Chihuly Exhibit at Denver Botanic Gardens

The first time we visited Seattle as a family, we made sure to see the Chihuly Museum at the base of the Space Needle. When we were invited back this past spring by 2 Days In Seattle, I asked Dex what he wanted to do there and he immediately said “go back to that big glass place.”

I was thrilled when I heard that there was going to be a Chihuly exhibit this summer at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I was honored to see a preview of the exhibit last week attended by Dale Chihuly himself and guided by his staff.

“What happens if it hails?”

This was the first question asked and it was repeated several times during the tour in several ways. Apparently these huge glass formations aren’t as fragile as they looks and have survived one the worst hailstorms in the history of Dallas during their time there, and were even bombarded in Denver during the installation of the exhibit. The COO of Botanic said he was more worried about their plants (regarding the weather) than Chihuly’s glass.

“Is this exhibit showing new pieces?”

The Chihuly group have been talking to Denver for about five years and working specifically on this exhibit for about a year. Mr. Chihuly designs each exhibit for the location and was taken with the water features of our gardens and the very specific look of our tropical glasshouse. Some pieces are made for an exhibit, and some are selected from previous showings because they suit the location. Each of them contain thousands of pieces of glass and are bolted together according to Chihuly’s vision by some of the best glass artists in the world.

I was thrilled to see them all in our super (intense, crazy) bright sunshine last week. I have to say, that while the glass is stunning in Seattle, our sun really makes it special. And everyone kept saying to come back at night to see them lit up; that it makes the experience totally different.

I absolutely plan to!

Chihuly Glass Sculptures at Denver Botanic Gardens