Program Partnership

MOG is dedicated to making a difference in the communities it serves. We have some of the most innovative educational programs in the country-they focus on experiences that allow children to explore a variety of subjects through the visual, performing, literary and technological arts. Since the Museum's opening in July 2002, more than 179,000 youth have visited, 54,600 in school groups.

Studies show that arts education helps to increase student test scores and problem solving abilities, yet funding for arts education is often the first area in schools to receive budget cuts. The Museum addresses this need for individualized arts education by creating an enriching, dynamic environment that stimulates discussion and personal expression for all students.

Science of Art

This dynamic program is an interdisciplinary approach to teaching art and science. Core components of the program include:

• The Mobile Hot Shop-a truly unique opportunity for schools and community events. Artists working in molten glass using ancient techniques bring the dynamism of the Studio Glass out of the Museum and into the community.
• outreach kits
• curriculum aligned with Washington State math, science and art Essential Academic Learning Requirements and Grade Level Expectations,
• teacher training and
• a four-part field trip experience that includes the galleries, Hot Shop, Education Studio and theater.

Education Studio

The Education Studio provides creative opportunities for hands-on engagement with the ideas behind the glass. Designed as an interactive, experiential learning space, the Education Studio operates as a thematic extension of the Museum's exhibitions.

Family Day

Family Day is held on the second Saturday of every month and is especially designed for families with younger children. Activities are an extension of the Studio experience and include hands on art activities, story telling and short dramatic performances.

When families may have trouble affording special time together, MOG offers a delightful, educational, and enriching experience in which every family member may participate. Each month, an average of 800 visitors attend on Family Day. They try new art forms, experiment with different media and materials, listen to storytelling, and engage in interactive tours. MOG partners with a number of organizations around Family Day, including Starlight Children's Foundation and Puget Sound Boys and Girls Clubs.

Past Family Days have featured dance (like Dance Theatre Northwest, Comerford School of Irish Step Dancing, Joyez Mestizas, and Ballet Theatre School), storytelling (Rebecca Horn, Harvest Moon and Nancy Wilkenson) and even wildlife (birds from Point Defiance Zoo!).

Family Day Projects like these bring children and families together-
Flippity-Flip
Dab and stick to create a personalized animated flipbook!
Kung Hei Fat Choi
Celebrate the Chinese New Year by making your own paper lantern.
Itsy Bitsy Italiana!
Celebrate Lino's Retrospective by collaging your own Italian scene, then encase it in a wearable button!
Congo Creations
Feel the beat as you make and assemble your own rolled paper bead and button jewelry with the featured project artist.

Hot Shop

Filled with activity and artists at work, the Hot Shop provides a vivid and galvanizing context for the Museum's exhibitions and installations, offering visitors a unique first-hand look at the dynamic process and intricate teamwork involved in the creation of contemporary studio glass making. Housed in an imposing 90-foot-tall stainless steel cone, the Hot Shop includes a hot glass studio, cold glass studio and has amphitheater seating for 200 visitors. The cone itself is 100 feet in diameter at its base and narrows to a 15-foot opening.

Visiting Artists Program

The Museum's Visiting Artists Program invites internationally known artists and emerging artists from the region and around the world to work with MOG's resident Hot Shop Team to explore, invent and create with glass.

Throughout the year, MOG invites artists or a team of artists to participate in a five-day Hot Shop residency. The Museum's first priority for these residencies is to invite artists whose work is exhibited in the galleries, or whose work is thematically or technically linked to the exhibition program.

Since the program's inception, over 175 internationally known artists and emerging artists from around the world have participated, including Lino Tagliapietra, Dale Chihuly, Maya Lin, Martin Blank and Dante Marioni. Thirty-eight artists are scheduled for 2009.

Offering a diverse mixture of culture, style, focus and expertise, each artist creates a sense of excitement and wonder for visitors who rarely have the opportunity to witness art being made. After each residency, the Museum and the artist select one work of art from the residency for the Museum Visiting Artists Collection.

Kids Design Glass

This core program allows children 12 and under to submit designs for glass. Each month one design is selected by the Hot Shop team to be realized in glass. The family is invited to attend while the team creates a three-dimension piece from the two-dimensional drawing. The Museum keeps one piece and the family is given one. Visit the Kids Design Glass page.