Permanent Chihuly Exhibit to Open in Seattle this May

Fans of iconic blown-glass sculptor Dale Chihuly can look forward to a permanent exhibit of his work opening in Seattle this spring. Debuting May 21 at the Seattle Center (site of the Space Needle), the "Chihuly Garden and Glass" installation is set to showcase an indoor/outdoor display of some of the artist’s most iconic glass sculptures.

A massive 12,000-square-foot exhibition space will feature nine galleries, eight of which display several of Chihuly’s blown-glass series (some works date back as far as 1971). Visitors can wander through room after room of the eerie, the beautiful, and the alien, viewing the Neon Forest, Sealife Tower, Mille Fiori, and Chandeliers. The ninth gallery will contain a 70-seat lecture hall and theater.

Outside, visitors can follow a garden walkway set underneath suspended glass chandeliers. The path leads to a glasshouse, containing Chihuly’s largest suspended sculpture exhibited to date, where over 1,000 glass pieces in red, orange, yellow, and a host of other hues dangle overhead as part of a cohesive glass structure. The large garden area will house a number of additional pieces, including Red Reeds, Neodymium, and Quadpod Towers.

Rounding out the exhibition space, a café with outdoor seating will feature a number of items from Chihuly’s collections of unusual and vintage items. Visitors can also pick up art supplies and artsy keepsakes at the gift shop.

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Photo Credit: Chihuly Exhibit at New York Botanical Garden courtesy Vladimir Korostyshevskiy via Shutterstock