When the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, opened in 2002, its architecture announced its primary focus would be hot glass by its centerpiece being a massive stainless-steel clad exhaust cone. The amphitheater hot shop inside was the literal and figurative hearth around which audiences gathered to watch glassblowing demonstrations and the visiting artist residencies. In the decades since, the museum has made a strategic shift to accent the live glassblowing with an expanding permanent collection of Northwest Coast glass art, which has recently been enhanced substantially with the gift of 175 works from Lino Tagliapietra's personal Seattle archive. Considered the most significant acquisition in the museum's history by executive director Debbie Lenk, it sparked a $22 million capital improvement project which, when it wraps up in December, will see the reveal of the "Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery"
“It is clearly a very comprehensive set of pieces by Lino and is extremely important,” Lenk told Glass in a video interview. But Tagliapietra's gift does not only advance the Museum’s mission--it also celebrates a strong and enduring relationship built over many years in which the maestro did 20 visiting artist residencies, and was the subject of important exhibitions, including the 2007 show curated by Suzanne Frantz entitled "Lino Tagliapietra: In Retrospect."
First envisioned in 2017, the capital improvement project reflects a long-term strategic commitment to modernize the museum's facilities and gallery spaces, ensuring a future impact on its glass community. With the gift, it became a unique opportunity to also honor Tagliapitra’s legacy. “We had an obligation to expand our gallery spaces, but this has gone so much further than that” Lenk told Glass. The project included a complete renovation of the museum's second floor, with the galleries being opened up to reveal their original beams and raw walls, allowing retrofitting the HVAC and electrical systems, improved humidity control and state-of-the-art lighting. According to Lenk the goal is to offer “unparalleled experiences with glass” and “deepen the educational impact” of the museum’s galleries.
As a foundational component and cornerstone of this broader transformation, the maestro’s gift will be exhibited in the dedicated Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery, with approximately 4,000 square feet to tell the story of the maestro at the height of his creative and technical powers. It will not be a full chronology but rather a celebration of the most extravagant and mature works realized with the unique team that he assembled from top and up-and-coming glass artists.
When it opens its doors in December, the Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery and represent the only permanent museum gallery in the U.S. entirely devoted to the artist’s career. The donated works primarily come from the Seattle studio where the maestro built an extensive archive over more than 40 years, before returning to his homeland of Murano, Italy. Around 50 of these pieces will be displayed in the Legacy Gallery as part of the inaugural exhibition titled "Lino Tagliapietra: Maestro". Meanwhile, large-scale suspended installations, combining his Endeavor (Boats) and Alas (Birds) series, will welcome visitors in the Museum’s Grand Hall, serving as an introduction and leading guests into the main exhibition gallery.
In an interview with the museum's former executive director and the curator of the Lino exhibition, Susan Warner explained her focus with the innaugural exhibit.
“The aim is to present Tagliapitra at the height of his career,” showing the variety of his creativity, experimentation and development of new forms, she explained. The Legacy Gallery will achieve this purpose through the use of upgraded audiovisual technologies, providing visitors with a more immersive and engaging experience including video. A central large scrim screen will show multiple projections, including archival footage of Tagliapietra at work from his many residencies at the museum's hot shop. Moreover, integrated reflections and quotations of the artist will be heard through his own words, helping people to better understand the experimental artistic processes behind the finished pieces on display.
Presented alongside the Museum’s significant collection of works by Dale Chihuly, Tagliapietra's legacy represents a rare opportunity to preserve and tell the story of two artists who profoundly influenced the development of studio glass in the Pacific Northwest. As Lenk explained in her interview with Glass “Almost all the major artists in this region learned from Lino, he was a great mentor and teacher”, while also bringing the Venetian techniques that helped shape the region’s glassmaking tradition. Reciprocally, the Museum did a lot to support the development of the maestro’s career, including the 2008 exhibition "Lino in Retrospect” and about 20 residencies, during which Tagliapietra worked in the Hot Shop to realize his work. Thanks to this mutual commitment, over time, started as a collaboration, the relationship between the Museum and the artist developed into something that the Warner described as closer to a “family.”
Stay tuned to announcements from the Museum of Glass for further details.