July 13, 2026

Tacoma's Museum of Glass gets a polish — and a new gallery

Photo via Museum of Glass [enlarge]

The Museum of Glass opened in 2002.

Construction began in April at Tacoma's Museum of Glass on the first capital renovation project in the organization's history.

The 75,000-square-foot art museum has been a notable fixture on the Thea Foss Waterway since it opened at 1801 Dock St. in 2002. The building has distinctive architecture, designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, that includes an inverted 90-foot cone housing a Hot Shop glass studio and surrounding amphitheater.

The renovation will improve existing gallery spaces and create a new dedicated gallery to house the works of celebrated Italian glass artist Lino Tagliapietra. Tagliapietra permanently gifted the museum 175 pieces of his work in 2023.

Existing gallery space will be divided and upgraded to display the Tagliapietra collection in the new Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery. The new gallery will be approximately 4,000 square feet and allow for more than 50 pieces to be on view at any time. The debut exhibition is slated to open this fall following the end of construction.

Rendering via Museum of Glass [enlarge]

Existing gallery space will be updated to house the new 4,000-square-foot Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery.

The project also includes infrastructure upgrades to all existing galleries. These consist of new lighting, casework, interactive audio/visual components, improved environmental controls, enhanced visitor flow and modernized design, new on-site storage to facilitate permanent collection growth, and aesthetic improvements.

Other spaces at the museum will be reconfigured. A theater will be converted into gallery space to make room for rotating exhibitions. The Grand Hall and its adjacencies will be reconfigured to elevate art display capabilities. Internal workshops for wood and metal work and non-art storage will be relocated to the museum's garage level. A main level back of house space will be converted to collection storage.

Construction is expected to take around six months. Seattle's BNBuilders is the general contractor. Bassetti, also based in Seattle, is the architect. The design team also includes James Carpenter Design Associates and Studio Unseen Light PLLC.

Photo by Russell Johnson, courtesy of Lino Tagliapietra Inc. [enlarge]

Italian glass artist Lino Tagliapietra has gifted 175 of his works, including this piece called Emerald City, to the museum.

The renovation is expected to cost $25 million. The museum says it has raised about two-thirds of that amount through individuals, foundations, and government sources. Fundraising for the project is ongoing.

The Museum of Glass is the largest and most active glass museum and glass making studio on the West Coast. Its permanent art collections chronicle the development of modern and contemporary glass. Artist specific and other temporary exhibitions are frequently presented. The Hot Shop glass making studio regularly hosts artist residencies and offers the public access to glass making demonstrations. Tagliapietra has completed 19 residencies and appearances in the Hot Shop.

The museum will be open with regular hours during construction. Much of the work will take place in the evening.