Dale Chihuly (born 1941) is probably the most famous living artist sculpting in glass. He happens to be a local boy, born in Tacoma and graduating in Interior Design from the University of Washington's School of Art where we overlapped for a year or so but never met.

Tacoma has had a museum devoted to glass art and some of Chihuly's works for several years. Seattle just got into this act, opening the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum a few days ago. Its web site is here. Chihuly's own web site is here and his Wikipedia entry here.

My knowledge about sculpture of any kind is limited, so I have nothing to say about Chihuly's work. I wasn't even very interested in visiting the new museum, but my wife dragged me in while we were at the Seattle Center (site of the 1962 Century 21 world's fair) for other reasons. I wasn't packing my camera, so the photos below were grabbed from various Internet sites.

Gallery

[Image]Flashy photo of museum gallery, a Chihuly work and the Space Needle

[Image]Exterior view shortly before opening

[Image]
[Image]Views of some of the exhibits

I think the museum is nicely done. The interior features a number of elaborate works mostly from the early part of his career. Outside is a garden where glass sculptures and plants coexist. My garden-loving wife was highly enthused about the juxtapositions, so I'll take her word for it.