Born in Washington on 20^th September 1941, Dale Chihuly the glass artist who is now known more for bootstrapping his passion for glass-blowing into an entrepreneurial venture, leading teams of glass craftsmen around the world – of course started out as a glass-blowing artist himself. 

Chihuly’s dalliance with glass started while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.

In 1968, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State.

 A 1976 car accident left him blind in one eye but he still resumed blowing glass, till another accident dislocated his shoulder and meant he could no longer hold the glass blowing pipe. It was then that the story shifted from a single artist blowing glass to massive empire of glass-blowers churning out amazing pieces under the masterly gaze of Dale Chihuly.

"Once I stepped back, I liked the view," he said, explaining that he is now “more choreographer than dancer, more supervisor than participant, more director than actor”. So, he masterminds the visualisation of the glass-art, and now participates in the artistic process as a spectator as well. 

A recipient of multiple awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as having his work displayed in over 200 museums across the world, Dale Chihuly is by far the most prolific name in the sphere of glass art.

But most exciting are his collections inspired by nature, and more particularly by botanical forms! His fascination for glasshouses developed into a series of exhibitions within botanical settings. Experimenting with colours, forms, asymmetry, movement and spontaneity that attracts Chihuly to the medium – the botanical marvels ranging in height and scale from miniature to massive – are seen emulating nature, and explore the farthest fringes of glass-art, as only Chichuly can. 

Chihuly’s Garden Cycle began in 2001 at Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. Chihuly exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London, in 2005, and his work adorns more than 10 gardens in the United States. The artist is currently displaying a series of spectacular works of art at the New York Botanical Gardens. The exhibition which started on the 22^nd of April will be on till the 29^th of October. 

Here’s a peek into the fascinating glass-art of Dale Chihuly!