Museum of Glass is building its first-ever dedicated art storage vault as part of a roughly $25 million capital renovation, the museum's first since it opened in 2002.

The Tacoma museum began construction in April and plans to reopen its renovated gallery spaces Dec. 12, according to the museum's project page.

The project includes a new HVAC system, LED gallery lighting, a reimagined ceiling grid and a permanent gallery for glass artist Lino Tagliapietra.

Rebecca Engelhardt, the museum's collections and exhibitions director, described the scope in an Oct. 27 blog post. The museum's heating, venting and air conditioning infrastructure is nearly 25 years old and "has reached the end of its reliable lifespan," Engelhardt wrote.

Replacing it is essential to maintaining the stable, low-humidity environment that prevents deterioration of soda-lime glass, the primary material in the collection.

The collection has grown from 150 objects in 2007 to more than 2,700 today. Until now, those pieces were stored in specialized cabinets in a modified prep room.

The new vault will use compact storage units with customized foam "nests" for safe storage in seismically active zones like the Pacific Northwest, according to Engelhardt.

New lighting, new ceiling

The renovation replaces the galleries' stainless-steel ceiling and light tracks with an open ceiling on a uniform structural grid. That grid will let curators position sound, video and lighting equipment anywhere in the galleries without building custom support structures for each show.

Exhibition designer Lynette Martin will gain a new LED system with better color rendering, fixture monitoring and fewer bulb changes, Engelhardt wrote.

The energy-efficient LEDs will also eliminate dark corners through more consistent coverage. A new Digital Multiplex (DMX) lighting system adds theatrical lighting effects.

The museum's theater is being converted into the Lino Tagliapietra Legacy Gallery, roughly 4,000 square feet dedicated to the Italian glass maestro's career.

It will be the only permanent gallery in the United States devoted to Tagliapietra's work, according to the museum.

Tagliapietra gifted 175 works and installations from his personal archive to Museum of Glass. The museum called it the most important acquisition in its history.

The donated pieces date to the mid-1990s, when the artist began spending extended time in the Pacific Northwest.

The debut exhibition, titled "Lino Tagliapietra: Maestro," will display about 50 pieces. Two large-scale suspended installations combining his Endeavor (Boats) and Alas (Birds) series will hang in the Grand Hall, UrbanGlass reported.

Executive Director Debbie Lenk said in a March 2023 press release that Tagliapietra "has chosen Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington as the place to tell his legacy story."

The artist completed 19 residencies in the museum's Hot Shop and received a Governor's Arts and Heritage Award from Washington state in 2023.

Construction challenges

Matt Lubbers, senior project executive at general contractor BNBuilders, said the hardest phase is demolishing the theater and installing new steel beams in the ceiling.

Crews are saw-cutting concrete floors into smaller sections to reduce noise and vibration near fragile glass artwork, he said in a September museum Q&A.

The museum said about two-thirds of the project budget has been raised through individuals, foundations and government sources. Fundraising is ongoing.

The Hot Shop, smaller exhibitions and educational programming have continued throughout construction. The museum plans events around the Dec. 12 grand reopening and a Lino Tagliapietra Celebration Week in January.