Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS
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Sealife Tower
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Chandeliers
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Mille Fiori
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Glasshouse
PRACTICALITIES
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MAP
206-753-3527
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305 W Harrison St
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adult/child $19/12
11am-7pm Sun-Thu, to 8pm Fri & Sat
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Seattle Center
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Dale Chihuly
With his Long John Silver eye patch and shock of electric hair, Dale Chihuly looks
every part the eccentric artist. Born in Tacoma, WA, in 1941, the world's best-known
glass sculptor majored in interior design at the University of Washington before moving
to Venice, where he enthusiastically immersed himself in the delicate art of glassblow-
ing. Returning to the Seattle area in 1971, Chihuly founded a glass art school and
gradually began to establish a reputation before two successive accidents in the 1970s
left him with permanent injuries to his eye and shoulder and no longer able to contrib-
ute directly to the glassblowing process. Undeterred by the setback, Chihuly channeled
his energies 100% into design, hiring vast teams of glassblowers to enact his lucid
artistic visions. It was a highly successful formula. With Chihuly acting as both com-
poser and conductor to a large orchestra of employees, the size and scale of his exhibits
soared. Before long, his provocative glass art leaped onto the world stage. By the
1980s, Chihuly's opulent creations were being exhibited all over the globe, inspiring a
mixture of awe and controversy in all who saw them but never failing to get a reaction.
