Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum – Is It Worth It?

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Chihuly is known for his amazing manipulation of glass and the technique that has turned his art into a household name. Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington, and his home state has an entire museum dedicated to his art in the city of Seattle. If you really want to overdose in glass-blown artwork, then the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum is the place to do it. BUT, if you are on a strict timeline, or tight budget, or just kind of hate artwork in general…is it really a must-see Seattle attraction?

I mean, really.

How exciting can glass be?

Well, fret not. I volunteered as tribute to get you the inside scoop on this museum! If you are hesitant over visiting the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum during a trip to Seattle,  keep reading!

THE ENTRY

Probably the biggest turn-off for a lot of museums is the price. So let’s get that out of the way first.

General Admission for ages 13-64 is $24 USD.

Are you alive? Still with me?

Maybe I’m cheap, but to me, the price was pretty steep. Granted, I haven’t had to shell out for the Color Factory in SF or the Museum of Ice Cream, but for just a normal non-instaglory museum, it’s on the high end. If you’re on a tight budget in Seattle, that miiiight be the deal breaker. However if you’re doing some sort of package admission, it could average out to be cheaper for you (e.g. getting the Space Needle + Chihuly combo ticket = $38).

If you can afford the steep entrance fee, then you’re in. They have a pretty strict policy that you can’t “hold anything in your hands inside the museum,” but if you can stuff all of your crap into a purse or bag, you should be golden.

When I visited, the first exhibit on display was the “Northwest Room, Baskets“, filled with sculptures modeled after Native American culture and Navajo textiles. Chihuly’s artistic background also included weaving, which came in handy when conceptualizing these glass sculptures to resemble Native American baskets that had slumped over time.

 

The room also showcased Chihuly’s personal collection of PNW (pacific northwest) Indian baskets and blankets. In the photo below, you can see how he used the baskets to recreate the concept in glass.

What really struck me about this room was how transparent Chihuly wanted to be with his inspiration and muses. He gave credit to the Native American peoples and their technique that inspired his collections and pieces. Way to appreciate, Chihuly.

The next room was all about the oceans, brah. It’s actually called the “Sealife Room.” It includes works from his Sealife Drawings and Sealife Vessels collections, along with a few others. I won’t spoil ALL the great artwork, so I’ll just show the showstopper of the room.

Embedded in this sculpture are starfish, seashells, sea urchins, and other sea critters. The other works in the room also held the same ocean theme, a tribute to Chihuly’s love for the sea. There’s one particular sculpture with an octopus that was probably my favorite – but you just have to see it (no pun intended).

ONTO THE NEXT!

The Mille Fiori room, or, translated from Italian, “A Thousand Flowers.” And guys, this museum is not joking on the flower count. This was my favorite room of the entire museum. Not only are the colors like shooting a line of coke, but the technique is flawlessly beautiful. To create these flowers, the focus is more on the use of fire, gravity, and centrifugal force rather than specific tools. These pieces were inspired by memories of his mother’s garden.

I had more pictures from this room, but they all turned out pretty bad haha. This Garden of Glass is much more beautiful in person anyway. (my favorite blogging excuse)

The next exhibit isn’t too long, but it was a SUPER close second favorite. Honestly, if there was more, it would have definitely pushed the flower room out of the way. It’s very Pop Art, which is my favorite type of art. UGH AND THE PRINT IS GORGEOUS. I had to get it at the gift shop. Honestly, I probably should have just scanned the print and uploaded that picture instead of my crappy iPhone 4 quality, but alas. Anyways, this exhibit was a combination of different inspirations. One inspiration was from Chihuly’s trip to Finland. He would toss glass into a nearby river and watched how the glass reflected the water and light. I wonder if he ever fished the glass out of the river after…

Also included in this exhibit are Chihuly’s interpretations of the Japanese art of Ikebana. His Ikebana boats are colorful, whimsical, and make me want to book a flight to Niijima.

There is a room FULL of his world famous chandelier pieces, and probably what Chihuly is most known for. I was too invested in the art to take pictures, but trust me when I say there were gorgeous. And also probably heavy. The chandelier pieces are suspended from the ceiling, much like normal chandeliers, and as I passed by them I couldn’t help but imagine what would happen in the event of an earthquake. Are they super secured? Would they fall??

Again. Very invested.

Then of course, there are the outdoor gardens. Featuring lots of sculptures outside, integrated with plants and streams and flower bushes. And the mother of all sculptures – the big daddy floating flower.

I don’t know what it’s actually called. This sculpture is suspended in a giant greenhouse. Since it was the middle of summer and about 102 degrees inside the greenhouse, I didn’t stick around to look for the sculpture sign.

I feel like this shot is the most popular from the museum, even though it was less crowded than his chandelier pieces. Maybe because everyone wanted to appreciate the intricate details of pieces closer to eye level. Probably because it was summer tho.

That’s all for the exhibits.

The museum has a small cafe, but I was still full from breakfast so I didn’t stop by. I know you probably spent all of your money on the entrance fee alone, but you have to stop by the gift shop! They have prints of all the works, and even calendars and merchandise! If you have really deep pockets, you can even buy some of the glass sculptures. I spent at least twenty minutes just browsing through all the cool stuff. So all in all – is the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum worth it?

The long answer, if you are pressed for time, I think it would be nice to squeeze it in. Do Pike Place Market and combo the Space Needle and the Chihuly museum. If you are on a tight budget, I think you can go into the gift shop for free. Just look at the prints in there because they’re gorgeous. If you’re on a budget AND don’t really like art that much, then okay you can probably skip it. However, for me, I had a great time. I’m not a big classical art person (even paintings for that matter), but I love contemporary modern pieces. Like the Seven Magic Mountains in Las Vegas.  So even though it was spendy and I didn’t have much time in Seattle, I’m glad I went.

So short answer – totally worth it.

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