Four Southern Tier lawmakers presented anniversary resolutions to the Corning Museum of Glass on Tuesday, marking 75 years since the institution opened.
State Sen. Tom O’Mara and Assemblymen Phil Palmesano, Chris Friend and Joe Sempolinski delivered the tributes to museum President and Executive Director Jessica Levin Martinez and staff in the museum’s admissions lobby. The Senate resolution, sponsored by O’Mara, was adopted May 27; the lawmakers’ news release says the Assembly also approved a companion resolution.
The museum was founded in 1951 by Corning Glass Works, now Corning Incorporated, as an educational institution devoted to glass. The lawmakers said it draws more than 300,000 visitors a year and supports tourism in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes.
The resolution traces the museum’s development from its first collection of 2,000 objects and a small research library. It also recounts the damage caused by the 1972 Chemung River flood, the museum’s reopening that August and later additions to its galleries, library and glassworking facilities.
In 2024, the museum expanded its glassmaking studio and opened a casting center for large-scale glass work, according to the resolution. Its present facilities include a glass collection, the Rakow Library and a school for glassmaking.
The four legislators praised the museum’s role as a destination for visitors and a place for artists to study and work. Their joint statement thanked past and present museum staff and supporters for building the institution over its first 75 years.
Levin Martinez said the museum is looking ahead to its next 75 years “with renewed enthusiasm and focus on shaping the future of glass.”
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