Seattle Center Archives - Pacific Northwest Explorer

I was completely blown away by Dale Chihuly’s incredible glass sculptures when I first visited Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle. Whenever I’m in Seattle I try to incorporate another visit and the impact of his work has never lessened. The photos here are of his works displayed at Chihuly Garden and Glass. Elsewhere in the Northwest, his work can also be seen at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and the Bridge of Glass, which spans I-705 and connects downtown Tacoma and the Museum District with the Museum of Glass and the Thea Foss Waterfront.

Chihuly is a Pacific Northwest native. He was born in Tacoma in 1941, graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1959, and attended the College of Puget Sound and the University of Washington, where he majored in interior design. He briefly studied art in Florence, Italy before returning to the U.S. and re-enrolling at Washington.

It was at the University of Washington that he began working with glass, first experimenting with incorporating shards of glass into tapestries. He began blowing glass in 1965. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in interior design from the University of Washington in 1965, a Master of Science degree in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1967, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1968.

He worked for a time at the Verini glass factory in Murano, Italy, and taught at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Island, Maine. In 1971 he co-founded the Pilchuk Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. He later taught at the Rhode Island School of Design for more than a decade.

In 1976 he was involved in a head-on car crash in England that left him blind in his left eye. And in 1979 he dislocated his right shoulder in a body surfing accident and could no longer hold a glass blowing pipe. That led him to hire others to do the actual glass blowing for him. He adopted a teamwork approach to glass sculpture that he first experienced in Murano that has allowed him to create works of a size that could not be done by a glass blower working alone.

Chihuly’s work is displayed in more than 200 museums, including a large permanent exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and is sold in galleries around the world.

Chihuly Garden and Glass opened in 2012 in the Seattle Center, next door to the Space Needle. It includes indoor and outdoor exhibits, a bookstore and gift shop, and a full service bar offering beer, wine, cocktails, and a limited food menu. Regular price adult admission to Chihuly Garden and Glass is $30 weekdays and $35 weekends. Discounts are available for seniors and children, and for late entry (after 6pm). Hours vary slightly with the seasons. The Seattle CityPass Card gives you entry to the Space Needle and other Seattle attractions as well as Chihuly Garden and Glass. Check the websites linked below for more information.