CORNING, N.Y. (WETM) — The Corning Museum of Glass has been granted over $3 million from New York State as part of a $90 million fund to help arts organizations.

CMOG is one of 19 locations across the state receiving funding to help the arts programs and expand cultural programming.

Corning’s grant falls under a Large Capital Improvement Grant for Arts and Culture and includes $3.5 million for the project titled StudioNEXT Expansion.

According to the Corning Museum of Glass, StudioNEXT is an expansion of its already existing studio and glass workshop. The space will be doubled from 24,000 to 60,000 sq. ft, the capacity of the Make Your Own Glass program will be doubled, allowing more visitors the opportunity to create glass themselves, and so much more.

The grant received on Tuesday brings the amount of state funding up to $9.5 million for the $53.5 million price of the project. Funding for the project is now up to 93% reached, with private contributors and in-kind commitments being a large part of the funding.

The StudioNEXT project first began back in October of 2022, with CMOG saying that the first phase of the project will be open to the public by the end of 2023, with the expanded Make Your Own Glass workshop.

“We are incredibly grateful for New York State’s continued support for and recognition of the significance of the Studio’s expansion and aspirations,” said Larol Wight, CMOG president, and executive director. “StudioNEXT will create jobs in the Southern Tier and realize considerable economic impacts driven by tourism,” they said.

To find out more about the project and what other features will be offered in the expansion, you can visit CMOG’s website.