Courtesy Wheaton Arts
Wheaton Arts
Millville, N.J.
America’s earliest successful glass factory started in Millville in 1789. Today, few small factories remain, but the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center continues the area’s long tradition of handcrafted glass.
The center’s Museum of American Glass houses more than 7,000 pieces of art glass in 20,000 square feet. A tour explains the history of glass from the 1700s to the present, and an active glass studio features studio artists in what was once the T.C. Wheaton Glass Factory.
“We are all about the interaction with the artists,” said Janet Peterson, marketing and public relations director. “It is more of an educational experience, so we encourage all of our visitors to interact and learn about American craft, and particularly glass.”
Glass isn’t the only art form featured at Wheaton Arts. Ceramic, woodcarving and flame work studios allow visitors to see and interact with working artists.
The Folklife Center, which focuses on traditional expressive arts like dance and music that are passed down through generations in different cultures, features galleries, exhibits and interpretive demonstrations.
Baltimore Museum of Art
The free Baltimore Museum of Art’s massive collection of more than 90,000 works of art includes 19th-century, modern and contemporary art and the world’s largest holding of works by Henri Matisse.
The crown jewel of the museum is the Cone Collection, which features nearly 3,000 objects collected by local sisters Claribel and Etta Cone, who visited the studios of Matisse and Pablo Picasso to gather their exceptional collection.
“Anytime of the year, you can walk into the galleries and see these superb pieces by Cézanne, van Gogh and the Impressionists from the early 20th century,” said Anne Mannix, communications director for the museum.
“There is also a special display about the Cone sisters where you can see, in a virtual tour of their apartment, where they hung these works and how they lived with these objects. They were part of their everyday lives, which is really extraordinary.”
The beautiful 2.7-acre Sculpture Garden is a great way to cap off the day.
— www.artbma.org —
