The Ringling breaks ground on Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion

A traditional groundbreaking ceremony wouldn't do for The Ringling's Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion.

This morning, instead of the customary dirt, donors Nancy and Philip Kotler and Margot and Warren Coville dug their ceremonial shovels into a more fitting material for the museum's new home for studio glass — sand.

The 5,500-square-foot Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion, expected to open next fall, will be built at the museum's main entrance, north of the John M. McKay Visitors Pavilion and will include a sculptural façade, a primarily glass exterior and a minimalistic interior, to highlight the works on display.

The new facility will showcase The Ringling’s permanent collection of American and European studio glass, including major gifts donated by the Kotlers and Covilles, and will also serve as the formal entrance to the Historic Asolo Theater.

"This represents a blending of the new and the old," says Warren Coville. "We have the Historic Asolo Theater, and now the home of modern studio glass. It's great to bring these two art forms together in a meaningful way."