DALE CHIHULY’S ARTFUL GLASS RETURNS TO ATLANTA

With their spiraling and spiky spindles, colors from every spot on the spectrum and larger-than-life scale, Dale Chihuly’s imaginative glass sculptures might just as easily be giant flora from far reaches of the universe.

Happily, Atlanta fans of the Tacoma artist’s eye-popping creations don’t have to travel that far this spring to see them. Instead, now through October 30, the Atlanta Botanical Garden is playing host to Chihuly’s art with an exhibition comprising 21 sculptural installation sites scattered throughout the Garden’s pretty, peaceful setting.

Highlights of “Chihuly in the Garden”—the artist’s first return to Atlanta since 2004, when his first exhibition at the Garden drew a record setting 375,000 fans—include extended hours on evenings called “Chihuly Nights,” giving guests a chance to see his colorful work at nighttime, lighted against a backdrop of the city’s skyline. In addition to fan favorites, such as Chihuly’s chartreuse “Hornet Chandelier,” onlookers will also notice two new, original installations created in honor of the Garden’s 40th anniversary, which it celebrates this year.

Insiders at the Atlanta Botanical Garden say that guests can see the otherworldly artwork displayed throughout the grounds, including a “gardens under glass” installation in the Fuqua Conservatory and Fuqua Orchid Center. The glass sculptures are displayed floating in pools, suspended in air and interspersed with plantings. Chihuly’s second showing in Atlanta follows the Garden’s 2010 expansion, which means that his sculptures have twice the space to call home this time around.

Chihuly in the Garden
Atlanta Botantical Gardens
1345 Piedmont Ave NE
Atlanta 30309
404.876.5859
atlantabg.org

STORY: Lindsay Lambert Day