Artist and teacher
Bill Gudenrath of ‘The Studio’ at
Corning Museum of Glass is a specialist in the
creation of glassware in the Venetian style. Here
he’s in the early stages of creating a
dragon-stem goblet.
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The Crystal City
WSKG-TV
presents The Crystal City...
exploring the art glass tradition in Corning, New
York. The documentary traces the history that has
seen the community evolve over the past
century-plus into "arguably the glass
capital of the world."
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The Crystal City features numerous images from
displays at the newly-renovated Corning Museum of
Glass, focusing particularly on its art history
collection.
One of the
many examples of cameo glass, a technique in
which a white layer of glass is spread over a
blue layer, and then carefully cut away, almost
molecule-by-molecule, to reveal the final design.
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This
cast-glass likeness of the Pharoah Amenhotep is
one of the oldest objects in the art history
collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, dating
back roughly 3200 years. It looks as though it
might be nearly life-size, but actually it’s
not much bigger in diameter than a golf
ball."
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There’s also a look ‘behind the
scenes’ at the making of Steuben Glass and the
Museum’s Hot Glass Stage, and interviews with
artists, craftsmen and museum administrators involved
in the contemporary art glass scene in Corning, as
well as an up-close look at a few of the artists at
work.
Among
those interviewed for the program are Rob Cassetti,
Creative Services Director for the Museum, Bill
Gudenrath of The Studio, the Museum’s ongoing
educational program, and three independent Corning
artists: Tom Kelly of Vitrix Hot Glass, Lewis Olson
of Noslo Glass, and Joel O’Dorisio of Lost Angel
Glass.
There
are extended sequences watching these artists at work
with their teams in their studios, a visit to artist
Rodi Rovner’s ‘Hands-On Glass,’ a
public-access glass studio which offers courses and
facilities to people not ready to establish their own
work space, and a brief look at a beginning
glassblowing class at The Studio.
We’re almost inside the ‘glory
hole,’ the name given to the furnace in
which glass is heated to a temperature at which
it can be shaped by the artist. This particular
piece is more than half completed. |
This
nearly-liquid gather of glass has been repeatedly
heated and cooled and shaped, colors and bits
have been added and blended, and it’s about
to become one in the series of well-known art
pieces by Vitrix Hot Glass. It seemed an
appropriate moment for the opening title of the
documentary. |
Just
seconds later the artist stops spinning the
nearly-liquid piece of glass and turns it over,
letting gravity finish the artist’s work.
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The term ‘gaffer,’ an archaic noun used to
indicate a respected old man, is still in use in the
glassmaking world, denoting a master glass maker,
whether artist or production worker. The documentary
interviews two gaffers retired from Steuben or
Corning, Inc., Bernard Windgate and Paul Holton, who
at 90 is still making glass and teaching. Jeff
Babcock, currently a Steuben gaffer, is also
interviewed.
Using
photographs and motion-picture film from the archives
at the Museum’s Rakow Library and from Corning,
Inc., the program traces the establishment of the
glass industry in Corning in the years right after
the Civil War.
It
also highlights a few of Corning’s important
technological advances, including its role in the
development of the first practical light bulb, and in
the development of the optical fiber that has been
the foundation of the present ‘information
age.’
The
project was produced by WSKG staff producer Tom
Milligan, whose work has won
numerous awards, including a New York Emmy
nomination.
To
order the The Crystal City video for
$19.95 including shipping,
phone (607)729-0100, ext. 343 or
e-mail mail@wskg.pbs.org.
Click
here for more photos from Crystal City
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