Gardens of Glass

The Art of Craig Mitchell Smith

Gardens of Glass was an exhibition at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) in Winchester, Virginia from June 8 through October 13, 2024. It featured the work of glass artist Craig Mitchell Smith from Lansing, Michigan and consisted of 30 larger-than-life sculptures created from stainless steel and kiln-formed glass, which is made by arranging shaped pieces of colored glass in a kiln and allowing the firing process to melt and then further form the glass components.

We were able to view the exhibition during its last week, on a bright, sunny day which made photographing the sculptures difficult because of the harsh shadows. Near the entrance, we met the artist who created the sculpture and in answer to about his exhibitions, he said they were usually booked about 1½ years in advance. He also said it took 2½ miles of bubble wrap to transport the exhibition, six days to set it up, and three days to take it down.

Gardens of Glass Gallery

The images in the Gardens of Glass Gallery below are in the order they were described in the program. The year the artist created each piece is included with the title of the artwork and some details about each piece are included in the description.

Additional Information

Craig Mitchell Smith
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Glen Burnie Gardens (part of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley)

Technical Data

Except as noted, these images are all High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, each of which consists of three photos taken at different exposures and combined within my Canon R7 camera. (Please see the Definitions, Software, & Apps page for additional information about this technique.)