Dale Chihuly

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Dale Chihuly.

Dale Chihuly has become famous for his intricate, vividly-colored, eye-catching glasswork. This work, Inside and Out, belongs to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.

Chihuly's Glowing Gemstone Polyvitro Chandelier also hangs in the main atrium of the Joslyn Art Museum.

In 2000, Dale Chihuly completed a commission from the Victoria and Albert Museum for a 30ft high, blown glass, chandelier dominating the museum's main entrance.

Chihuly's The Sun on temporary display until January 2006 at Kew Gardens, London, England. The piece is 13 feet (4 metres) high

Fiori di Como on the Bellagio Hotel lobby ceiling in Las Vegas, Nevada

Dale Chihuly (b. September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, USA) is an American glass sculptor.

Chihuly graduated from high school in Tacoma. Supported by his mother after his brother George's death in a flight-training accident in Florida and his father's death of a heart attack, he had no intention to continue his education until his mother convinced him to enroll at the College of the Puget Sound (now University of Puget Sound) in 1959. A year later, he transferred to the University of Washington at Seattle, where he studied interior design, architecture and glassblowing.

In 1967 he received a Masters of Science in Glassblowing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1968 he received a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he later helped establish the school's glass program. In that year he also received a Fulbright Fellowship, and went on to become the first American glassblower to work in the prestigious Venini Fabrica on the island of Murano. Along with several other glass artists, Chihuly founded the influential Pilchuck Glass School in 1971 in Stanwood, Washington.

Chihuly lives and works in his 25,000 square foot (2300 m²) studio, nicknamed "The Boathouse" for its former use, on Lake Union. Since losing the vision in one of his eyes in an automobile accident in 1976, Chihuly (who wears an eyepatch) no longer has the depth perception necessary to handle the molten glass himself. Instead, he conceptualizes each project with paint and canvas and then employs a team of artists to do the work. In 1991, Chihuly began his Niijima Floats Series (see link below), some of the largest blown glass pieces in the world, at the Niijima International Glass Art Festival in Japan.

1 Permanent collections
2 Exhibitions
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Permanent collections

United States

California - Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo. Founders Hall Art Gallery
Colorado
- (2004) [1] Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs
Delaware
- (1999-2005)[2] Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
Illinois
- Schaumburg Township District Library Main Branch
Indiana
- (2006) [3] The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis
Kansas
- (2003) [4] Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas.
Minnesota
- (2001) [5] Mayo Clinic, Rochester
Nebraska
- (2000) [6] Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha
- (2000) [7] University of Nebraska, Omaha
Nevada
- (1998) Fiori di Como, Bellagio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
New Jersey
- (2003) [8] Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City
New York
- (1987) Rainbow Room Frieze, Rockefeller Center, New York
- (1994) Persian Window, St. Peter's Church, New York
- (2000) Fern Green Tower, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York
Ohio
- (2003) [9], Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, Ohio
Oklahoma
- (2002) [10], Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Washington
- (1988) [11] Frank Russell Company, Tacoma
- (1991) [12] City Centre Mall, Seattle
- (1992-1993) [13] Washington State Trade and Convention Center, Seattle
- (1994) [14] Union Station Federal Courthouse, Tacoma
- (1995) [15] Jundt Art Museum (Gonzaga University), Spokane
- (1995) [16] Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma
- (1995) [17] Microsoft Corporation, Redmond
- (1996) [18] Sleeping Lady Conferance Retreat, Leavenworth
- (1997) [19] Tacoma News Tribune, Tacoma
- (1998) [20] Benaroya Hall, Seattle
- (2002) Chihuly Bridge of Glass, Museum of Glass, Tacoma
- (2003) [21] Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma
Wisconsin
- (1998) Mendota Wall Kohl Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

England

(2001) [22] Victoria and Albert Museum, London

[edit] Exhibitions

A Chihuly in Coral Gables, FL with floating spheres in the background

(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) Chihuly in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan
(2005-2006) Chihuly at Fairchild, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida
(2006) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri
(2006) Oisterwijk Sculptuur, Oisterwijk, Nederland
(2006) New York Botanical Garden, New York, New York

[edit] Trivia

The documentary Chihuly Over Venice, created in 1995, became the first HDTV program to be broadcast in the United States.
On the television show Frasier, a Chihuly glass bowl was included as part of the set for Frasier's stylish Seattle flat and occasionally featured in the story line.