Notable people · Artist · Inventor · Glass
Dominick Labino
Dominick Labino was an engineer who helped start the American studio glass movement. He built his own glass studio on a farm near Grand Rapids in Wood County and held more than 60 glass patents.
At a glance
- Born
- 1910-12-04
- Died
- 1987-01-10
- Education
- Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, PA, engineering
- Known as
- Artist, Inventor, Glass
- Organizations
- Johns-Manville, Toledo Museum of Art
Life story
Dominick Labino was born in 1910 in Fairmount City, Pennsylvania, and trained as an engineer at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. In the 1930s he became interested in glassblowing while working at an Owens-Illinois plant, and in 1940 he learned the craft from Ben Alderson.
In 1944 he left Owens-Illinois for the fiber glass industry. In 1962 he co-led a groundbreaking glassblowing workshop at the Toledo Museum of Art with Harvey Littleton, an event usually seen as the start of the studio glass movement in America.
In 1963 he opened his own studio near Grand Rapids, Ohio, and retired from Johns-Manville in 1965. His 1967 book Visual Art in Glass was widely used. His work is in more than 100 museum collections.
He received an honorary doctorate from Bowling Green State University in 1970 and the Governor's Award for the Arts in 1971. He died at Grand Rapids in 1987.
Timeline
- 1910-12-04: Born (Fairmount City, PA) source
- 1940: Learns glassblowing from Ben Alderson source
- 1944: Leaves Owens-Illinois for fiber glass source
- 1962: Co-leads glassblowing workshop at Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, OH) source
- 1963: Opens studio near Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids, OH) source
- 1965: Retires from Johns-Manville source
- 1967: Publishes Visual Art in Glass source
- 1970: Honorary doctorate, Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH) source
- 1971: Governor's Award for the Arts (Ohio) source
- 1987-01-10: Dies (Grand Rapids, OH) source
What Dominick is known for
- Co-led the 1962 glassblowing workshop at the Toledo Museum of Art with Harvey Littleton
- Held over 60 U.S. glass patents
- Opened a personal glass studio near Grand Rapids in 1963
- Visual Art in Glass (1967)
- More than 60 U.S. glass patents
Inventions and firsts
Honors and things named for them
- Honorary doctorate, Bowling Green State University (1970)
- Governor's Award for the Arts, Ohio (1971)
- Ohio Arts Council Award (1971)
- Steuben Phoenix Award (1977)
- Rakow Award for Excellence in Glass (1985)
Ohio places
Where Dominick Labino was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Worked: Grand Rapids, Wood County ZIP 43522 · Grand Rapids · Wood County
- Died: Grand Rapids, Wood County ZIP 43522 · Grand Rapids · Wood County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Dominick Labino birth, career, 1962 workshop, studio 1963, patents, honors, death