Jane Spillman was Curator of American Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass from 1978 to 2013. If her tenure at CMoG doesn’t say everything that needs to be said about her impact on the field of American glass, then her scholarship, speaking engagements and stewardship of the CMoG American glass collection does. One quick measure of her contributions is her Curriculum Vitae of publications, exhibitions and presentations – it’s 24 pages. Jane is a good friend of the Carder Steuben Club, having spoken at many of our Symposiums, serving as our liaison to the museum and being a scholarly resource for our members.

Last year a group of members of the National American Glass Club (www.glassclub.org) approached its President, Anne Madarasz, and suggested the idea of a tribute to Jane (not a memorial!). Anne, working with Gail Bardhan, the editor of the Glass Club Bulletin, recruited six individuals to share their thoughts and recollections of Jane and her impact on the world of glass. Those six are Dwight Lanmon, formerly European curator and director of CMoG, Louise Bush, retired bibliographer at the Rakow Library, Violet Wilson, former curatorial administrative assistant at CMoG, Mary Cheek Mills, former director of educational programs at CMoG, Tom Dimitroff, glass historian and CMoG consultant, and Larry Jessen, Amelung glass researcher and friend of Jane’s for more than 35 years. All of these recollections were published in the most recent Spring edition of the NAGC’s publication, the Glass Club Bulletin, in addition to two articles related to Jane’s areas of interest.

The Gazette has received permission from the NAGC and each of the authors to reproduce those articles, which will follow in future Gazettes.

Scott Hansen