.

It is impossible to say. The Museum is full of priceless treasures that exist nowhere else.

Colored glass is purchased from a handful of companies that supply the art glass community with a full spectrum of colors. For the Hot Glass Demos, only clear glass is melted in the furnace, allowing the gaffers to apply color to the molten glass as needed.

Glass will not stick to a cold blowpipe. The tips have to be heated to assure a proper, even start of the bubble.

The steam is under the glass, when the block is lifted away, you can see the steam.

The simple answer is that it’s just the way it is. Like water, plastic and many other materials, glass transmits much of the light that strikes it. All glasses reflect about 8% of the light %%striking%% it. Darker glasses absorb more of the light. Colored glasses transmit all colors of the spectrum, except the color that the glass appears to be.

The Hot Glass Demos are about teaching people about the process of glassmaking. The object is just a result of this learning experience. Recycling the objects made of clear glass helps the Museum save material, and is a memorable end to the demonstration.

When glass is cooled too quickly below 950º F tremendous strain is created. Like many materials, glass expands as it heats and shrinks as it cools. When glass is allowed to cool quickly it cools unevenly, which in turn creates strain (not stress). Slow cooling forces the entire object to cool evenly, minimizing strain.