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In 1992, the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) moved from Volunteer Park to downtown Seattle into a new building designed by Robert Venturi. I was given the first solo exhibition in its brand-new, nine-thousand-square-foot second floor. Together with Patterson Sims, SAM’s chief curator at the time, we worked on the plan and the pieces for several months and finally mocked up the whole exhibition, full-scale, at the studio just to make sure.
A lot of new work came from this process, including my first CHANDELIER and a new series, PILCHUCK STUMPS. It even included my first work with plastics, a set for the Debussy opera PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE. However, the glory of DALE CHIHULY: INSTALLATIONS 1964-1992 was the VENTURI WINDOW-forty-three blown rondels mounted on an architectural frame set against the museum’s impressive central window.
I’m proud to say the exhibition was a big hit. About 170,000 people visited SAM that summer, and the show has toured since then to ten cities, and each venue becomes the occasion for new developments in the work as we work to fit the show to each space and institution. |
| --- Chihuly |
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