10 Fun Facts About Glass Sculpture Artist Dale Chihuly

To call Dale Chihuly the most renowned and prolific glass sculpture artist in the world almost feels like an understatement. His work appears in more than 200 art museums around the world, including the Smithsonian, Louvre, and National Gallery of Australia. You can also find his glass art on display in his native Washington State at the Tacoma Art Museum and Chihuly Garden and Glass in the Seattle Center.

In addition to museum collections, Chihuly’s work is also found:

• The registration desk at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas where it took more than 100 glassblowers, architects, engineers, installers, and other professionals to install the 2,000-piece, 40,000-pound Fiori di Como on the ceiling above guests checking in to the luxury hotel. 
• An interactive children’s exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis where guests can create their own masterpiece under the largest permanent Chihuly installation in the world using plastic forms that resemble Chihuly’s blown glass shapes.
• The Olympic Tower in the lobby of Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, a special piece created by Dale Chihuly to celebrate the 2002 Winter Olympics.

And, of course, there are the garden and architectural installments that incorporate Chihuly’s work into green spaces at botanical gardens, ancient cities like Jereusalem, and historic buildings like the Biltmore Estate.