Events.
If glass is about light and color, as I so often argue that it is, then a Museum is about activities, people, stories and a creatively open space.

A museum should celebrate and encourage the spirit of creativity. EVEN if it is a history museum, And MAG is, largely, a history museum.
A museum should maintain a safe space where we can look back and dream forward.
It is my firm belief that MAG has grown in the past few years to begin to earnestly and energetically embrace the mission of activities and events.

In February 2015 we had a first time Chocolate Lovers Feast. Over 200 people attended. It was a wonderful success in a small town. It brought people from the community and region into MAG that had never been here. An awesome accomplishment unto itself. It also confirmed to many of those attending that MAG was a vibrant, living, fun place/ entity. That seems an even loftier accomplishment. As a final measure, it served successfully as a fundraiser, with the sponsorship of the local CVB for advertising. Event conclusion - exceeded expectations, exceeded goals.

Up next?
Our annual American Paperweight Circle. For dealers, collectors, makers and the generally curious.
Fun note- we will dedicate a new display case near the Museum entrance that shall affectionately be called "The Pumpkin Patch."
This case holds our large free blown pumpkin from Bellaire Ohio made for the 1913 Pumpkin Festival there. We "rescued" it from a dealer who had rescued it from a warehouse. It is not frequently called The Great Pumpkin and will be the display center piece as we surround it with a literal "pumpkin patch" of glass pumpkins and gourds handmade around American by various artists. The dedication will make the new exhibit a permanent display, related the glass pumpkins back to their origins as paperweights, and give cause for MAG to award each attendee with a mini-pumpkin on a necklace and a certificate declaring them a member of the Order of The Pumpkin Patch. Over a dozen small and diverse pumpkins and glass gourds will be in the new exhibit awaiting arrival of their future friends.

Glass Pumpkins, several glass artists showing and offering their wares, dealers, enthusiasts, collectors and you? The APC should be MAG's next fun and successful event.

dean
17 March 2015