The Corning Wall

This wall panel was begun at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State during the summer of 1974. The school was founded in 1971 by Chihuly and Seattle art patrons John and Anne Gould Hauberg. From its start as a glassblowing camp, Pilchuck has become a leading international summer school for artists working in glass. The Corning Wall is an excellent example of how historic methods of working and using glass were redefined by studio artists. Instead of making a traditional stained glass window, Chihuly and Carpenter blew multiple elements that were then cut, assembled, and leaded. The combination of cold (cutting and assembling) and hot (blowing) processes, and the integration of sculptural (three-dimensional) elements in a flat (two-dimensional) panel, were considered experimental at the time. The panel also makes reference to traditional European windows, which were made from blown roundels rather than from flat sheets of glass. This panel was designed for The Corning Museum of Glass. The initials “F.L.,” for “Flood Line,” refer to the devastating 1972 flood that swept through the city of Corning. The thick white line beneath the letters marks the height to which the floodwaters rose inside the Museum. Since the panel was made, however, it has been moved, and the flood line is no longer valid. However, it continues to serve as an important reminder of a period in the Museum’s history that will never be forgotten.