Chihuly at Phipps: Gardens & Glass

We just got back from CMU’s Family Weekend with
Jessica.
One of the highlights of our Pittsburgh, PA visit was seeing the Chihuly glass
installation at the 1892
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Phipps is next to the CMU campus.
On our final college tour,
Jessica and I visited Phipps last Spring as the conservatory was preparing for the
exhibit. Chihuly at Phipps only runs through 11 November, so we were lucky to see
both ends of the show: set up and full growth. Some of Phipps’ gardens
are inside the big glass building but others are outside. The tactile
experience of moving from the moist warm conservatory into the cold autumn air
and then back inside was part of the experience that pictures can’t record.

I have seen Dale Chihuly’s
work before but the interaction of the living plants with his
large scale glass forms made this exhibit awesome. We tried to
see it at night but tickets were sold out – we only got to see the
entry dome chandelier. We went back on Sunday and
were lucky to be there on the day that the
Pittsburgh Garden Railway Society was
showing off their newly installed garden railway. Some of our photos
are below. To see more photos, check out

Chihuly’s web site.

The interaction of the plants and glass and
light were such a delight that John and I were squabbling over who got to
take pictures. It turned out to be an overcast day which made for
interesting reflections in the water features. It would have been good
to see it on a bright day and at night too (but I am happy to have
seen it at all). The only disappointment was the health of the cacti
and succulents in Phipps’ Desert Room. My garden has better specimens of
most of those plants! (OK, maybe I don’t really mind that my cacti
are better than Phipps’…) My favorite forms were the blue herons
in the Japanese Courtyard Garden. Lovely!

Where possible below, I have used Chihuly’s own names
for the glass forms. I was pleased to see the following signs at the
start of the walk through the conservatory: “The artist permits and
encourages photography of the artwork in this exhibition for educational
and non-commercial use only” and “This exhibition is organized by
Phipps in cooperation with Dale Chihuly. The artwork displayed is
protected by copyright and any copying is expressly prohibited.”
It is good to see an artist who knows his copyright law.

Phipps entry flags:

New Phipps Garden Railway (outside):

Paul and the Garden Railway:

Chihuly chandelier at night:

Chihuly chandelier reflections:

Chihuly chandelier during the day:

Chihuly glass and plants:

Chihuly – Serpentine Room Amber Cattails:

Chihuly – Orchid Room Ikebana:

Chihuly – glass among the plants:

Chihuly – Stove Room Fiori Sun with real flower:

Chihuly – Fern Room Red Reeds:

Chihuly – glass flowers and leaves:

Chihuly – glowing blue tumbleweeds:

Chihuly – glass Float with goldfish:

Chihuly – glass shoots and leaves:

Sunken Garden Macchia:

Chihuly – Desert Room Neodymium Reeds, gold star:

Japanese Courtyard Garden blue herons (outside):

Japanese Courtyard Garden blue herons, goldfish, reflections:

Japanese Courtyard Garden blue heron reflections:

Chihuly – vine growing on blue reed:

Jessica and Chihuly Rose Crystal Tower (outside):

John and Jessica in the Fern Room (inside):

Jessica and Paul, Chihuly Rose Crystal Tower (outside):

Chihuly – fountain, Yellow Herons (outside):

Chihuly – Victoria Room Persians in pond, reflections:

Chihuly – East Room Cobalt Fiori, Reeds, Marlins, Floats:

Chihuly – Palm Court Tower and 1892 Plaque:

Chihuly – South Conservatory Float Boat:

Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher