Tacoma’s Museum of Glass will reopen its galleries on Saturday, Dec. 12, after a renovation that began in April. The project is the first major capital renovation in the museum’s history, and the reopening will bring more gallery space, updated displays and a permanent gallery dedicated to glass artist Lino Tagliapietra.
The new Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery will feature 175 works and installations the artist gave to the museum. Its first exhibition, Lino Tagliapietra: Maestro, will open that day. The roughly 4,000-square-foot gallery is designed to show more than 50 pieces at a time, with works spanning Tagliapietra’s career and his decades of connection to the Pacific Northwest.
The renovation also upgrades existing galleries with new lighting, display cases, interactive audiovisual elements and improved visitor flow. The museum is converting its theater into additional gallery space for rotating exhibitions, expanding the ways visitors can encounter glass art beyond the new Tagliapietra gallery.
The museum has remained open during construction, with its Hot Shop, store, café and education programming continuing while the traditional galleries were closed. On reopening day, a ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., followed by remarks and docent tours throughout the day. The museum says more exhibitions will fill the expanded galleries in 2027, so the December reopening is only the first look at what’s changing
Read more about the new exhibits on the Museum of Glass website here.
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