The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia is located in Weston, West Viginia at 250 North Main Avenue.
Museum HoursMon thru Sat, 1 to 4 pm, closed Wed, Sunday
Directions Weston is located on I-79, between Clarksburg WV and Charleston WV at Exit 99.
From the Interstate, turn West toward Weston. Travel Rt 33 about 3 miles until you come to a T intersection. Turn Left and stay in the left lane (Main Ave. is one way here). The Museum is half way down the first block on the left.
Parking
If no spaces are available along side the street, weekdays, continue to the trafic light and turn RIGHT. Drive across the bridge and turn left into the free parking lot. The walk back to the museum is about 2 blocks. |
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| If you haven't renewed your subscription to All About Glass, (the magazine) it's not too late. We will send all issues you've missed.
Absolute deadline for submission for the January issue is December 1, please send in your article submissions and advertisements by then. |
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Weston, WV – Blenko Man, a sculpture assembled from colorful Blenko glass vases and other glass forms, was dedicated on October 19, 2007 during the grand re-opening celebration of the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia. The near life-sized cowboy resides in a sidewalk display window of the museum’s new location in Weston.
Blenko Man is the idea and gift of Rock Wilson, of Pennsboro, WV who has been collecting Blenko Glass Co. glass for almost 20 years and was drawn to Blenko because “Blenko glass is fun and I love the odd forms, vibrant colors and fantastic size….some pieces are 3 to 4 feet tall.”
Because Blenko made vases shaped like heads and ashtrays shaped like hands and feet, Wilson thought that a man could be created. As a friend and business associate of Dean Six, founder and director of the museum, he wanted to contribute to the museum yet wasn’t sure how to put it together. Then last fall, fate intervened when internationally recognized sculptor John Zidek moved to Pennsboro and a partnership was born.
John Zidek has exhibited at Art Expo NY and has pieces in the collections of such well known people as Kenny Rogers, Waylon Jennings and Ross Johnson, former CEO of Nabisco. In addition he was an invited Artist at Planetfest 1997-NASA Celebration of Rover Landing on Mars and has a large installation at the Fox Cities Children’s Museum in Wisconsin. He has worked with several materials, but currently is focused on copper wire sculpture which works so well for Blenko Man. Thus Zidek took on the project eagerly.
Mr. Wilson provided 18 glass objects from his personal collection noting that it was hard to give up the piece that forms the right arm as it is signed by Richard Blenko, fourth generation president of the firm. In selecting the glass to be used, Wilson tried to include as much variety as possible in color, size and shape as well as age including pieces from the 1960’s until the present time. A problem arose when he had only one hand and one foot, but the Blenko factory graciously made a special production run of hands and feet that were originally made in the 1970’s. (The hand represents the company’s outline logo indicating that the products are handmade.) The only minor glitch was that the glass molds are only for left hands and feet, yet the Blenko Man proudly lifts aloft his right left hand.
A western theme was selected to use the glass cactus, steer heads and cowboy hat available in Wilson’s collection. Originally the cowboy hat was to be of clear glass, but his two year old son made a move that caused a shift to a rare ruby colored one instead. The hats are currently in production in clear and topaz.
Adding to the western style, Blenko Man sits surrounded by sand and cactus creating a little bit of desert in West Virginia.
Showcased inside the museum is beautiful American made glass arranged by form and or by company. It is amazing to see how many glass houses once operated in the region of Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Once a thriving industry, there are only a few handmade glass companies still in business and one is Blenko which began in 1893. Located in Milton, WV its colored glass for stained glass windows and architecture has long been widely used. And the lovely shapes and colors of its decorative and utilitarian wares can be found in homes throughout the country.
In addition to the museum’s permanent display there is a special exhibit running through February 29, 2008 called “Holiday Feast for the Eyes” which features over 50 different glass table settings on a massive banquet table festively set for the season. Each place setting is identified by pattern name, maker and date.
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| Announcing New Museum Opening |
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The West Virginia Museum of American Glass will hold a public ceremony celebrating the Grand Opening of its new museum, The Museum of American Glass in West Virginia, on Friday evening, October 19, 2007, at the museum, 230 N. Main Ave., Weston, WV.
The occasion will be a reception held during the 16th annual Glass Gathering of the organization, October 19 and 20, 2007.
Other functions at the Gathering will be visits to two hot glass producers, lamp work demonstrations, presentations on L. E. Smith, Libbey's cut glass, Fenton Art Glass, Kelsey Murphy Cameo and others.
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Posted by Tom on Saturday, September 29 @ 12:12:40 EDT (364 reads)
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| Annual Glass Gathering Comes Home to Weston |
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Plans are well underway for the well received 16th Annual West Virginia Glass Gathering: A regional Glass History Conference. The two day Glass Gathering program has traveled all over the eastern US and into Canada touring hot glass facilities and learning from an amazing array of presenters.
This year the dates are October 19 and 20, Friday and Saturday, and the event returns to its roots in Weston, WV to celebrate the new home of Gathering sponsor, the West Virginia Museum of American Glass, Ltd. Two local hot glass producers will be on the tour schedule with special fetes at both. Presenters include a Fenton family member to talk about the 100 years of hot glass in WV that this firm celebrated this year. Much of the Gathering will be focused on WVMAG, its extensive collections, vision and future.
Friday will include a number of exhibitors coming to WVMAG to demonstrate torch-working glass, engraving, recycling for art’s sake, and more. An evening champagne punch reception and the ever-popular silent (but not quiet) auction, and a full Saturday of presenters on Smith Glass, Libbey Rock Crystal, Kelsey Murphy Cameo and the above -mentioned Fenton program and more.
Now is the time to make reservations. Contact WVMAG by telephone (304.269.5006) or email (glassmuse1@verizon.net) for a Gathering information packet.
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Posted by Tom on Monday, August 13 @ 10:11:38 EDT (395 reads)
(Read More... | Score: 5) |
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 Vol V No. 2 Cover released
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Posted by Tom on Monday, August 13 @ 09:52:04 EDT (378 reads)
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| Work Session is a success, we've MOVED |
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WVMAG IS IN ITS NEW HOME.
The work session (Jan 26-29) went off as planned, with thanks to the 27 volunteers who showed up. We left somewhat after noon on Monday, Sharon was in place, filling orders and welcoming any visitors that happened by.
We moved eighteen cases, all the glass that was in them, stripped all the glass from the wall brackets, removed the brackets and shelves, packed the glass, transported it and the cases to the new building, put the cabinets in place, put the glass (an estimated 3,000 pieces) in the cabinets and cleaned up 90% of the mess.
Of course the stock of books and monographs were moved, too. There will be a Grand Opening in a couple of months, after all the glass and paper archives have been relocated to the new building.
So, the next time you’re in Weston, WV, we are now on the East side of the street, half a block North of the old building. Please stop in and visit us.
An interior view as we progress.
Our temporary new sign.
The work session n the 23, 24, and 25th of March brought 18 people to Weston. Folks came from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and of course West Virginia. Most of the work involved unpacking glass, putting it on temporary shelves while others cruised the shelves, finding pieces to be distributed throught the museum. We now have over 5,800 pieces of glass on display. The next work session dates have not been set, visit our booth at the Harrisburg show in April.
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Posted by Tom on Thursday, February 01 @ 21:21:36 EST (547 reads)
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Posted by volare on Tuesday, January 16 @ 21:50:01 EST (715 reads)
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| Vol III No. 3 issue released: Fenton's 100th Anniversary Celebrated |
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Posted by Tom on Friday, November 04 @ 10:25:53 EST (1234 reads)
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| An Oversimplified History of Lamps |
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By Dean Six
Lighting changed little for centuries, even millennia. Prior to 1800 torches, candles and crude lamps restricted people and their activities to the natural daylight hours. Lamps had existed in the same form since pre-historic times when a shallow spot in a rock or crafted into a body of clay held animal fat or grease, tallow or a naturally found oil and some form of natural wicking device such as straw or fiber—simple lamps indeed. By Colonial times lamps were often of iron, tin and steel, the least likely to break or combust materials. They were known as Betty lamps and included no glass. Fuel could be as simple as pine pitch or animal fats.
The first metal burners, devices to hold the wicks, were introduced in the 1700s. Glass chimneys were first employed in the 1700s to protect the flame and control the air flow. In 1783 a Swiss chemist, Ami Argand, applied scientific ideas and developed a hollow circular wick surrounded by a glass chimney. The appearance of glass chimneys on lamps was not common until the 1800s. With Argand's innovations, the era of successful lamps had begun. The Argand ideas are today recognized as the basic principal behind such successfully styled lamps as Aladdin lamps.
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Posted by Tom on Sunday, July 24 @ 14:35:29 EDT (2135 reads)
(Read More... | 7014 bytes more | Score: 4.8) |
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| Vol. III No. 2 issue released. |
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Posted by Tom on Sunday, July 24 @ 14:12:17 EDT (1098 reads)
(Read More... | Score: 5) |
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