I'm all for museums, just as long as they actually house something of interest. If I am going to have to fork over cash that would normally go to the higher uses of wardrobe expanding, then there had better be good art and A LOT of it!

The name, Museum of Glass conjures images of, well a MUSEUM, right? The place should have more accurately been named the Galleries of Glass. Or, better yet, A Couple Rooms of Glass Artwork. But surely not a Museum of Glass. That is, unless they add, “…for Those with Short Attention Spans” to the title.

The brochure tells of a bridge of glass that is supposedly beautiful. My expectations of the museum having already been devastatingly crushed, I was expecting about as little from this “bridge” as I could. Yet again, the name was only partially accurate: it was indeed a bridge, but definitely not of glass. Their idea of a “bridge of glass” is a small concrete bridge with a case of bright and random pieces by Chihuly. Apparently they didn’t want to defile their already miniscule selection of art by including these pieces in the actual “museum.”

There’s really no more to be said. If you don’t mind paying around fifteen to twenty dollars to tour a few darkly lit rooms with mediocre pieces of opaque, cheesliy lighted forms, then by all means, go ahead and waste a few hours of your day here. If you actually care about the quality of entertainment you are subjected to, then I would do anything but tour the “Museum” of Glass or its Bridge of Shame.

When we reached our final destination for the day, the weather couldn’t have been lovelier. Pouring rain, streams of mud, and thunder and lighting all welcomed my family to the dusty, degraded little town of Grants Pass. Set right next to the Rogue River, I’ve heard this town serves as a pretty spot to relax for older couples and honeymooners alike. Really? There are people who would purposely stay here? Luckily, we only had to stay in this swamp of a town for one night. I did find a little satisfaction in seeing how greatly this town resembled a place out of a horror movie, though. Because everyone prefers fending for their life, to sleeping.

Now I’m off dry and put barricades in front of all the doors and windows.

Hopefully I’ll still be here tomorrow!

I wish there were more to talk about, but so much of the day was spent on the road, that there is little point in fluffing this hub with words of passing cars and all that flim-flam.

Toodles!

Another day of fun-filled tourist activities awaits!

I must admit, I pretty much agree with Chris1’s assessment of the museum. Above all, it was tiny and its selections were few. The strange design of the museum doesn’t help. For having such limited space, they have done a bad job of utilizing it. You enter into a disproportionately large main hall with a café to the left, a ticket kiosk to your front and a gift shop to your right. This main hall seems just about as large as the main gallery, and yet there were only two art pieces actually on display in this main space. According to the map, the security office is the same size as the gallery. That’s a lot of security for such a tiny museum!

 One of the museum’s saving graces was its Hot Shop, where guests can view professional artists as they sculpt, melt and work glass into beautiful works of art. The room is set up like a large auditorium, which makes for ample seating, good acoustics, and a fun learning environment. Though, sitting there watching the artists feels a little more like watching alchemy than sitting in on a lesson, they do provide short, informative videos explaining different aspects of the glass-making process. While there, I saw a woman work a blob-shaped piece of glass into a detailed squirrel.

The museum also has a screening room, which shows a couple of videos. One is an animated, “humorous” take on the history of glass making. Though it is geared towards a very young audience, if you can get past the obnoxious hosts and poorly written script, it provides some fairly interesting information. The second video is one that highlights the stories behind a few of the main artists whose work is currently on exhibition. It is a very interesting (though slightly long) video, that helped me appreciate the artwork more than I think I would have had I not seen this beforehand.

The artwork in the main gallery was all Northern Indian in style. It was all very pretty, and a few pieces were even gorgeous. I was disappointed that there wasn’t much of a selection of art besides these though. All that is left are just a few pieces of children’s art made by volunteers at the Hot Shop, and a single glass case filled with fifty or so vase-like pieces by Chihuly.

Continuing south, we arrived at Grants Pass, Oregon. The town is a quaint little community that looks as though it hasn’t changed its appearance since the fifties. The Motel Del Rogue, at which we stayed, was as well marked by a supremely vintage look. Originally established in the 30s, this motel offers fifteen unique units, one of which is a trailer home! We stayed in room #3, which had a kitchen that included a refrigerator and stove, and a living room space with two twin beds and one full size bed, a bathroom with a shower and tub, and a bedroom with a queen bed. It was more than enough room for our family of four. I slept very well, but the rest of my family complained that the sounds from the nearby street kept them awake most of the night. I would certainly stay here again, but I would tell anyone who is a very light sleeper to bring earplugs.

Stay tuned to hear Day 14!