For the first time in its 25 years of existence, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma is making room to showcase more art. The renovation project's estimated cost is $25 million. Logistical challenges include knocking down walls in a building filled with priceless glass.
Museum officials say they are two-thirds toward reaching their $25 million fundraising goal, with the majority of that money coming from individual donors. Construction on the project could start as early as April. The work will last around six months and include installing state-of-the-art lighting and technology, redoing the building’s floors and ceilings, and updating its heating and cooling system.
Workers recently removed glass artwork mounted to a wall inside the main hall, but some pieces will remain on display until March 22. Among those are work from Dale Chihuly, renowned Italian artist Lino Tagliapietra and the museum’s Kid’s Design Glass program, where children under 12 draw pictures for artists to transform into glass.
Deborah Lenk, the museum's executive director, said the curatorial team will put all the artwork inside the gallery into storage during construction. It will be swathed in foam and bubble wrap and placed in special crates designed to minimize vibration. Specialized contractors will handle specific pieces.
“We’ll be emptying everything,” Lenk said. “Once we reopen, they need to populate all of these spaces with new shows and get the rotation going again. So it’s a huge challenge. It really is.”
The museum’s store, which also contains a lot of glass, will remain open during construction. Lenk has told the construction company that the job requires “soft touch demolition” to minimize vibrations. Still, seeing pieces being moved around makes her nervous.
“It’s exciting, but it’s a huge change, too. A good change, I think,” she said. “It’s like renovating your home, right? For a while, it’s sort of a mess, and then it emerges with this brand new space.”
Much of the shaking will come from knocking out a wall that separates the main gallery from a 2,500-square-foot theater. The theater, which was occasionally used for performances, screenings and meet-the-artist lectures, will be turned into gallery space. Events will likely be moved to the museum’s hot shop, a studio where artists give live glassblowing demonstrations.
The new configuration will include a roughly 4,000-square-foot permanent gallery for work donated from Tagliapietra, the Italian glass artist who has pieces on display in the current gallery. Before retiring and moving back to Italy to spend time with family, Tagliapietra donated 175 pieces from his personal collection to the museum in 2023. Lenk said he has a special connection with the museum.
“I think he considers it, to some degree, to be his home studio here in the Pacific Northwest,” she said, adding that his donation and getting to tell his story “is a major driver of what we’re doing.”
The museum will remain open throughout construction, with a new show called “Beauty Beyond Nature: The Glass Art of Paul Stankard” showcasing work in the lobby and live glassblowing demonstrations at the hot shop.
“We hope to have windows to look into what is happening in the galleries. And we just want the community to feel like these changes that we’re making are for them,” Lenk said.
