Our friends at FAIRCHILD TROPICAL BOTANIC GARDENS in Coral Gables, FL are once again hosting a fantastic exhibition of works from DALE CHIHULY, the world’s most recognized and prominent glass artist. If you have the opportunity to do so, we HIGHLY recommend you taking a trek to visit the exhibition. See more information HERE.
Dale Chihuly (born September 20, 1941), is an American glass sculptor and entrepreneur. His works are considered unique to the field of blown glass, “moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture,” (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). The technical difficulties of working with glass forms are considerable, yet Chihuly uses it as the primary medium for installations and environmental artwork.
Life and career
Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington, where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. He enrolled at the College of the Puget Sound in 1959. A year later, he transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle, where in 1965 he received a bachelor of arts degree in interior design.
In the year 1967, he received a Master of Science in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied under Harvey Littleton. In 1968, he studied glass in Venice on a Fulbright Fellowship and received a Master of Fine Arts at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1971, with the support of John Hauberg and Anne Gould Hauberg, Chihuly cofounded the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington. Chihuly also founded the HillTop Artists program in Tacoma, Washington at Jason Lee Middle School and Wilson High School. In 1976, while Chihuly was in England, he was involved in a head-on car accident during which he flew through the windshield. His face was severely cut by glass and he was blinded in his left eye. After recovering, he continued to blow glass until he dislocated his right shoulder in a 1979 bodysurfing accident. No longer able to hold the glass blowing pipe, he hired others to do the work. Chihuly explained the change in a 2006 interview, saying “Once I stepped back, I liked the view” and pointed out that it allowed him to see the work from more perspectives and enabled him to anticipate problems faster. Chihuly describes his role as “more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor.” San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Erin Glass wrote that she “wonders at the vision of not just the artist Chihuly, but the wildly successful entrepreneur Chihuly, whose estimated sales by 2004 was reported by The Seattle Times as $29 million.” Chihuly and his team of artists were the subjects of the documentary Chihuly Over Venice. They were also featured in the documentary Chihuly in the Hotshop, syndicated to public television stations by American Public Television starting on November 1, 2008.
About his work
Regina Hackett, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer art critic, provided a chronology of his work during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s:
1975: Navajo Blanket Series, in which patterns of Navajo blankets were painted onto glass
1977: Northwest Coast Basket Series, baskets inspired by Northwest coast Indian baskets he’d seen as a child
1980: Seaform Series, transparent sculptures of thin glass, strengthened by ribbed strands of color
1981: Macchia Series, featuring every color available in the studio
1986: Persian Series, inspired by Middle East glass from the 12th- to 14th-century, featuring more restrained color and room-sized installations
1988: Venetian Series, improvisations based on Italian Art Deco
1989: Ikebana Series, glass flower arrangements inspired by ikebana
1990: Venetian Series returns, this time in a more eccentric form
1991: Niijima Floats, six-foot spheres of intricate color inspired by Japanese glass fishing floats from the island of Niijima from Chihuly’s website
1992: Chandeliers, starting modestly but by the middle of the decade involving a ton of glass orbs and shapes that in some works look like flowers, others like breasts, and still others like snakes Chihuly has also produced a sizable volume of “Irish cylinders”, which are more modest in conception than his blown glass works.
For his exhibition in Jerusalem in 2000, in addition to the glass pieces, he had enormous blocks of transparent ice brought in from an Alaskan artesian well and formed a wall, echoing the stones of the nearby Citadel. Lights with color gels were set up behind them for illumination. Chihuly said the melting wall represented the “dissolution of barriers” between people.
Permanent collections
United States
Alabama
Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University, Auburn
1995: Birmingham Persian Wall, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham
Arizona
2008: The Desert Towers, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix
California
Founders Hall Art Gallery, Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo
1995: San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose
Colorado
2004: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs
Delaware
1999–2005: Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington
Florida
Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, Coral Gables
Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach
Orlando Museum of Art Orlando
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton
Naples Museum of Art, Naples
Georgia
Columbus Museum, Columbus
Hawaii
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu
1992: Persians Yellow and Cobalt Wall Piece, Honolulu Museum of Art
2001: Reef, Honolulu Museum of Art
Illinois
Schaumburg Township District Library Main Branch
Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago
Indiana
1995: Yellow Chandelier and Persians, Columbus Area Visitors Center, Columbus
2003: DNA Tower on the campus of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis
2006: The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis
2007: Sun Garden Panels in Suspended Circle, Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus Learning Center, Columbus
Kansas
2003: Wichita Art Museum, Wichita
Kentucky
2014: Maker’s Mark Distillery, Loretto
Massachusetts
2011: “Lime Green Icicle Tower”, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2013: “Clear and Gold Tower”, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley
Michigan
1998: Kalamazoo Ruby Light Chandelier, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo
2000: Beacon Gold Chandelier, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint
2003: Guilded Champagne Gardens Chandelier, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids
2005: “Life”, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids
2009: Lena’s Garden, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids
Minnesota
1999: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
2001: Mayo Clinic, Rochester
Missouri
1996: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Persian Wall, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City
1996: Campiello del Remer, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City
1996: Palazzo di Loredana Balboni, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City
1996: Wine Chandelier, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis
2007: Glass in the Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
Nebraska
2000: Chihuly: Inside & Out Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha
2000: Toreador Red, Peter Kiewit Institute at the University of Nebraska, Omaha
2004: Glowing Gemstone Polyvitro Chandelier, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha
Nevada
1998: Fiori di Como, Bellagio Hotel and Casino, Paradise, Nevada 
2004: Nevada Cancer Institute, Summerlin
2009: Chihuly at CityCenter, The Gallery, CityCenter, Paradise, Nevada
New Jersey
2003: Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City
New Mexico
UWC-USA, Montezuma
The Spencer Theater, Alto
New York
1987: Rainbow Room Frieze, Rockefeller Center, New York City
1994: Persian Window, St. Peter’s Church, New York City
2000: Fern Green Tower, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning
2003: Glass garden and Chandelier, Mandarin Oriental New York, New York City
2010: Chandelier, Eastman School of Music, Rochester
Ohio
2003: Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus
2003: Gilded Silver and Aquamarine Chandelier, Kenyon College, Storer Music Hall, Gambier
2005: The University of Akron, Akron
2006: Campiello del Remer #2, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo
2010: University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center, Beachwood
Oklahoma
2002: Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City
Oregon
2000: Gilded & Ethereal Blue Chandelier, Global Aviation, Hillsboro Airport, Hillsboro
Pennsylvania
2008: Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh
2000: Flame of Liberty, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia
2002: Dappled Chalk Violet Ikebana with Fuchsia Frog Foot, Reading Public Museum, Reading
2005: Fountain Spray, Reading Public Museum, Reading
Texas
1995: Hart Window, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
2000: “Southwestern”, UT Southwestern Medical Sarah and Charles Seay Biomedical Building, Dallas
2003: Persian Ceiling, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio
2005: Fiesta Tower, San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio
Utah
2002: Olympic Tower, Salt Lake City
Virginia
2003: Mille Colori, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach
Washington
1988: Chihuly at the Frank Russel Bldg, Frank Russell Company, Tacoma
1991: Chihuly City Centre Installation City Center Mall, Seattle
1992–1993: Convention Center Installation, Washington State Convention Center, Seattle
1994: Chihuly – Union Station, Union Station Federal Courthouse, Tacoma
1995: Gonzaga University Red Chandelier, Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University, Spokane
1995: Persian Window, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma
1995: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond
1996: Chihuly – Icicle Creek Sleeping Lady Conference Retreat, Leavenworth
1997: Chihuly – The News Tribune Tacoma News Tribune, Tacoma
1998: Crystal Cascade, Benaroya Hall, Seattle
2000: Chihuly Window, University of Puget Sound. Tacoma
2002: Bridge of Glass, Museum of Glass, Tacoma
2003: Chihuly, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma
2006: Lincoln Square, Bellevue
2012: Chihuly Garden and Glass, Seattle
West Virginia
date unknown: Dale Chihuly tower in The C. Fred Edwards Tropical Plant Conservatory Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington
Wisconsin
1998: Mendota Wall, Kohl Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
2002: Johnson Building- Racine
2004: University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
Canada
Ontario
(2003) Soho Metropolitan – 318 Wellington St Toronto
Alberta
(2009) Winter Garden – Jamieson Place, Calgary
British Columbia
(1998) 1200 Georgia Street, Vancouver
Quebec
(2001) Hilton Lac-Leamy, Gatineau
(2013) Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
England
2001:V&A Chandelier by Dale Chihuly, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Singapore
(2010) Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa, Singapore
United Arab Emirates
2008: Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Kuwait
360 Mall, Kuwait
Exhibitions
1996: Chihuly Over Venice, Venice, Italy
1999–2000: Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000, Tower of David, Jerusalem, Israel
2001–2002: Chihuly In The Park: A Garden Of Glass, Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, Illinois
2004: Chihuly in the Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, Georgia
2005: Gardens of Glass, Kew Gardens, London.
2005: Modern and Contemporary American Art (1900 to present), Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan
2005–2007: Chihuly at Fairchild, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida
2006: Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri
2006: Oisterwijk Sculptuur, Oisterwijk, Netherlands
2006: New York Botanical Garden, New York, New York
2007: Wrapped In Tradition: The Chihuly Collection of American Indian Trade Blanket Mayborn Museum Complex, Waco, Texas
2007: Chihuly at Phipps: Gardens and Glass], Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2008: Chihuly at the de Young, de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
2009: Chihuly: Day and Night, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona
2009: Chihuly Illuminated, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio
2009: Chihuly: Recent Wor, Naples Museum of Art, Naples, Florida
2010: Chihuly at Cheekwood, Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Nashville, Tennessee
2010: Chihuly at the Salk, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California
2011: Through the Looking Glass, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
2012: Chihuly at The Dallas Arboretum, Dallas Arboretum, Dallas, Texas
2012: Chihuly at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia
2013: Chihuly, Un univers à couper le souffle (Chihuly: Utterly Breathtaking), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2013-2014: http://www.dbg.org/events-exhibitions/chihuly; Chihuly in the Garden, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona
2014: http://chihuly.denver.org/; Chihuly Denver, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado
