Glass of the Maharajahs - Corning Museum of Glass

video to be published in 007. During the year,
The Studio offered 57 intensive summer and
winter classes, 56 weekend and one-day workshops,
and nine semester-length courses. Artists
continued to rent space at The Studio, and
classes were provided for Elderhostel groups
and students from Corning’s High School
Learning Center.
We expanded the Walk-in Workshop, where
visitors try their hand at glassworking. This enabled
us to accommodate more Fun with Glass
groups, generating an increase of 18 percent in
revenue. More than percent of our individual
and family visitors (41,000 people) made
glass in the Workshop.
* * *
The Museum’s marketing activities helped
us to compete with high gas prices and outstanding
summer weather. We continued our
Kids Free! and Free to Rediscover initiatives.
The latter program, which gives visitors free
admission after their first visit, attracted about
8,050 people. Our “Glass of the Maharajahs”
exhibition was heavily promoted, with a reception
at the Indian consulate in New York
City and coverage in the New York Times
Style Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and
some 0 other media outlets. The presentation
of Josh Simpson’s Megaplanet captured the
attention of about 40 television stations, and
WGBY, the PBS affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts,
produced a documentary about the
making of the “paperweight.” The Museum
also appeared in the History Detectives series
on PBS and in Modern Marvels on the History
Channel.
Our Web site continues to improve as we
add video, audio, and searching enhancements.
Another new feature is a browser that enables
users to look at objects in the collection and to
learn whether they are on display in the galleries.
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The development and membership programs
flourished in 006. The announcement of the
unprecedented gift of contemporary glass by
Ben and Natalie Heineman was the highlight,
but we were the fortunate recipients of other
generous donations. In addition to its ongoing
support and the provision of funds for the acquisition
of Peter S. Aldridge’s Eclipse, Corning
Incorporated contributed $100,000 toward
the purchase of Lino Tagliapietra’s 2300 (illustrated
in the 005 Annual Report) in hon-
Visitors listen to the family
audio tour, which provides
information about
the Museum’s glass collection.