Murano - Detroit Institute of Arts

Murano: Glass from
the Olnick Spanu Collection
Guide for Young
Children and
their Adults

Instructions for adults
For children five and younger: Use Chickie as your guide as they
search for works of art.
For children six to ten years of age: You may want to translate
Chickie’s tour into something more age appropriate. Once the child
has found an object, ask him or her: “What does it remind you of?”
And then: “What do you see that makes you think that?”
Hi! I’m Chickie. Welcome to
the DIA and the Murano glass
exhibition. We’re going on a hunt
to find fun designs and shapes
in glass. You’ll see stickers of me
next to the works of art we’ll be
exploring. Remember to look with
your eyes, not with your hands.
Let’s go!
Left:
Alessandro Pianon
Pulcino
Chick
Vetreria Vistosi, 1960–61
Cover:
Anzolo Fuga
Fiori (detail)
Flowers
Aureliano Toso, ca.1968

In the first gallery, look for two vases covered with brightly colored flowers.
In the spring, the blossoms grow
Adding up to a colorful show
And artists that come from everywhere
Use flowers to give their art some flair!
Notice all the different colors and shapes of flowers on the vases. The
artist arranged small pieces of glass on the surface and then melted them
together. When glass is melted together to form a design, the result is
called a mosaic.
Try at Home
Benvenuto Barovier
Floreale a murrine
Floral Mosaic Vase
Artisti Barovier, 1913–14
Benvenuto Barovier
Floreale a murrine
Floral Mosaic Vase
Artisti Barovier, ca. 1919
Make your own mosaic vase out of a jelly jar. Cut colored paper
into small pieces. Arrange the pieces into your own design and
glue them onto a jar.

In the same gallery as the
vases with flowers, look for
the vases speckled with small,
brown spots.
Sometimes works of art
may look like things you
see every day. Perhaps
these vases remind you of
eggs that you’ve seen at
home or in the grocery store.
What about these vases
makes you think of eggs?
How are the vases different
from eggs?
Top and bottom:
Carlo Scarpa
Lattimo
Milk White Vase
M.V.M. Cappellin & C., 1929

Continuing in this gallery, you’ll find a bowl with my friend Fishy on it.
Fishy likes to sing this song:
My fins work hard and my tail flips,
Oh how I love my swimming trips!
Notice that this bowl is blue. Maybe it is supposed to look like Fishy is
swimming in water. Perhaps the artist who made this object saw lots of
fish swimming in the water near Murano, an island near Venice, Italy.
Maybe that’s why he chose a fish to decorate with!
Tomaso Buzzi
Turchese e nero
Turquoise and Black Footed Vase
V.S.M. Venini & C., 1932

In the first gallery, search for a bowl that looks like a
peppermint with red and white swirls.
Have you ever spun around so much that the room
keeps turning even when you’re standing still? This bowl
reminds me of that. I think it looks like the movement of
spinning swirls.
Carlo Scarpa
Variegato zigrinato
Variegated Zigzag Bowl
Venini & C., 1938

In the same gallery, you’ll find an object that is shaped something
like a heart.
This object reminds me of a heart because of its shape. Notice the
blue stripe in the middle. The layers remind me of the layers in a
pudding cup.
Fulvio Bianconi
Sasso
Stone Vase
Venini & C., 1965
Try at Home
Use Model Magic or Play Doh (available at most craft stores) to make
your own layered creation. Experiment with layering different colors.
See which color combination you like the best.

In the third gallery, look for the yellow bowl with small,
green spirals.
The artist arranged green glass spirals into a pattern and
melted them together to form this bowl. It reminds me of a
lemon-lime popsicle.
Try at Home
Ermanno Toso
Murrine spiraliformi
Spiral Mosaic Vase
Fratelli Toso, 1960–62
Make your own lemon-lime popsicle at home to remind you of this bowl.
Have an adult help you slice limes. Place the limes in a paper cup and
fill it with lemonade. Cover the top tightly with plastic wrap and poke a
popsicle stick through. Freeze overnight and then peel off the plastic wrap
and paper.

In the fourth gallery, look for me and other objects that
are shaped like birds.
Glass is pulled and stretched and blown
And a group of colorful birds is grown!
Then add some eyes and add some feet
And the birds are complete, tweet, tweet!
Here I am with my cute bird friends! The artist who made
us added eyes and feet to pieces of glass to make us
look like birds. Notice our skinny legs and pointy beaks.
Some of us even have tails!
Alessandro Pianon
Pulcini
Chicks
Vetreria Vistosi, 1960–61

Look for these objects in the fifth gallery. They look like long boats
or canoes.
Have you ever pulled taffy or gum until it’s really long? When glass
is melted, it can be stretched like taffy. Stretching glass can be so
tricky that it took a team of people to make these boats.
Lino Tagliapietra
Boats, 1998
I hope you enjoyed going on this hunt with me.
When you get home, notice the different shapes
and colors of glass objects you might find, like a
light bulb, a perfume bottle, or a vase.

Books about glass for kids
Geslin, Campbell. Elena’s Serenade (Grades Kindergarten–4)
Elena uses her magical pipe to create beautiful glass objects.
Houston, James. Fire Into Ice: Adventures in Glass Making (Grades 3–6).
Includes colorful photographs of glasswork by James Houston.
Songhurst, Hazel. Glass (Grades 3–6)
Describes how glass is made, used, and recycled.
Web sites
Corning Museum of Glass. www.cmog.org
Definitions and descriptions of terms and practices related to glass. Students can also take a
“virtual tour” of special exhibitions. For older children (Grades 7–8)
Museum of Glass. www.museumofglass.org
Virtual demonstrations of hot glass-working. See “School by Fire” under “Virtual Hot Shop.”
Look for link under “Education.” For older children (Grades 5–8)
Places where kids can see glass in the area
1. Cranbrook Science Museum, Bloomfield Hills. The entrance has twelve different types of glass
2. Saint Clair Shores Public Library Café, Saint Clair Shores. Glass windows designed by
students at the College of Creative Studies
3. Delphi Stained Glass, Lansing. Glass on display; special events offered
4. Detroit Public Library, Detroit. Stained glass on second floor
5. People Mover Stops, Detroit
a. COBO Center Station: Venetian glass mosaic of automobiles
b. Joe Louis Arena Station: Venetian glass mosaics of mythological and astrological figures of
the seventeenth century
6. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit. Dome with stained glass
7. The Guardian Building, Detroit. Stained-glass windows

This exhibition was curated by Marino Barovier,
designed by Lella and Massimo Vignelli with David
Law, and circulated by Exhibitions International, NY.
The national tour of this exhibition is sponsored
by Venini. Photography by Luca Vignelli.
In Detroit, additional support is provided by the
Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and
the City of Detroit.
GLASS FROM THE OLNICK SPANU COLLECTION
5200 Woodward Ave. Detroit, MI 48202
www.dia.org
©2004