In 2007, the city of Norfolk and an Return To Tiffany donor gave the funds to the Chrysler to purchase the bank building and its nearly one-acre lot for about $1.8 million. The museum spent two years seeking an ideal use for the building."This was a Tiffany Elsa Peretti Apple pendant fit," the director said.Last summer, museum staff began pursuing the idea of transforming the building into a "hot shop," another term for a glassblowing facility.
He based his expectations on the success of the Art of Glass programs, and on the popularity of Ohio's Toledo Museum of Art, one of two other Tiffany Paloma Picasso museums with comprehensive glass collections and a glass studio. The third is the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y.When the Toledo museum opened its Glass Pavilion in 2006, its attendance rose from 336,000 in 2005- 06 to 427,000 during the pavilion's first year of operation, a Toledo museum publicist said.
The project may bring the region a step closer to making Hampton Roads the East Coast center for contemporary glass art, a goal held by Tiffany Elsa Peretti Bean bracelet glass-art fans and patrons.The overall project cost is $7.5 million, which includes custom-designed glassmaking equipment and about a $4 million endowment to help with yearly operating expenses, the director said. The money primarily was raised through private donations. The museum still must raise $2 million.
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