Dale Chihuly: Amazing Work in Glass

The most comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly Glass is in Oklahoma City

Dale Chihuly is considered the single most important contemporary artist working in glass today. In 1992, Chihuly was honored as the first National Living Treasure of the United States.

He is famous for his use of dazzling colors and glorious shapes in blown glass. It was through his own special vision that he has been responsible for revitalizing the scope and status of blown glass as a medium for fine art.

Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington in Seattle. When he graduated in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in Harvey Littleton's influential program at the University of Wisconsin where he received his MS in sculpture. Chihuly went on to study at the Rhode Island School of Design and was awarded an MFA in sculpture.

Dale Chihuly is the recipient of a host of awards and citations including a Fullbright Fellowship in 1968 which took him to Venice, Italy to work at the illustrious Venini factory. There he learned about the team approach to working with blown glass.

In 1995 he embarked on the multi-faceted international project, 'Chihuly over Venice,' which involved collaborative glass blowing at factories in Finland, Ireland and Mexico, with the resulting sculptures mounted over the canals of Venice as part of that city's first glass biennial. The project was the subject of a documentary television program, the first HD-TV broadcast by PBS.

He was also commissioned to create pieces for Disney's first cruise ship, the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada and the resort Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Dale Chihuly - Glass Sculptor

A founder of the renowned institution, The Pilchuck Glass School, Chihuly has revolutionized the studio glass movement. His brilliant work can be viewed in over 200 museums worldwide, including New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre in Paris, and London's Victoria and Albert Museum. Chihuly's creations are included in the private collections of the White House and Buckingham Palace, and adorn the homes of Elton John and Bill Gates.

He has been the recipient of a variety of other awards, including honorary doctorates from the University of Puget Sound, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Dale Chihuly has also been honored with two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Council for the Arts Visual Artist's Award, and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award.

Dale Chihuly is widely hailed as the greatest glass artist of the twentieth century.

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