Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art
The West Coast's most dramatic new museum is the $63 million,
75,000-square-foot Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary
Art in Tacoma, Wash., which opened to the public on July 6, 2002. Designed
by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, the Modernist concrete and glass
building features a tilted 90-foot cone wrapped in stainless steel, inspired
by the wood burners of sawmills that once dotted the region. Under the cone
is a working glass studio, where museum visitors can watch the
"choreographed teamwork of artists from all disciplines experimenting with
glass," according to museum director Josi Callan. Inaugural exhibitions at
the museum include monumental glass sculptures by Jaroslava Brychtova and
the late Stanislav Libenski plus non-glass works by Mark Tobey, Morris
Graves and John Cage. Also dedicated during the museum's grand opening were
two major public art projects: Howard Ben Tre's Water Forest, an array of
bronze-and-glass towers at the city's waterfront esplanade, and the
500-foot-long Bridge of Glass by Dale Chihuly.
Designed by Internationally renowned architect Arthur Erickson, the
distinctive profile of the Museum of Glass: International Center for
Contemporary Art is an immediately identifiable cultural landmark for the
Pacific Northwest region. The building encompasses galleries and exhibition
spaces, a Grand Hall for special events, an Education Studio, a 180-seat
theatre, Hot Shop Amphitheatre, Museum Store and Cafe. Constructed over a
public parking garage, Museum visitors may enjoy strolling along the
waterfront esplanade and marina, or ascending the steps and ramps to the
rooftop plaza to take in panoramic views of the city skyline, Thea Foss
Waterway and Mount Rainier.
The Museum of Glass joins a long list of notable architectural structures designed by Erickson, which include: McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, the San Diego Convention Center and the Canadian Chancery in Washington, D.C.
