Radiating colour: Chihuly rules Pacific Northwest glass art

(this article was first published in Blvd. magazine, September 2013)

If colour is my drug of choice, then the exquisite glass art of the Pacific Northwest is my all-time high. I am in awe of the part-alchemists and part-artists who fashion dripping molten glass into magical shapes, colours and sizes that confound and delight. With the inspiration and innovation of world-renowned Tacoma-born artist Dale Chihuly, and now more glassblowing hot shops than the island of Murano itself, it’s clear some of the world’s most beautiful glass art radiates from the Puget Sound region.

Seattle: exploring the new Chihuly Garden and Glass

To say Chihuly is a glass artist is like saying Michelangelo carves rocks. His creations have inspired audiences around the world — at the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, London, the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and even the bridges in Venice, the very birthplace of glass artistry, to name a few. His mind works in wondrous ways, and just when you think the envelope of this medium has been pushed to its edge, he and his collaborators push it further.

Opened in 2012, Chihuly Garden and Glass, found beside the Space Needle at Seattle Center, is the most comprehensive collection of Chihuly’s work. Chihuly himself oversaw every detail, repurposing the Seattle Centre Exhibition Hall into eight galleries and three Drawing Walls, even contributing some of his personal collections — everything from vintage radios and cameras to toys and cast-iron dogs — to theme and adorn the on-site restaurant fittingly called Collections Café.

Each gallery is devoted to a separate series of Chihuly’s work — from Cylinders and nesting Baskets backdropped by part of his collection of American Indian trade blankets, and stellar displays of his signature Chandeliers, to his slumped glass Macchia. All his series are spectacular, full of unusual shapes and translucent colours, and carefully lit against a darkened room so every nuance reaches out and touches you.

But one gallery, his Mille Fiori — Italian for “a thousand flowers” — installation, left me speechless and almost in tears. Each hand-blown glass planting on the pristine mirrored base was more fanciful, more colourful and more sparkling than the last. Totally unprepared for the raw energy of the exquisite saturated colours and light before me, I had to find a nearby bench to sit down before moving on.

At the galleries’ end, the artist’s lifelong fascination with glass conservatories manifests in the Chihuly-designed centerpiece, a soaring 12-metre (40 ft.) high Glasshouse featuring a 30-metre (100 ft.) long, ceiling-suspended flower and vine-like sculpture, part of his Persians series. Vibrant reds, oranges, yellows, and ambers all overlook his glass plantings and sculptures in the surrounding gardens, which look eerily as if they’d actually emerged from the earth.

Tacoma: immersed in Chihuly, from Union Station to the Hotel Murano

Next stop: Tacoma, which turned out to be a great place for strolling and viewing glass art. Chihuly’s work — some commissioned, much donated by him — is the single biggest driver behind the city’s transformation into a significant cultural destination. Even the new LeMay — America’s Car Museum, displays glass car hood ornaments hand-blown in the hot shop of the nearby Museum of Glass.

The focal point of the revitalized Museum District is the restored Union Station with its huge, domed, light-filled interior housing five different Chihuly installations. I loved Lakawanna Ikebana, a twisted tangle of glass flowers reaching out of openings in a huge, circular metal grid. And the brilliant oranges of the Monarch Window’s Persian spinners reflect and flutter like butterflies on the floor below every time a train rumbles past.

From there it’s an easy stroll across the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, its twin 12-metre (40 ft.) blue Crystal Towers visible for miles, fulfilling Chihuly’s vision for a welcoming gateway to his beloved Tacoma. In the sunlight, the quirky shapes and colours of Chihuly’s Venetian and Ikebana sculptures sparkle along the Bridge’s Venetian Wall, and overlapping Seaforms and Persians nestle in the glass-ceilinged portion of the bridge.

The Arthur Erickson-designed Museum of Glass sits at the other end of the Bridge. Its iconic 27-metre (90 ft.) tilted cone is reminiscent of the beehive burners once at mills dotting the city, and houses the museum’s hot shop, where you can sit for hours as teams of glassblowers make magic out of molten glass. Rotating displays showcase world-class glass artists, and a theatre and hands-on workshop bring visitors close to the glass-making action.

The Gifts from the Artist gallery at the Tacoma Art Museum is a serene and magical space full of Chihuly’s work. It makes a relaxing place to sit and view short videos about Chihuly and glassmaking, and to listen to parts of the Museum’s free Ear for Art audio tour describing Chihuly art around the city.

The luxury boutique Hotel Murano in Tacoma is itself an international glass art showcase, displaying 45 pieces of glass art from emerging and established glass artists around the world. Full-size glass boats hang from the ceiling and a cast glass antique dress graces the lobby, while each guest floor features a different glass artist, complete with perfectly lit displays and photos of the artists working.

Even the iconic Swiss Pub, housed in a restored 1913 brick building, features eight of Chihuly’s Venetians atop its antique bar. “Dale and his crew came here every day for lunch while doing the 1994 installation at Union Station, so we thought maybe they’d give us a small piece at the end,” says owner Jack McQuade. “But Dale offered me these. Amazing!”

More than Chihuly

Chihuly has lived in the region for years, and his influence is legendary. The Pilchuck Glass School he co-founded north of Seattle in 1971 is now the best in the world; he helped establish Hilltop Artists, providing free hot glass training and arts mentoring for youth in Tacoma aimed at violence prevention and youth intervention; and he visits Chihuly Garden and Glass every week or so, chatting with people and enjoying lunch in the Collections Café. But he’s just the most visible of the thousands of Puget Sound artists, glassblowing studios, hot shops, museum displays and public installations inspired by his collaborative methods, generosity, and willingness to push the boundaries of perhaps the most challenging of all art mediums.

“No other material gives you colour like glass does,” says Chihuly. “No other material has the ability to take in light and radiate out colour like glass.” No wonder I’m addicted.

Linda Baker participated in Boulevard’s travel writing seminar this spring, winning the draw for a hosted trip to the Hotel Murano in Tacoma provided by Provenance Hotels.

If You Go

chihulygardenandglass.com