The Glass Menagerie, with its ornate stained-glass sign at 37 East Market Street, Corning, has new owners and new life as Bedcat Studios. Stephen and Sloba Breinager bought the building in September 2020 and moved here from Detroit. They had discovered Corning when their daughter started work as a Guthrie ER physician in 2018. Stephen, a metalsmith and jeweler who’d traveled to arts shows for twenty-five years, had retired. When they saw the for-sale sign, his son-in-law suggested they could build an apartment upstairs and sell art downstairs. Stephen says, “It was a natural fit because I like selling art.”

He knew a lot of artists from his art show days, and while there are several glass blowers displayed at the Glass Menagerie, the studio is mixed media. Paintings, wood block prints, fountains, and leather bags from Morocco grace the walls and counters. Whimsical acrobats in bright colors made by Cizar Marin, a Columbian artist from Florida, climb the walls and hang from the ceiling. Stephen beams, “People walk in and say, ‘How beautiful!’ They like the colors and texture. They like that it’s not just glass.”

Sloba says, “We have things from $6 (soaps) up to $3,500.” The latter is a glass reed sculpture by Scott Hartley.

Some people come every December to buy a new glass Christmas tree ornament made by Sage Studios. Available year-round, the selection includes a gumball machine (with moving gumballs) and the popular “abduction” that shows a cow being beamed up into a UFO. There are glass figurines, including dinosaurs in a diorama that kids are welcome to play with. The kaleidoscopes are kid-friendly, too.

They have about forty artists, some local. Stephen’s own fountains, with his signature blue hue, can be found here along with his metal handbags. Large abstract oil paintings by Annette Poitau (from Paris but who now lives in Ohio) splash the high walls with vibrant blues, yellows, and greens. Dan Sherlock, renowned local glass artist, has berry-colored bowls and vases with gold leaf etching. They carry the oil/acrylic work of Chris Bell, an art teacher at Horseheads High School who paints images of old trucks, motorcycles, and found things on wood. Sloba points to an empty wall. “Those all sold. We’re getting more soon.” You can see a sampling at glassmenagerieny.com or call (917) 208-0892 for hours.

“It’s an easy lifestyle,” Stephen says. “People are genuinely nice here. No traffic. No crime.” The only ones happier with the arrangement are their four cats, who wander in and out of the store area getting love from visitors.