COLUMBUS, OH.- This summer, a $30 million state- of-the-art glass pavilion designed by SANAA, Ltd. of Japan will be unveiled at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. The impressive structure is made almost entirely of curved glass, and will house one of the world's finest glass collections -- 7,000 pieces ranging from ancient to contemporary times.

Marking Ohio's 150-year legacy of glassmaking, this new facility will create the perfect gateway to nationally known, historic glass sites scattered throughout Ohio's big cities and small towns. Bestowed with large reserves of high quality sand and natural gas (used to heat glass furnaces) and positioned at the nation's transportation crossroads, Ohio became one of the foremost producers of glass in the mid 1800s. Across the state, carnival glass, depression glass and other art glass forms were produced in fine quality and copious quantity by dozens of creative companies. Many generalist and company- specific glass museums, especially in the northwestern and southeastern regions, show off the works of companies including Libbey, Heisey, Degenhart, Anchor Hocking, Imperial, Tiffin, Fostoria and Cambridge.

Toledo -- The Glass City - Toledo gets its nickname from the prominence of the glass industry in town. The city serves as the headquarters of both Owens Corning and Libbey Glass. The Libbey Glass outlet store offers 16,000 square feet of glassware, dinnerware, flatware, glass giftware, candles and accessories. Glass is a major component of the 1,200-foot Veterans Glass City Memorial Bridge, spanning the Maumee River.

Artistic visitors at the new Glass Pavilion can try their hand at various techniques including glassblowing, cold working, sandblasting, molding and enameling, by signing up for a class at the Pavilion's glassmaking facilities.