First, she took a glass tube and heated it with a torch. The flame sizzled, and the glass tip melted on what looked like tiny dragon breaths. Then, she expertly spun the glass around a metal pipe, like twirling noodles on a spoon.
Next, the instructor blew gently through the pipe, until a clear bubble formed. She repeated this process, melting layers of colored tubes and pulling at the hot glass with tweezers to create polka dots. The audience watched spellbound as her vibrant bead came to life.
Before this moment, I had taken glass for granted. After all, it’s everywhere and used in nearly everything—from insulation to homegoods to asphalt. But I learned glass is a graceful survivor, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the halls of the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk. The museum’s glass collection is among the largest in the world, and walking past the gleaming cases, I see a bowl made by a Roman glassmaker in the first century B.C. More than 2,000 years old, it has no visible cracks and a cerulean glow.
In my quest to learn more, I discover that the first glass remnants date back 3,600 years, when ancient Egyptians crushed quartz, then heated it in clay containers. After the containers cooled, jewelers broke the clay, and voilà, they had glass ingots to decorate ornate collars worn by the pharaohs.
Photo courtesy of the Chrysler Museum of Art.
Virginia’s First Glass Makers
It was during the Iron Age when glassmakers learned to blow glass through bronze pipes, allowing them to fabricate delicate vessels for trading. Centuries later, in 1608, England sent artisans and laborers to Virginia’s Jamestown Settlement to produce wine bottles, pitchers, and mugs to ship back to Europe.
“Glass was America’s first export,” says Charlotte Potter Kasic. She’s the executive director of Norfolk’s Barry Art Museum at Old Dominion University and a renowned glassmaker herself. “Glassblowing in the New World started in Jamestown, where there was plenty of wood to burn, bountiful sand, and an abundance of raw materials. It was the first major export we tried and failed. But the seed was planted, and glassmaking has always been part of this place.”
I turn over a cobalt mug from the Jamestown Glasshouse Gift Shop. It’s a replica of the earliest glass made on American shores using the same methods practiced in the 1600s. While you can’t wash this mug in the dishwasher, it’s plenty sturdy and conjures images of colonial Americans sipping cider and planning a revolution.
Photo courtesy of Barry Art Museum.
From the Practical to the Collectible
Beyond Waterford Crystal, you might associate glassmaking with the rose windows in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral or colorful Tiffany lamps. Which leads us to Walter Chrysler, Jr. and his wife, Jean, both avid art collectors, who just happened to be Louis Comfort Tiffany’s neighbors on Long Island. Walter caught the glass art bug from L.C.
Over seven decades, Walter Chrysler’s collection grew to 8,000 pieces of Art Nouveau and 19th-century American art glass. In 1971, the couple donated their collection to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences (Jean’s hometown), and the institution was renamed the Chrysler Museum of Art.
“The couple didn’t collect modern glass; they collected through Tiffany, then stopped,” explains Kasic. “One of the reasons Norfolk has the largest, free public collections in the world is because the board and staff at the Chrysler began learning about the studio glass movement. To fill the void, the community developed boutique collections that have blossomed into private museums and a glassmaking studio.”
Pat the Bunny and the Chrysler Museum Norfolk couple Patricia and Douglas Perry were part of that community and began collecting glass pieces in the 1970s. When I contact Doug Perry, cofounder of Dollar Tree, he recommends I read his wife’s book. “She’s my soulmate, and we’ve been joined by the hip for more than 40 years,” says Perry. “Everything you need to know about us and our art collection is in that book.”
Bunny by Patricia Perry is a coffee-table tome that chronicles the couple’s passion for art glass and showcases artists who have captured their hearts and minds over the last 45 years. The first chapter explains how the author got her nickname “Bunny,” which was inspired by the children’s book Pat the Bunny, which she regularly read to her grandkids.
The Perry’s introduction to glass art happened around the same time as superstar Dale Chihuly opened his Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle. Chihuly is famous for his mind-melding glass creations of brilliant colors and shapes.
The Perrys purchased an emerald green Persian sculpture from Chihuly, and this launched their passion for collecting. Pat Perry writes: “Chihuly’s work embodies the refined drama of ancient glassblowing as well as the masterful talent of today’s accomplished artists. His delicate creations transform inspiration, beauty, and grace into a sight to behold.”
Photo courtesy of Echard Wheeler.
2022 Visiting Artist Richard Royal blowing glass
Norfolk as the Mid-Atlantic’s Glass Art Hub
The Perry’s commitment expanded when they decided to establish the Chrysler Museum Perry Art Glass Studio. Here, they would provide a home for local talent and introduce the public to glassmaking through demonstrations and workshops.
“Their ambition supported so many artists,” Kasic says about the Perrys. Kasic was the founding director of the Perry Glass Studio. The current director, Robin Rogers, is forging a new trail by integrating live music, culinary experiences, sensory movement, ballet, and theater productions into glassmaking called “Performance Nights.” The studio is expanding to include a 200-seat amphitheater and second hot glass studio.
“Where Walter Chrysler left off, local collectors and donors filled in and rounded out our collection,” says Rogers. “Walter was the stimulus, but the city and the Hampton Roads region want to be known as a glass center. In 2017, Norfolk hosted the International Glass Art Society conference, and between the Barry Art Museum and the Glass Light Hotel, there’s growing excitement for glass and glassmaking.”
A visit to Norfolk offers several places to encounter the medium. The Barry Art Museum was established in 2019 by collectors Richard and Carolyn Barry. Located on the campus of Old Dominion University, the museum fosters relationships with students and displays work by modern makers in new ways. “What our collection does is pair modernist American paintings with a piece of glass nearby to create visual parallels that resonate between the two mediums,” explains Kasic.
Courtesy of Glass Light Hotel.
Norfolk’s Glass-themed Hotel
My next stop is the Glass Light Hotel, which debuted in downtown Norfolk in late 2022. Part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, the boutique hotel houses an art gallery showcasing masterpieces from the Perry’s collection. “Every piece in the gallery, hallways, and lobby belong to Douglas and Patricia Perry,” says Valentina Halilaj, the former experience curator at the Glass Light Hotel. “This is their personal collection, and there are a lot of family stories in this hotel.”
As I walk through, I see glass ornamentation in every nook and cranny. Most stunning of all is the two-story Gallery, where beams of light cast rainbow shadows on the floor. There’s a shimmering green ram in the window beside a draped Grecian statue, and a millefiori guitar with strings. Chihuly’s phosphorescent shells balance on pedestals. Although it seems impossible, Halilaj assures me every piece is created from glass.
Among these magical sculptures are two larger than life-size whimsical bunnies that represent the couple’s personas. The rabbits, by artist Peter Bremers, occupy places of honor: the bejeweled Bunny welcomes guests in the lobby, while the flamingo-hued Pops reclines above the bar. I find a stool and study Pops, while the bartender pours me a cognac and strawberry-infused Pink Bunny cocktail.
Virginia’s Glass Art Hot Spots
Among Virginia’s best-known glass artists is Minh Martin, who will unveil his Glass Hollow Studio in Afton in the spring. Martin focuses on functional items, such as goblets, stemware, and lighting. I ask where he finds inspiration for his multi-hued pieces. “Glass is such an old material that whatever you make has probably been done before, maybe even thousands of times. But the finish is what makes my work distinctive.”
Martin’s designs are available at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Chrysler Museum gift shops. He hopes his customers don’t save fine glassware for special occasions only. “Glass is really strong, but the flip side is that it’s going to break sometime, even if that’s a thousand years from now.”
Julia Rogers built the life-size statues with glass faces that greet visitors at the entrance to the Perry Glass Studio. Watching her sculpt her striking creations is a sight to behold. Julia and her husband, Robin Rogers (director of the Perry Glass Studio), served as guest judges on the Netflix series Blown Away, where every season, 10 expert glassmakers compete in an elimination game, similar to cooking shows like Top Chef. Martin tells me the Canadian reality show is compelling because “glassmaking is so immediate.”
Staunton’s landmark destination is Sunspots Studios, where visitors can participate in the glassmaking process and buy glass for their home. Owner Doug Sheridan says, “We offer lessons where you can select the colors you want, then make your own ornament.” Almost every piece on display is made on site, from glass bugs to glow-in-the-dark beer mugs. “Blown Away is bringing in younger customers,” adds Sheridan. “They come out of here completely flipped.”
Reflections in Glass
From the glassblowers at Jamestown, to the contemporary designs in the Barry Museum of Art, Virginia is a hot spot for the glass art world. Experiencing a demonstration before a tour of the Chrysler’s collection or the Glass Light Hotel is guaranteed to provide an enhanced appreciation of this unique art form. You’ll look at a glass vase or a glass sculpture in a whole new light, and it may inspire you to bring home a glass piece of your own. “Glass is not a product, it’s an experience,” Kasic says. “When people come to see an object being made, the object becomes a souvenir of the experience.”
Renee Sklarew writes about food, travel, and recreation. A contributor to Northern Virginia and Bethesda magazines, and AAA World, she’s the author of The Unofficial Guide to Washington DC and 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Washington DC.
