Chihuly in MOHAI?

Heard on NPR today:                                                          

Knute Berger getting the last word in a conversation on the Seattle Center/Fun Forest proposals that are occuring now (this is totally paraphrased):

Moderator:  "There's a new wrinkle in the process, Mayor Mike McGinn is going to be briefed on the decision before the press and public will find out what the City Council's concludes.  I know he favors the KEXP/Chihuly combination proposal.  Maybe he wants to throw MOHAI in there as well." 

Knute Berger: "They can stuff Chihuly and put him in MOHAI."

KUOW 94.9, Seattle.  September 18, 2010.

"Corporate Legacy - A Continuing Cultural Gift" @ The Wright Space

June 2010 Regina Hackett:

[excerpt from review] "Aside from the coma-inducing title, the exhibit is a fine time capsule for a certain kind of NW art: strong in painting, ceramics and glass, barely there in photography and nonexistent in video, installation and anything that rests uneasily in a specific medium. The collection tends toward the conservative [...]  Once abundant, corporate collections are now a rarity. Safeco's rewarded artists, art at its source. In the 1980s, it was easy to take it for granted. Now, it appears to represent a better time."

Hackett, R. "Time capsule of Seattle art." Another Bounding Ball, artsjournal blog.  Accessed June 18, 2010.  http://www.artsjournal.com/anotherbb/2010/06/time-capsule-of-seattle-art.html#more

"A Continuing Cultural Legacy."

Selections from the Safeco Collection Contribution to the Washington Art Consortium

Friday, April 23, 2010 - Friday, June 25, 2010

The Wright Exhibition Space

407 Dexter Ave. N.

Seattle, WA 98109

Phone: 206-264-8200

Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday and Friday

The Seattle Times supports Chihuly for the Seattle Center

gm_18025 Seattle Center Rides, Washington 1991
Originally uploaded by CanadaGood
Creative Commons license, FLICKR

June 2010, The Seattle Times:

[excerpted] "...Money should not be the only consideration, but it remains a key factor.  Of all the proposals, the one most likely to contribute additional revenue to the center's budget and allow the center to be more helpful to struggling nonprofits is the Chihuly proposal.

The Wright family, which built and owns the Space Needle, made some earlier mistakes on its proposal, mostly by working behind the scenes too quietly.  This is a public space, after all, and that requires public process.

But in the end, the Chihuly plan appears most promising."

Editorials.  "Chihuly's the ticket for Fun Forest site." June 18, 2010.  A24, News.

Seattle Center Update

Here's a snippet of the Seattle Times article.  There are 181 comments on the article already.


June 2010 Emily Heffter:

"In a second attempt to sell the city and the public on a Dale Chihuly glass exhibit at Seattle Center, the Space Needle Corp. is proposing to add a free, art-inspired playground for kids and a free field trip to the exhibit for every eighth-grader in the Seattle school district.

The corporation also stressed the financial benefit of choosing the glass exhibit over eight other proposals for the 1 ½-acre site just south of the monorail station. The Chihuly exhibit needs no public investment and would return $24 million over 20 years to the city in lease money and taxes, according to the proposal released Thursday.

Among the eight competing ideas for the site are two proposals for more open space, a Native American cultural center and a new studio for the nonprofit radio station KEXP.

Chihuly faced criticism from some City Council members and the public this spring when his company unveiled the proposed exhibit, an idea it had quietly been working on for more than a year. At public meetings, some people questioned whether a private business should be able to use the Center, which is publicly owned. Some were critical of adding a paid-admission venue, and others felt a glass exhibit would not be a good place for kids.

The new Chihuly proposal seeks to address some of those concerns. The proposal includes a letter of support from Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson for a plan to develop an eighth-grade science and art curriculum about glass that would culminate with a field trip to the exhibit, all funded by the Space Needle Corp.

Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart said the company would pay Seattle teachers to write the curriculum, and the district could decide how extensive it should be. He said he thought it would be a couple of days of instruction before and after students' field trip to the exhibit.

Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the Parks and Seattle Center Committee, thinks the public should have free access to its own property at Seattle Center. On the other hand, she said, the Center has to make money.

"That's the balance," she said. "It sounds like a really good start. It sounds like they listened to us." [...]"

Heffter, E. "Space Needle owners roll out new Chihuly proposal for Seattle Center."  The Seattle Times.  June 10, 2010.  Accessed June 11, 2010. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012083798_chihuly11m.html

Comments:

Duff Hendrickson:  "The city is continually asked to glorify Dale Chihuli. He already has Tacoma. Give him Olympia, or Bremerton if he wants it. Let him and his company and business friends buy property and build their own monuments. Chihuli is a business and doesn't need our help promoting his business."

Ballard Guy:  "I really do not get this Chihuly attraction. If he wants a statue of himself, let him build it in his yard not ours. I do not know of one adult or child that has been longing to see a glass museum. It will never be a big draw of growds. Ever see a line at Tacoma's museum?, not really, sure its cool but one is enough.Leave it open space & what the heck, plant a few more trees & call it a park. That would be unique & cool."

JDinSeattle: "As much as I think Chihuly would be a lame addition, I think it has the most potential to bring in money for the center. All summer long there is tour bus after tour bus parked right in front of the Space Needle and there are a lot of people that would pay for it and might even come to Seattle just because of it. Tourism money = good for Seattle.

I personally liked the KEXP idea since I'm a big fan of that station, definitely not because it's the most practical though."

auburnmom: "Almost Live was making fun of Chihully over 20 years ago. Even laughing at how ridiculous Chihully is has become passe. Can't this city think of something new? I've been to the glass museum in Tacoma and wanted to ask for my admission money back.

I know, how about we build an arena and try to get an NBA team to come to town?"

1968

Dale Chihuly 1968, Bellevue

Photo Credit (used with permission):  
1968. Dave Potts. Seattle P-I Collection, MOHAI

Account of city council meeting on Seattle Center

photo credit: ABJ Seattle Glass Online 

 

April 1, 2010 Chris Grygiel:

"A proposal to place a Dale Chihuly glass museum at financially-struggling Seattle Center has reopened an old debate about what, exactly, the center should be - a park with open spaces or a hub for the arts.  The fact that it's a little of both right now was evident at a City Council public hearing held Thursday night at Seattle Center. During discussion about the glass museum one speaker referenced New York's Central Park and Lincoln Center, the former one of the world's premier public green spaces and the latter home to the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

About 100 people attended the hearing, the second on the subject this week. A healthy percentage were there to support of a the proposed $15 million glass museum, which the Wright family, owners of the Space Needle, would like to replace the Center's Fun Forest. Supporters Thursday night said it would boost tourism and add to the arts opportunities, not just for visitors but for city residents, too.
Former City Councilmember Tina Podlodowski spoke for Chihuly.

"Dale supports green and open space. The vision of this project is to create an aesthetically pleasing, indoor-outdoor exhibit that adds color and vibrancy amongst green garden space while providing a point of entry to the visual arts that appeal to all ages," she said. "Seattle Center really isn't our Central Park, it's much more like Lincoln Center, a real gathering of a diverse set of arts organizations."  Speakers at Thursday's City Council hearing. But another speaker, Belltown resident Ron Turner, complained that the glass museum proposal seems to contradict earlier, stated goals of increasing green space in Seattle Center.

"The plan was very specific for the Fun Forest site. It said that an asphalt jungle becomes an urban park with trees," Turner said. "It is an active open space that connects to the heart of the campus."
Turner said Belltown residents especially are hungry for green spaces, "where we have little open space...we have practically none. And this is a compliment, because we do use the Center, we do come to the Center, in some respects it is our green yard."

There were complaints that a public hearing earlier this week was stacked with glass museum supporters who arrived early, crowding out opponents. City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the Parks and Seattle Center Committee, assured people at Thursday's hearing that they "would go til midnight" if necessary.

While it seemed the majority of people at Thursday's meeting were also in favor of the glass museum, council members have reported that they're hearing from more opponents than supporters.
Debates about how to use Seattle Center are nothing new.

During the ill-fated Seattle Monorail Project - the aborted plan to extend monorail service from West Seattle to Ballard - there were plans for tracks to cross the grounds of Seattle Center. Critics howled, saying the trains would disrupt the park-like setting of the Center.

The Fun Forest figured into the rebuttal of those arguments. The Center, monorail proponents said, was home to carnival rides, noisy games and was already the northern terminus of the existing, 1962 World's Fair-era monorail line. It was not an idyllic park, they said. Financial questions led to the dissolution of the Seattle Monorail Project in 2005.

In 2010, the debate about Seattle Center - home to much open green space, as well as places like the Experience Music Project, theaters and Seattle Opera - continues.
As Mayor Mike McGinn has pointed out, the current discussion takes place in a time when the Center is struggling to pay for its existing operations and looking for new sources of revenue. McGinn hasn't taken a position on the Chihuly musuem, other than to say it's proper for the Center to explore the option."

Grygiel, C. "Chihuly debate revives question: Is Center a park or arts hub?"  Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog. http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/200391.asp

David Meinert on Seattle Center/Chihuly plans

April 2010 David Meinert (excerpted from Publicola):

"Seattle Center has never been, and was never designed to be, an oasis of green parkland.  But, fortunately for the rest of us, Seattle Center is almost doubling its current campus open space by developing 3.5 acres of the former Fun Forest space adjacent to the EMP, and soon, 10 acres where Memorial Stadium now stands. That would bring the total of campus open space to over 30 acres from the now 17 acres. [...]  The Wrights will invest part of their fortune to build a temporary exhibit of Seattle’s most popular visual artist ever, Dale Chihuly, who has millions of fans internationally, but no local long-term exhibition.  [...]

As a resident of Queen Anne, a fan of local art and music, a regular user of the Center, an owner of a nearby business that might get some of that tourist business, and an oft-times community activist myself, I must say that I’m pretty happy the City has decided to take advantage of an obviously great deal.

Oh, but wait, this is Seattle.

Nothing is quite that simple. Chihuly is not that “cool” or “relevant” to some of Seattle’s most pernicious bloggers and forum commenters. Oh, and some “rich” folks might actually make a little more money. And in Seattle, that is horrible, because, well, profit is evil I guess, especially when it’s someone else’s who we don’t know. [...]

I want to say this to the critics of this plan – grow the hell up. Embracing diversity means embracing people with different ideas and tastes from our own. And in this case, even though I’m not a huge fan of glass art, and I don’t expect I’ll be going to this exhibit more than a few times when it opens or when I have guests in town, I do believe it can add a lot to the City in the form of tourism, diversity, beauty, and income.  [...]  Let’s be smart this time and not get bogged down in our loathing of local success at the cost of making this a great city."

Meinart, D. "Thumbs up on Chihuly at Seattle Center." Publicola.com. April 11, 2010.  http://www.publicola.net/2010/04/11/thumbs-up-on-chihuly-at-seattle-center/

Jean Godden: Chihuly should be in Pioneer Square and not Seattle Center

Jean Godden wrote an Op/Ed piece at Publicola.net, a Seattle online news source.  She was a columnist at both the PI and the Times forever, and now she's on the city council.

March 2010 Jean Godden:

"Several years ago my friend Diane, an arts-loving journalist, had to make a decision: Buy a small but beautiful piece of Chihuly glass art or a new car. She opted for the glass. That meant she had to patch up her old car and make it last for three more years.

She’s never regretted the choice. The artistry of the Chihuly work is something that she still enjoys every day. The car, finally hauled off to the junk yard, is long gone. But, as they say, life is short, while art is forever.

Glass art is something that has flourished in our region, thanks to Dale Chihuly and his many talented colleagues. Chihuly’s art reflects and embodies the essence of Seattle and Western Washington. And, as such, it is important to find ways to honor the artistry and creativity and to share it with all Seattleites. I’m excited and thrilled at the prospect of a museum that would celebrate Chihuly’s glass.
At the same time, however, I confess that I am not convinced that we should site such a museum at the Seattle Center. The center is one of those special places that, perhaps more than any other, serves as the heart of our city. When we needed to come together to mourn–as we did after the September 11 attacks on our country–we gathered at the Seattle Center. When we’ve wanted to honor the fallen, we have united at the Seattle Center. When our newest citizens take their pledge of allegiance on July 4, they do so at the Seattle Center. Those 74 acres are the legacy of Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair, our own Central Park.

And although we have sited many attractions there, including the Space Needle, the Science Center, Seattle Opera, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as outstanding professional theaters and the Experience Music Project, the Center still offers passive, park-like areas where people can stroll, connect with community, and appreciate art and nature. That there are not more acres of greensward is regrettable.

To place another paid attraction at the Seattle Center would be a mistake. Even though the benefits of leasing—a half million dollars that would support the Center—are tempting,  it would be a mistake not to think about the long term. While we are currently in a recession–a deep and troubling setback–that won’t last indefinitely. When times are better, I worry that we would look differently at the museum. Would we see one more paid attraction, one more structure replacing a spot of greenery and ask, “What were we thinking?”

It’s also important to consider the museum in light of the Seattle Center Master Plan, the plan that was drawn up by a broadly based committee of citizens and approved by the Seattle City Council. That plan calls for more public open space, more spaces for family-oriented attractions such as seating areas, and a water feature that could be converted into a winter ice-skating rink. The Center ought to offer more activities for all ages, including active play for young people. This need is even more urgent in light of the replacement of the Fun Forest attractions.

It is my hope that Seattle will indeed be home to a Chihuly Museum, dedicated to the glass artistry that is so evocative of our Puget Sound region, in one of our signature Seattle neighborhoods. Lately I’ve been thinking about Pioneer Square and the sad fact that the Elliott Bay Book Store no longer is a draw in that historic community. Could a Chihuly Museum be sited there, perhaps near Occidental Park ?
Siting such a special attraction is something that bears discussion. Too often we take for granted the talents that are unique to our region.

Jean Godden is a member of the Seattle City Council and chair of its Budget and Finance Committee. She was a columnist and chronicler of Seattle life for many years at both of Seattle’s daily papers."


Godden J. "Don't put the Chihuly Museum at Seattle Center." March 29, 2010.  Accessed March 30, 2010. http://www.publicola.net/2010/03/29/sunday-oped-dont-put-the-chihuly-museum-at-seattle-center/#more-33117

Op/Ed Letter: glass is 'old hat', rides are thrilling.

Today the Seattle Times published four letters to the editor regarding Chihuly's Seattle Center proposal, all against it. Here's an excerpt from one:

"Seattle doesn’t need a Chihuly building at Seattle Center. There are already so many glass museums throughout the country that it has gotten to be an “old hat” — and the one we have in Tacoma has next to no appeal at all. Really, does any glass museum attract a broad group of visitors?

[...]

Kids need a place to experience the thrill of a ride. So, at least for now, why not put new rides back in place and spend a little money subsidizing them to keep it affordable. It’ll also help much-needed vendor sales in the food court. Promote the idea through media and schools and sell books of tickets at area stores like they do for the Puyallup Fair.

At least give it a try for a year until the economy picks up. The space is ready to go and who knows, maybe even the permits [for the rides] are still current?

— Cathy Schmidt, Issaquah"

More on OLD HATS here...,

Letters editor. "Chihuly's glass house shattering." March 21, 2010. Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/2011391406_chihulysglasshouseshattering.html

Glass and Tourism...environmental effects explored

March 2010 ABJ Seattle Glass Online:

In today's Seattle Times article "Grand plan to remake Seattle Center fizzles: makeover lacks money, political will; is Chihuly project next best option?", authors Emily Heffter and Susan Kelleher compare statistics on the major tourist attractions in the area. The Museum of Glass in Tacoma had 177,333 visitors in the 2008-9 fiscal year. The Space Needle, 1.5 million in 2009. The Pacific Science Center, 890,000 and the EMP/SF Museum 511,540 in 2009. Because Mayor Mike McGinn doesn't want to put a levy on the Center up to public vote, the plans cannot be seen through and a private option is the only way to go. Chihuly is said to be the only private option on the table right now. Estimates are that the Chihuly Center could draw 400,000 visitors.

Crosscut writer, Knute Berger, uses Glass Quarterly's recent info on the carbon-footprint of glassblowing to provide another reason to question the Chihuly Center proposed for the park at the base of the Space Needle. He cites an estimate of 90 hot shops "in Seattle." According to him, that would be about the equivalent carbon-emissions of 9,000 households. But this information is useless without something else to compare it to. Is that more "households" than other industries? That's like saying, "This toothpaste works 90% better." Better than what? Compared to what? I don't know the answer, maybe glassblowing is the most polluting industry in Seattle, I'm asking.

But Berger states that Seattle glassblowers are making "beautiful baubles for well-heeled collectors." Which makes all glass blowing in town a pointless endeavor anyhow and any carbon-footprint that comes of it seem like a travesty.

And that is why not just any comparison will do, what we choose to compare the carbon-footprint of glass to must be seen as a luxury good to this author. What could that be? What other "luxury goods" are manufactured in Seattle?

Everyone in the industry already knows that glass has to get more energy-efficient, if not for the environment, then simply to stay in business. But the Crosscut article questions Chihuly at the Seattle Center based on an environmental charge, and in doing so, questions all of the Seattle industry. And that is not a bad charge to make: It should be made on every industry. It is also a relevant charge, because if we're questioning the carbon footprint of the artwork, why not move on to the carbon footprint of all the tourists who will come to see the artwork? All the 1.5 million tourists who travel to see the Space Needle. All the jet fuel, the hotel laundry, the restaurant food... and tell me again, how much of Seattle's economy is based on tourism?

March 2010, Knute Berger:

"Seattle city council president Richard Conlin is reportedly enthused about the new Chihuly complex at Seattle Center, calling it an "extraordinary opportunity," but he's also the one leading the charge against carbon emissions, the ones created to make Chihuly's glass works in the first place. The proposed glass house would be a monument to what can be produced if you burn enough fossil fuel in pursuit of a kind of commercial, artistic alchemy, but symbolically at least, doesn't it rather undercut the city's green messaging?"

Berger, K. "Dale Chihuly's big footprint." Crosscut.com. March 15, 2010. http://crosscut.com/2010/03/15/mossback/19672/

Two new articles on Seattle Center proposal

"Glass vs. Grass" was the Seattle Times headline this Wednesday, as the city began public debate over what to do with the Seattle Center. Chihuly and the Wright's have proposed a privately funded permanent Chihuly exhibit, cafe, and shop. It was approved by the Seattle Design Commission and awaits the decision of the City Council and the Mayor. However, there is opposition to the idea. The expected entrance fee of $12-$14 goes against the popular desire for public space on city-owned property.

Thursday, The Stranger reported on the "60 public meetings" about the Center that occurred between 2006 and 2008 in which "the response was overwhelming: more open, green space" was wanted. The article, titled "Another Backward, Half-Baked Idea for Seattle Center: Owners of Space Needle want a Massive Chihuly Museum Next Door," gives evidence that not everyone is on board with the Chihuly plan and calls for public debate to ensure that public space is used for public good.

Artist Nori Sato is quoted in the article: "I just didn't know, if you were you going to set up a center like this, whether devoting it to a single artist was adequate--civic enough as an opportunity. My other concern was the way Chihuly was thinking about it; it just wasn't a big enough idea..."

Heffter, E., Gilmore, S., and Kelleher, S. "Glass vs. Grass." The Seattle Times. A1. March 10, 2010.

Graves, J. "Another Backward, Half-baked Idea." The Stranger. March 11, 2010. p 15.

Chihulys give $150,000 to Artist Trust

From Regina Hackett @ Another Bouncing Ball:

"The new Dale Chihuly grant is a hefty chunk of change: $25,000 for two Washington State artists in any discipline annually for three years, administered by Artist Trust. Chihuly and his wife Leslie gave $150,000, and Artist Trust turned it into a recession gap-grant with bells on."

Read more at Another Bouncing Ball.

Hackett, R. "Hefty Dale Chihuly grant." Another Bouncing Ball. Artsjournal blog. February 2010.

Chihuly Museum and Garden moving along

Seattle National Public Radio's Megan Walker is reporting this morning that the Chihuly project at Seattle Center awaits approval by the City Council and the Mayor. If approved it will begin construction in the fall. Concerns by one city council member are that the lease is 30 years long and the lease is with two private families, the Wright family and the Chihuly family.

This spring and summer will hold some interesting debate for Seattle on the subject of glass.

last chance for laser tag...

Here's an update from the Seattle PI blog on the Fun Forest>>Chihuly exhibit. Followed by some comments off the blog....

March 2010 Vanessa Ho:

" [...] Talks are ongoing between Chihuly's people, the Seattle Center and the Space Needle to convert the south end of the Fun Forest into a permanent exhibition space for the Northwest's iconic glass artist, complete with a store and cafe. [...] In 2007, the city decided to shut down the Fun Forest, after watching a steady decline in revenue and crowds no longer attracted to the park's skee balls, bumper cars and "Puff 'n' Dumbo" ride. Created in the wake of the World's Fair, the park had deteriorated so much that then-Seattle City Council president Nick Licata deemed it "a dreary forest." [...] Whatever happens, just don't call the project a "museum." That much was clear from earlier discussions. A museum has rotating exhibits and the exhibit would be a permanent installation of Chihuly's works."

Ho, V. "Chihuly exhibit may replace Fun Forest." Seattle PI blog. March 4, 2010

"Posted by Tenochtitlan at 3/4/2010 8:31 p.m.

It occurs to me that the only time I hear anything about glass art, it's Dale Chihuly's glass art. I've got nothing against the man himself, but surely there are other people in the Pacific Northwest who work with glass, yes? Are they all so utterly inferior as artists that they never warrant attention? Or have they been covered in these pages, and I failed to read about them?"

"Posted by lala555 at 3/4/2010 9:08 p.m.

Enough of the Chihuly! Let's feature some other artists for a change."

"Posted by ken7489 at 3/5/2010 12:10 a.m.

What a waste of prime real estate. Can we stop spending time and money creating things that only have value when you go just once? Take EMP for example - you go once and it's great...but that's about it....maybe again when you have out of town visitors. Can we have things that are worth going to multiple times? Sure there are other artists if you want a platter to put over your mantle. But if it must be glass art on the scale in that conceptual design, then it's gonna be Chihuly. There is nobody else when it comes to this scale."

"Posted by bdouglas0 at 3/5/2010 5:09 a.m.

Great idea. Replace carnival rides with carnival glass."

"Posted by Clark W. Griswold at 3/5/2010 9:44 a.m.

I think most of us agree the Center doesn't need Chihuly's "first-class" artwork. His schtick is getting old. Bring in some younger artistic talent with a fresher sensibility."

"Posted by MAXIMA at 3/5/2010 9:51 a.m.

"For us, it fits our mission, and it would be something unique in the world, and very appropriate given what Dale Chihuly has done for the region," said Seattle Center spokeswoman Deborah Daoust.

And just what is that mission? Decorating?

No thanks, I'd rather have a fun forest."

"Posted by Kurosawa at 3/5/2010 11:23 a.m.

And what's wrong with simply converting it to open space? Folk Life, Bumbershoot, and the Byte could certainly utilize the additional space. We could even include a "free speech" corner for soap box speeches and harangues and/or an open mic for performers (with a "boo meter" to shut off the mic?).

I mean, let's use some imagination. We're Seattle, not a Tacoma copycat."

"Posted by NYFLWA at 3/5/2010 11:31 a.m.

RE: Kurosawa. I'm not sure if the Pier 48 can support that weight.

RE: Chilhuly haters
Yes, we have many talented glass artists in the PNW and their works are are featured in several of our institutions: SAM, MOG, TAM, BAM, etc...

However we're talking about Seattle Center. Chihuly has cache beyond Pugetopolis so when people come to Seattle Center they want to see Chihuly. When you go to Rome you want to see Da Vinci & Michelangelo.

Granted, I hope there'll be room to showcase some of talent but Chihuly is the draw. I love this idea. Looking fwd to the Center House concepts.

The Center's golden anniversary is upon us, time to implement some Century 21 evolution.

And for the record, the EMP is a relevant viable institution. In addition to its permanent exhibits, touring exhibits have thrilled visitors not to mention Sky Church serving as a unique performance hall for Bumbershoot and other festivals. And this weekend EMP hosts the Sound Off! Finals f. the best of our underaged talent. Gigs at Bumbershoot and NW Folklife are up for grabs.

It's taken far too long but much needed attention is being paid to our community's backyard, Seattle Center."

"Posted by Mag00 at 3/5/2010 2:54 p.m.

While I like Chihuly I would much rather have Fostoria Heirloom, go look it up on Ebay. This glass has been around since the 50's and everytime someone comes to my house they ask if it is Chihuly's. So many of his pieces seem to be a badly done example of the Fostoria Heirloom line."

like being inside a Tobey painting?

2002 Delores Tarzan Ament:

"...a shimmering light that reflects the idea of mist still permeates much of [Northwest] art, regardless of style. And symbols--birds, the moon, a hail of strokes reminiscent of Mark Tobey's 'white writing'--make regular appearances. Most prominent are references to water--particularly rain.

The Northwest School has left an indelible imprint on the region's art. Its themes and techniques have jumped to new media--a step that had already begun in the 1970s when Doris Chase moved into producing films and video. In the nearly fifty years since Tobey and Graves left the Northwest, and others of their circle have dispersed or died, far more Northwest art has moved into three dimensions, and many more women artists have emerged, particularly as sculptors. Norie Sato and Nancy Mee layer clear glass in ways that build transparency into substance, much as fog over Northwest water transforms Northwest air. Julie Spiedel's totemic bronzes and Steve Jensen's wooden poles carved with formalized patterns of water are contemporary echoes of the symbolic carved totem poles traditional to some Northwest tribes. Gerard Tsutakawa continues the tradition of his father, using classical Japanese forms as departures for bronze sculpture.

[...] Nothing reflects the change in Northwest art more dramatically than the phenomenon of Dale Chihuly, who was designated in 1992 as America's first Living National Treasure. Chihuly entered the art scene unremarkably in the early 1970s, at Seattle's Foster/White Gallery, with a show of simple glass tumblers featuring embedded patterns that harked back to the weaving of Northwest Indian baskets. Year by year, he expanded the scope of art glass to audacious new applications, with a genius for promotion that soon had even his coworkers calling him simply Chihuly, like a rock-star phenomenon. He became the greatest impresario of art promotion since Salvador Dali, with his own publishing company to document his work. He even founded a glass museum in Tacoma, where he had grown up unremarkably as the son of a butcher.

The difference between Chihuly's style and the understated, often reclusive nature of earlier Northwest artists can be understood in part if we recall that while painting is a solitary and contemplative activity, glass is blown in a team context, surrounded by noise and fire, with the necessity for constant awareness of the dangers attendant to molten glass and sharp broken shards. Glass work is intense. Physical exertion is significant; appetites are hearty.

No one could be oblivious to glass art after Chihuly hit the headlines. Every art gallery in the greater Northwest, it seems, represents at least one glass artist. Most have more than one. Because he has made glass art the trendiest, most collectible art in the world, all glass artists--including some more gifted than he--receive more recognition and higher prices for their work.

At first glance, nothing might seem more radically different from the whisper-soft imagery of Northwest art fifty years ago than massive installations such as Chihuly's feat of suspending glass chandeliers that resemble gaudy, multi-breasted fetishes over the Grand Canal of Venice. Lost again. Glass is entirely about light. Chihuly calls it 'the light of the future and past.'

Chihuly rejects the idea of symbolism in his work and he denies narrative content. Yet he speaks movingly of glass as a magical material made of sand and breath, and of the marvel of human breathe giving life to fragile matter. And he has chosen such forms such as the mountain and the moon, which have a long history in Northwest art. Not to mention connections with water such as Seaforms, the ruffling seashell shapes with which he scored his first major success.

[...] In a dozen individual pieces [at the Citadel], Chihuly reiterated Northwest themes in three light-chomping dimensions. The largest Crystal Mountain [...], was formed of rebar welded in random cross slashes, embedded with chunks of the pink glassy plastic Chihuly calls Polyvitro. The mountain rose as a web of crystals 33 feet high, emanating the recorded prayers of three religions. Anyone who entered its interior was bathed in sparkling pink light. From that vantage, looking up in any direction yielded the sensation of being inside a Mark Tobey painting, with the famous slashes of white writing having become black, as if one had walked through the looking glass and found the world reversed.

[...] The Northwest School--the school that never really existed--is not only alive and well in art today, it is making appearances around the world. Each of the artists who helped to define the look of Northwest art half a century ago had a markedly individual style. Yet the more personal their imagery and symbolism, the more universal it appeared in affirming the unity of all life."

Arment, D.T. "Now" in Irridescent Light: The Emergence of Northwest Art. U of W press, Seattle and London, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner. 2002.

current glass on auction

Untitled, Dale Chihuly @ Sotheby's New York, March 9, 2010. Estimates are between 8-12,000. Lot 213 in the Contemporary Art Auction

"Bolle" vase, Tappio Wirkkala @ Sotheby's New York, March 10, 2010. Estimates are between 3-5,000. Lot 59 in the 20th Century Design Art Auction

"Pezzato" vase Fulvio Bianconi @ Sotheby's New York, March 10, 2010. Lot 21 in 20th Century Design.

Untitled (Tear and Blood), Kiki Smith @ Christies New York, March 11, 2010. Lot 64 in First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art.

Safeco Insurance donates 840 pieces of NW art

I believe the first time I saw Chihuly's art was in the lobby of the Safeco Insurance building in Seattle's University District. The company's 37 year-old collection of Northwest art also includes glass by Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora Mace, Dante Marioni, and Sonja Blomdahl. The Seattle Times today is reporting that Safeco has donated 840 out of 2,200 pieces of its collection to the Washingon Art Consortium. "180 three-dimensional objects including glassworks, ceramic pieces, and bronze sculptures" are a part of the collection. Artwork featured in the Times includes Mark Tobey's "Les Signes," Guy Anderson's "Summer Wing I," Roger Shimomura's "Diary," and Fay Jones' "Lotus-Eaters."

The Washington Art Consortium is made up of the Henry Art Gallery (Seattle), Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (Spokane), Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Washington State University's Museum of Art (Pullman), Whatcom Museum of History and Art (Bellingham), and Western Washington University's Western Gallery (Bellingham).

Safeco Insurance was bought by the Boston company Liberty Mutual, but the tradition of community support will continue. The paper reports, "...some Safeco employees--seeking creative ways the company could give to the community without constraining the budget--came up with the idea to donate a sizable portion of the company's 2,200 pieces of art... Plus, several years ago, the company had decided it would no longer buy new art to build its collection--a decision it said was not budget-driven but came from a change in direction in how it wanted to spend its philanthropic dollars."



When the company moved from its University District location to a building downtown, the University of Washington moved into the old place. The University of Washington News reported in 2007 that Safeco donated an estimated $10 million dollars in furnishing and also a Roger Sperry sculpture to the school.



Among many charitable gifts, Safeco Insurance donated at least $20,000 to Pratt Fine Arts, in 2008, and continued support in 2009 at the Pratt Art Auction. Mark Dederer, director of the Safeco Insurance Foundation, was on the 2009 King County Allocations Committee for the ArtsFund, also including representatives of Starbucks, and Microsoft, which granted $ 2.2 million dollars to local non profit arts groups last year. The Museum of Glass in Tacoma received a grant of $6,450 in 2009. But Seattle's ACT Theater was the largest beneficiary: It was granted $109,318.

As for the 800 pieces of donated NW art, a selection will be on view starting in April at the Wright Space on South Lake Union.

As reported in The Seattle Times: Tu, Janet L. "The gift of Northwest art." The Seattle Times. February 12, 2010. Pages A1-A6.

Kids love dusting!

I was extremely grossed out when, as a child, a learned that dust is made of old skin and something known as 'pet dander.' I'm sure kids today feel the same way. So they'll be super happy to know that none of that shit is collecting on their favorite objects at the Children's Museum.

Jenny Burch, of the Indiana museum's development office, roped in a five-figure deal with the Proctor and Gamble duster "Swiffer" to sponsor the museum.

You really have to go look at the pictures at IndyStar.com. She had to have posed for the picture...she could have smiled, but you can't even pretend that using a Swiffer to clean a 43-foot high glass sculpture is fun!!

January 2010, Will Higgins:

"In exchange for a cash payment in the low five figures, the museum will promote a duster made by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble. Neither the museum nor P&G would say precisely what the one-year contract is worth.

Signs will go up this month proclaiming Swiffer Duster "the official cleaner" of the museum.

[...]

But for a nonprofit such as The Children's Museum to endorse a product is unusual.

Its Swiffer deal is "probably the most unique one I've heard about," said Dennis Warner, the marketing director at the Indianapolis Zoo, "but, these days, sponsors are trying to get more from their sponsorships."

The zoo, like many such attractions, long has courted corporate partners. Its lions are sponsored by Chicago-based Harris Bank.

The Children's Museum also has a history of corporate partnerships: Its "Jolly Days" indoor holiday playground, running through Jan. 10, has three sponsors.

But the Swiffer deal is next to novel.

[...]

In its arrangement with P&G, The Children's Museum made the first move.

Jenny Burch, a 20-year veteran in the museum's development office, noticed that curators used Swiffer Dusters on the museum's enormous and intricate sculpture made by well-known glass-blowing artist Dale Chihuly.

Burch saw a potential partnership and called P&G.

"They called me back," she said. "I was really excited about that."

Given the rough economic times, a call back from a corporation is something to get excited about.

An industry report in December found that for the first time, corporate sponsorships shrank in 2009 from the previous year.

For The Children's Museum, whose endowment took a 25 percent hit over the past 14 months, sponsorships were off 4 percent in 2009, although they were not a major revenue source. In 2008, they accounted for 3 percent of the $26 million annual budget.

Swiffer will be the official cleaner of the entire museum, but the Chihuly piece will be its signature item, and the Swiffer signs will be near it.

The sculpture is 43 feet tall and centrally located, rising three stories in the middle of the museum's main staircase.

It looks like a nightmare to dust -- thousands of brightly colored glass forms, wrapping and twisting furiously, creating planes and crevices that would challenge any housekeeper.

On a recent visit to the museum, Linda Brady, Indianapolis, and her three grandchildren stared at the sculpture. Brady contemplated what it must be like to have to clean it. She shook her head: "So many nooks and crannies."

P&G hopes that by being used to tackle the Chihuly, the Swiffer will sell itself to the museum's estimated 1 million annual visitors.

"We looked at (the Chihuly) as a major torture test for Swiffer," said Dewayne Guy, a P&G spokesman.

As part of the deal, P&G will be allowed to set up a booth at special museum events to hand out samples and otherwise tout its cleaning systems.

Guy said the company may exploit Swiffer's "official" status through other channels, "but I can't speculate on what that would look like. We really just dipped our toe in the water on this."

Higgins, W. "Sponsorship is a mite profitable." IndyStar.com. January 2, 2010. http://www.indystar.com/article/20100102/LOCAL/1020317/Sponsorship-a-mite-profitable-for-Children-s-Museum

This is my favorite comment from the article:

"ZvilleJohn wrote:
We're members of the Children's Museum & I'm pleased to see that they've found a new revenue source.

When I was in the museum a couple of months ago I noticed how filthy the Chihuly exhibit was. There were many noticeable cobwebs all over the exhibit. I stopped at the information booth to make sure they knew how bad it looked. They indicated that it was very difficult to clean and that cleaning didn't happen often enough. They also indicated that they were considering increasing the frequency of cleaning.

Hopefully, P&G checked the cleanliness of this exhibit themselves before agreeing to sponsor it.
1/2/2010 2:13:20 AM"

Also Important For Cleaning Museum:

PHOTO CREDIT: Flickr User Name that Candy

"Magic Scrubbies (SOLD)"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/namethatcandy/1801484641/
Visit her ETSY shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NameThatCandy

Chihuly to replace Fun Forest?

It's possible that Seattle may get a permanent Chihuly exhibit where the Fun Forest is right now under the Space Needle. What? The Fun Forest is closing? First they demolished Never Never Land at Point Defiance Park, then the Nocturnal Exhibit at the Woodland Park Zoo and now the Fun Forest. They are deliberatly plucking all the childhood memories out. What's next...Wild Waves?

Why replace? I'm all for a wicked combination of the two: Old rickety roller coasters, decrepid merry go round animals, and a jungle of Chihuly glass creeping up through the ruins.

(This article also gives an interesting little taste of a Northwest city rivalry.)

From Meg Coyle @ King5 today:

"SEATTLE - The future of Seattle Center's Fun Forest is a little clearer and maybe a lot more colorful. It closes for good later this year, and could reopen with something brand new and uniquely Northwest. [...] "People can see how artists work in glass and that is real seductive in itself," says museum director Tim Close. [...] It could soon show up in Seattle in a big way. Chihuly and Wright Art, LLC are in talks to open a Chihuly Center on the site of the old Fun Forest. [...] But Tacoma has become all but synonomous with Chihuly and glass art. Museum of Glass director Tim Close is prepared to share the wealth, even if it is with Seattle. "I think naturally we'd like it in Tacoma, but we're going to be supportive of Dale and we'll see how it goes," he said. And if all goes as planned, we could see Dale Chihuly at Seattle Center sometime next year."

Excerpted from: Coyle, M. "Chihuly glass exhibition may come to Seattle Center." King 5 News. January 6, 2010, accessed same day. http://www.king5.com/news/local/Chihuly-Glass-Exhibition-Coming-to-Seattle-Center-80859032.html

Terry Wolf's Blog "Fogeyisms"

The juxtaposition of Chihuly at the Columbus Museum and some great texture and color in nature can be found here.