Lucartha Kohler Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-0083

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Lucartha Kohler was a pioneering glass artist by virtue of her work in glass casting and her gender. She also wrote two books, one about contemporary glass and one about women glass artists. Her papers consist of two series:

(1) Research Files, 1958-2003

(2) Artist Files, 1972-2016

Dates

Creation: 1958-2016

Creator

Kohler, Lucartha (1938 (date of birth) - 2017 (date of death)) (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for public research. Researchers must make an appointment to view this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Corning Museum of Glass and the Rakow Research Library against all claims, demands, costs and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of Library materials.

Biographical / Historical

Lucartha Donges Kohler was born in 1938 to William Donges and Jessie Whitehead in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied at the Carnegie Mellon Institute, Moore College of Art, and Penland School of Crafts.

Kohler enjoyed a long and successful career as a glass artist, teacher, and writer. Early in her career, she worked as a fashion designer, but she became intrigued by the medium of glass in the 1960s. Kohler was best known for glass casting, but she also employed and taught other glassworking techniques. Kohler taught nationally and internationally, serving on the faculty of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and Fleisher Art Memorial. She was also a frequent instructor at the Corning Museum of Glass Studio.

Kohler showed her work in more than one hundred exhibitions and has pieces in significant glass collections. She wrote two books on glass: Glass: An Artist's Medium (1998) and Women Working in Glass (2003).

Kohler died in December 2017.