Over the next several Gazelle Gazette issues we’ll share summaries and photos from this year’s Symposium.  The attendees enjoyed formal presentations as well as interactive events, and every session was incredibly informative, interesting, and high quality.  It was also such fun to see old friends again and share in our love of glass.

The Symposium kick off was held at The Benjamin Patterson Inn — home of the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society.  It’s the earliest wooden frame building in Corning, built in 1796 and a part of the Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes.  We gathered together in the Tap Room and Dining Room, the two front rooms of the post-colonial Inn, and enjoyed a spread of appetizers, drinks, and great conversation.  Attendees were also treated to a grand tour of the Inn and a brief overview of its fascinating history.

Kirk Nelson is the Executive Director of the New Bedford Museum of Glass in New Bedford, Massachusetts.  Kirk made comparisons between two Fredericks – Frederick Carder and Frederick Shirley of Mt. Washington Glass Company, located in New Bedford.  Kirk shared many pieces from the Museum’s collection of not only Mt. Washington glass, but other American glass companies as well.  Several Steuben pieces including a gazelle plaque and elevator panel buttons were shown.  Kirk noted that the Museum is now housed in the James Arnold mansion, which is itself a beautiful and architecturally significant museum.  We should all make near future plans to see it!