The internationally-known Morse Museum is about to turn 75 and, for the occasion, it's pulled out rarely-viewed pieces of art. Surprisingly, none of it is Tiffany glass.

"We're not just a Tiffany museum,” Morse Museum Director Laurence Ruggiero said.

  • Morse Museum in Winter Park is about to turn 75 years old
  • Internationally known museum is known for Tiffany glass
  • New exhibit showcases non-Tiffany art called 'carnival' glass

The Winter Park museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by the late Louis Comfort Tiffany, including the artist and designer’s jewelry, pottery, paintings, art glass, and even his chapel interior from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

The new exhibit is called Pathways of American Art at the Morse Museum. It’s designed in sections, one of them displaying "carnival" glass.

"It's the poor man's Tiffany,” Ruggiero said, walking over to the enclosed display case. “It has loads of colors in it. It's kind of big and garish. Some would say kitschy."

Carnival glass could literally be found at a carnival. It’s a kind of decorative glass with an iridescent shine to it and was pressed and sold for pennies to a mass audience. In contrast, the range of glasses created by Tiffany is based on his use of opalescent glass, creating a wildly sought-after stained glass.

Jeanette McKean founded the museum. She and her husband, Hugh, built up the collection for decades, and this new exhibit spotlights things they collected.

For example, you might notice a "Frosted Goddess" glassware based on the protective goddess, Hecate. It has three faces looking in three directions.

"In antiquity," Ruggiero explained, "she could see down all the different roads that were coming — all those directions to protect the population of the town."

In another section, you might get as much kick out of what's describing the art as the actual piece itself.

"They're conversational," he added, referring to Hugh's labels. "They're informal. They're nothing that anybody would ever expect of a museum label."

Ruggiero's goal and vision for the Morse Museum in the next 75 years may not surprise you.

"That we're not overcome by digitalization and computers and all of those wonderful life-enhancing things that threaten us," he said.

Pathways of American Art runs through Jan. 21, 2018. Here are a few perks:

February Open House
February 1-28, 2017
Free admission to the galleries to commemorate the museum's 75th anniversary.

75th Anniversary Reception
Friday, February 17, 2017
5 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
A public celebration with champagne and live music on the date the museum opened its doors in 1942.