West Virginia Day Announcement

MILTON, WV - Blenko Glass Company is honored to announce its 2024 West Virginia Day Piece, “Wavelength.” This year’s ‘Birthday’ piece is a 15-inch charger (wide, shallow bowl) in our classic Crystal with intricate white glass powder tracework in a diamond optic pattern to create a beautiful, radiating geometric design. The charger was designed by Creative Director James Arnett to echo and honor the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Radio Telescope, the largest steerable radio telescope in the world, located right in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in Green Bank, West Virginia.

Blenko is excited to celebrate Green Bank and the profound impact it has had in our understanding of and connection to the vastness of space – and we thank the Green Bank Observatory for their generous access to their facilities and grounds for the photoshoot. There is so much to learn and celebrate in our scanning the skies and seeking intelligent life out there in the vastness of space. Green Bank and astronomy ask us fundamental questions about the nature of our life on Earth and the nature of life in the universe. We at Blenko are proud that our state has had such a far-reaching and fundamental impact on the development of astronomy and space research. 2024 has been Blenko’s “Year of New Space Age Design,” a theme that has allowed the company to celebrate both its midcentury Space Age innovation and cultural impact, and also draw attention to its evolutions as the company launches into a new golden era of handmade, richly-colored glass tableware.

"Growing up watching Star Trek with my dad and dreaming of space travel, it's incredibly cool to now leverage a historic West Virginia icon like Blenko Glass to celebrate our Appalachian heritage in space exploration and highlight our state's impact on the search for extraterrestrial life. This year's West Virginia Day piece embodies the spirit of innovation and curiosity that has always defined our wild and wonderful state." - David Wertz - Vice President of Manufacturing, Blenko Glass Company

The WV Day piece will be available in a numbered, limited edition of 161 available for auction on the Blenko Glass Company website (http://www.blenko.com) starting at noon, Eastern, on Saturday, June 15th. The auction reserve price will be $161, and the auction ends at staggered five minute intervals beginning at 9am Eastern on June 20, 2024, from #161 to #1. This format will allow the largest possible number of interested collectors over time to strategize to land one of these annually cherished pieces.

Our West Virginia Day Companion Piece, the Visitors Decanter, will be available for pre-order starting May 31, 2024. Blending Blenko’s classic midcentury, Space Age decanter designs and a kitschy sensibility about UFOs, this footed Tangerine decanter in ‘flying saucer’ shape comes with a vivid, neon green drop-in ‘alien’ stopper in Absinthe. Absinthe is a brand new experimental color for Blenko in 2024. Made with the rare earth chemical praseodymium, this bright, acid green is a fascinating shade with curious shine.

Also available for pre-order is the West Virginia Day 2024 Suncatcher, our beautiful, graphic homage to the telescope array that features the horizon of the beautiful Appalachian mountains in which the Observatory is situated, featured in Turquoise. We are pleased to announce we are donating half of every sale of the suncatcher to the Green Bank Observatory to support their educational and astronomical work as part of Blenko’s ongoing Glass for Good program benefitting vital nonprofit partners, like past collaborators Healing Appalachia, Hickman Holler, Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, and the Woody Williams Foundation.

Just on the heels of West Virginia Day, Blenko Glass Company also invites customers and collectors out to the opening night of the New Blenko Now exhibit at the Birke Art Galleries of Marshall University in Huntington, WV, June 21-August 6, 2024. We invite our fans and customers to the first night of the show to enjoy the art and meet the artisans behind our storied glass and innovative new designs, from 5-8pm, Friday, June 21st.