As an
Interior Designer and an artist - Amazing and spectacular!! The Chihuly Collection is
a must see.
I had
the pleasure recently to meet up with some fellow blogger and twitter friends
for dinner and a special private tour of the Morean Art Center’s Chihuly
Collection. Upon our arrival at the Chihuly Collection, we were
greeted by Wayne David Atherholt, Director of Marketing &
Communications at The
Morean Arts Center. Our tour began as we were escorted thru the large over-sized metal pivoting
door, as a lover of architecture and all things design, my attention was
captured and was I was immediately drawn into the Chihuly Collection exhibition
space.
As
Atherholt began our private tour he explained to us that the exhibit space was
designed using only natural materials for all the surfaces inside the Chihuly
space, as was visually evident accompanied by the light scent from the
beautiful raw cedar walls. Each room
flowed into the next and as you walked thru the space you were drawn to the
next gallery space in a circular manner with glimpses of what was ahead leading
you forward and peeking thru openings behind you.
It
is an amazing exhibit and truly a marvel to see in person!
Our Group (left to right)- Kenna Miller, Eric Miller, Carmen Christensen, Paul Anater, Tom Wiebe, Michelle Wiebe, Jeremy Parcels & Ginny Powell.
DALE
CHIHULY – Biography
(Biography
compliments of Chihuly website)
Born
in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while
studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in
1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the
University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of
Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more
than a decade.
In
1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini
glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass,
which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded
Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass
center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine
art.
His
work is included in more than 200 hundred museum collections worldwide. He has
been the recipient of many awards, including ten honorary doctorates and two
fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Chihuly has created
more than a dozen well-known series of works, among them Cylinders and Baskets
in the 1970s; Seaforms, Macchia, Venetians, and Persians
in the 1980s; Niijima Floats and Chandeliers in the 1990s; and Fiori
in the 2000s. He is also celebrated for large architectural installations. In
1986, he was honored with a solo exhibition, Dale Chihuly objets de verre,
at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, in Paris. In 1995, he began
Chihuly Over Venice, for which he
created sculptures
at glass factories in Finland, Ireland, and Mexico, then installed them over
the canals and piazzas of Venice.
In
1999, Chihuly mounted a challenging exhibition, Chihuly in the Light of
Jerusalem; more than 1 million visitors attended the Tower of David Museum
to view his installations. In 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
curated the exhibition Chihuly at the V&A. Chihuly’s lifelong
affinity for glasshouses has grown into a series of exhibitions within botanical
settings. His Garden Cycle began in 2001 at the Garfield Park
Conservatory in Chicago. Chihuly exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,
near London, in 2005. Other major exhibition venues include the de Young Museum
in San Francisco, in 2008, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2011.
