Desert Sun sparkles on Chihuly's glass art

Great Falls Tribune, April 12, 2009

Desert Sun sparkles on Chihuly's glass art

Imagine unpacking 750 crates of Dale Chihuly original hand blown glass and then, installing his innovative sculptures in a Sonoran desert setting for six months.
Finally, after long term planning, the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, is excited to display the unique works of the renown artist.
“This is a dynamic space for Chihuly’s artwork, and he took a leap of faith to do this,” said Elaine McGinn, the Garden’s Director of Planning and Exhibits, alluding to the fact that art venues worldwide would love to have it.
“In the garden world, this is the blockbuster,” adds McGinn.
Exhibitions of Chihuly’s work have been mounted in conservatories and botanical gardens elsewhere, but this is his first installation entirely within a desert garden environment.
Over a period of two years, Chihuly and his site design team made three visits photographing the 145 acres of the Garden which display 50,000 desert plants along thematic trails. They took notes and pictures back to the planning board in his studio on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington.
Ultimately, Chihuly created three desert wildflower towers just for this exhibition which were packed along with other grand scale vibrant colored sculptures into five semi load trucks for the trip to Arizona last November.
A team of twenty took twelve days to install the seventeen major installations, and seven other small areas with placed glass. It took six days alone to put together the Sun which has 1200 individual pieces. Some of the chandeliers took half a day to hang.
As you stroll through the Garden, you see how Chihuly’s shapes of glass reflect imaginary plants and monumental organic shapes, large creations that seem impossible to build. Through his plan they are placed in interesting places.
A boat full of celestial blue pieces is unique in that it is placed under a tree, not on water. “
Chihuly liked the idea of suggestion of water in this space,” explains McGinn.
Yet, in another area, floating polyurethane cubes mystify a marshy desert grass area.
“How in the world do they bring these pieces in without being broken,” asks Al Bauer, who drove from San Jose, California just to see the exhibition. “This is way off the scale I’m so impressed by the glass sculptures and every cactus perfectly placed, but naturally where it should be.”
It is no surprise that Chihuly likes to display his art in nature’s settings. Many of his glass orbs and shapes look like flowers and stocks of plants, so the glass and the garden seem to fit together.
Over the years, Chihuly’s creations have spanned a wide vocabulary of forms such as baskets, seaforms, Ikebana, and chandeliers. His new flower forms are reminiscent of early pieces that he made at the Pilchuck Glass School which he cofounded in 1971 near Stanwood, Washington.
Originally from Tacoma, Washington, Chihuly began blowing glass in 1965. He earned a BA from the University of Washington, and finished his graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1968, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Venini glass factory in Venice, Italy. It was at Venini that he learned and developed the team model of blowing glass. Having lost an eye in an automobile accident, and later injuring a shoulder, Chihuly eventually gave up being the “gaffer,” the master blower. Today, his practice of collaborative teams enhances his creative process.
Chihuly’s structures start out as hundreds or even, thousands of individual pieces of glass. Then, the glass pieces are attached to enormous metal structures. (armatures, that look like steel skeletons) It takes many people, to create these beautiful glass sculptures from start to finish. Putting them all together for an exhibition takes specialists in lighting, neon towers, and installation.
With a smile and a sense of pride, McGinn relates,“In a world class garden, it feels right to be hosting a world glass garden. We will all be sad when it leaves. Since it opened in November, the show has exceeded all expectations.”
If you go:
Chihuly: The Nature of Glass through May 31
Exhibition Hours: 8 am – 8 pm
Timed Admissions: 8 am – 12 pm; 12 – 4 pm; 4 – 8 pm
Advanced reservation is required.
Prices for non-members are: Adults: $15; Seniors: $13.50; Students:$7.50; Children: $5
Phoenix Botanical Garden
1201 N. Galvin Parkway
Phoenix, AZ 85008
To purchase admissions log on to dbg.org or call: 480-481-8188.