and fellow glass pioneers, Marvin Lipofsky and Dale Chihuly, respectively founded the glass program at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 and initiated the glass program at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1969. In 1963 Labino set up his own glass studio on his farm near Grand Rapids, Ohio. He designed glass-blowing and finishing tools; built his own furnaces and annealing ovens; and began freehand blowing with molten glass. Through his research and development of new technologies, like the fusing of colors, he provided artists with the methods and tools to create glass as art in their own studios, no longer making it necessary to involve glass factories in their creative process. Labino opened his studio under the auspices of the Toledo Museum of Art School of Design in 1966 and 1967 to present three workshops. His interest in the education of fine artists in glass-working materials and techniques was furthered by the publication of his book Visual Art in Glass (W.C. Brown Company, publishers) in 1967. An important note: Labino always signed each of his art glass pieces "Labino," and dated with the month and year (for example: "5/69"), from the smallest and least complex in design and formula, to the largest and most intricate. It was a point of great pride for the designer. Honors and awards Labino received an honorary doctorate from Bowling Green State University in 1970. In 1971 he received the Governor's Award for the Art, State of Ohio, and was presented with the first Ohio Art Council award for his contribution to the development of molten glass as a fine art form. Labino received the Toledo Glass and Ceramic Award in 1972, and was presented with the Rakow Award for Excellence in Glass by the Corning Museum of Glass in 1985. Labino received the Steuben Phoenix Award in 1977 for his contributions both to the production of industrial glass and to the use of glass in fine art. Exhibitions Solo exhibitions of Labino's art work in glass include "Dominick Labino: A Half Century with Glass" at the Owens-Illinois Art Center in Toledo, Ohio, 1983; "Dominick Labino: Glass Retrospective" at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, 1982 and "Dominick Labino: A Decade of Glass Craftsmanship, 1964–1969" at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, 1974. Collections Some of the national and international museums that have collected Dominick Labino's art work