Among the crisp, angular stacks of books in the new Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, smooth and colorful shapes of hand blown glass are arranged so that when sun pours through the new building's lengthy windows, it warms the works of art to a glow.

The Hand-Blown Glass exhibit is on display through Dec. 16 in the Stuckeman Family Building.

"It's not your usual exhibit facility," Head Librarian Henry Pisciotta said.

Because of the library's number of windows, the exhibit can also be seen from outside the building.

When Pisciotta spoke with an art department faculty member last summer, he immediately thought of the space.

The exhibit features work by Joseph Ryan and Robert Schaut, two graduate students in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MATSE).

The work of Elam Leed, a former MATSE graduate student, is also displayed as part of the show.

Ryan helped Pisciotta develop the space by assembling colors and themes.

"My art is basically a release from the science rigors," Ryan said.

Ryan is a teaching assistant for a glass science laboratory class.

Although he said he plans to work for a glass research corporation, Ryan said he will continue glass blowing and also said he hopes to eventually start his own studio.

The artists have sold their work in the past, Schaut said.

"A lot of times we accept donations and put the money back into the studio to keep the lab running," he said.

Materials Science and Engineering 497A (Glassblowing), a class held in the Steidle Building studio, is a collaboration between the School of Visual Arts, the school of Materials Science and Engineering and art faculty members, class instructor Sara Young said.

"It's a combination of technique and science," said Devon Franceschi, a MATSE faculty member. "Students melt their own glasses and test for thermal expansion."

The class includes science-oriented labs, art lectures and technique demonstrations.

Although students are handpicked based on their academic performance, the department hopes to eventually open glassblowing to all students, Franceschi said.

"They are the founding fathers of the glass studio," she said, referring to the graduate students involved in the library exhibit.

Ryan created the largest piece in the exhibit, displayed in the library entryway.

An Italian glass artist inspired the three-foot-tall glass sculpture.

"I come up with sketches of shapes and color forms," Ryan said.

The Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, previously in Engineering Unit B, was incorporated into the new Stuckeman Family Building when it moved in May.

All of the artwork in the library has been donated, Pisciotta said. When the glass exhibit is taken down in December, Pisciotta said, it would be hard to replace.

"[The space] would be hard to use for anything else," he said, adding that the library doesn't have the funds to purchase the works.

This semester's MATSE 497A students will be featured in early December at the Patterson Building Gallery, where their semester's work will be on display, Young said.