We all have glass that needs care. We are happy to have Stephen Koop as one of our presenters at this year’s Symposium. Stephen Koob joined the Corning Museum of Glass as Conservator in 1993, and recently retired as Chief Conservator Emeritus. His long career included care and cleaning of thousands of glass objects, as well as repair and re-repair of broken objects. He introduced new materials and techniques for repairing and restoring broken objects and presented these developments to the conservation world through lectures, teaching and publications. The Conservation Department expanded both in size and in staff, with two new conservators added, including one specializing in contemporary glass.

This lecture highlights some of the many challenges in the care and conservation of glass and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Museum’s fantastic collections. The Corning Museum of Glass, located in Corning, New York, has the largest collection of glass in the world, including archaeological glass from 3,500 years ago to modern and contemporary art glass.

About the presenter:  Stephen P. Koob received an MA (1976) in Classical Archaeology from Indiana University, and a BSc (1980) in Archaeological Conservation and Materials Science from the Institute of Archaeology, University of London. From 1986-1998 he worked as conservator, specializing in ceramics and glass, at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

In 1998 he went to The Corning Museum of Glass, from where he has recently retired, as Chief Conservator Emeritus. He has recently published a book, “Conservation and Care of Glass Objects”. He is a Fellow of IIC (International Institute for Conservation) and a Fellow of AIC (American Institute for Conservation). In 2022 he received the Robert L. Feller Lifetime Achievement Award from AIC.

Mark your calendars and make your reservations!  The annual Carder Steuben Glass Association Symposium will take place from September 20-21, 2024 at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York.  There will also be an afternoon activity and gathering Thursday, September 19th for those coming to Corning the day before the Symposium officially kicks off.  Please make your reservations early as there are always other events happening in Corning at this time of year and hotels do get busy.  Details of the Symposium program and hotel discounts are posted on the CSGA website here.  We look forward to catching up with you in Corning!

We are soliciting donations for an auction to be held during the Saturday evening banquet dinner.  Proceeds of the auction support the Carder Steuben Glass Association website and our Steuben glass mission.  The CSGA is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and you will receive a tax receipt for your donation.

You may wish to donate or consign Carder Steuben glass, post-Carder Steuben glass, glass of the same era, or glass with relevance to Corning.  Other items like books, New York state wine, or Frederick Carder items also make great auction entries. Please send item descriptions to President@steubenglass.org.

We will have some special items for auction like this beautiful Mat-su-no-ke vase donated from Bill Mehlenbacher’s estate.