http://www.GlassArtMagazine.com Glass Art TM • May/June 2016 • 49The artist’s work is included in more than 70 inter-
national museum collections, including The Corning
Museum of Glass and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs du Louvre, Paris,
France, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
England. Zynsky earned her BFA at RISD in Providence,
Rhode Island, in 1973. During her time there, she was one
of a group of pioneering studio glass artists who studied
with Dale Chihuly in Washington State, founding and
developing Pilchuck Glass School.
In 1980, Zynsky became assistant director and head
of the hot shop at the New York Experimental Workshop
in New York City, which is now known as UrbanGlass,
located in Brooklyn. She went on to live and work in
Amsterdam and Paris, traveling to Murano, Italy, and
Ghana, West Africa, to work for periods of time. In 1999,
she moved her family back to Providence, Rhode Island,
where she lives and works today.
Zynsky has worked with The Corning Museum of
Glass before when she received one of the first Rakow
Commissions, an annual award given to artists not yet
represented in the Museum’s collection. In 1988, she
created Pajaritos en la Cabeza and Cabellos de Angel
in her Tierra del Fuego Series for the Museum. During
her Specialty Glass Residency in the winter of 2016, she
worked extensively at Corning Incorporated’s research
facility at Sullivan Park. She was also the featured artist at
the Museum’s popular 2300° program on March 17, 2016,
where she worked in the recently added Amphitheater Hot
Shop, which seats 500 people.Residency Benefits
During Zynsky’s residency, Corning Incorporated,
which has developed and patented more than 150 spe-
cialty glass formulations, will provide her with access to
specialty glass, as well as staff with technical expertise
in glass formulation, melting, and forming. The Museum
will provide access to its extensive resources, including
its glassmaking facilities and collection.
The Corning Museum of Glass, home to the world’s
most important collection of glass, including the finest
examples of glassmaking spanning 3,500 years, will
provide access to its extensive resources, including its
glassmaking facilities, collection, and the Rakow Research
Library. Resident artists work closely with the Museum’s
glassmakers, research scientists, curators, and other staff
to better understand glass and its historical and artistic
contexts.
“I am approaching this residency with great curiosity
and a wide-open mind as to the new possibilities I am
about to encounter upon my first visit with the scientists
and engineers I will be collaborating with at Corning in the
specialty glass research center,” said Zynsky. “As I learn
more, I am sure it will ignite new ideas and experimenta-
tion for my work.”Visit http://www.youtube.com/watcht?=IVKO8Jpup48 for a
video interview with Toots Zynsky.© Copyright 2016 by Glass Art All rights reserved.(Top) Toots Zynsky experimenting during her first day of residency at
Sullivan Park, Corning Incorporated’s research facility.
(Bottom) Toots Zynsky, Incantatrice (Sorceress),
Providence, Rhode Island, 2007, 2010.4.136.