Redesigned Installation Offers New Perspective: Chihuly at Tacoma Art Museum

Submitted by Tacoma Art Museum.

Visitors can experience popular glass art with a dramatic new perspective at Chihuly at Tacoma Art Museum. The updated installation recently opened with new lighting, contemporary design and an immersive seating area.

“It not just a line of objects in a case,” said David Setford, TAM executive director. “Chihuly’s work sweeps you up into a fantasy world of color and form … we’ve set the works free.”

The Chihuly collection has been on long-term view at TAM and as it has grown, cases and pedestals have been added to accommodate new works. However, the gallery had become crowded and individual works were hard to appreciate. Staff across the museum recognized the need for the collection to be presented in a new, engaging way. Select contributions and ideas on how to best reintroduce the collection to visitors were incorporated into the final designs.

The museum’s exhibition designer and lead preparator created a new vision for the gallery that incorporates Dale Chihuly’s love of natural textures and materials and highlights the rich colors and evocative forms for which he is acclaimed. It also provided the opportunity to rethink relationships between works.

The textures on the pedestals and stands were created using shou sugi ban, a Japanese architectural technique for preserving wood by charring the surface with fire. The gallery walls have been painted black and the artworks rest on black Plexiglas to reflect light and color. Individual series (e.g. Cylinders, Seaforms, Macchia) are grouped to show the variations Chihuly has achieved and to demonstrate the evolution of his work from simpler basket shapes to dramatic sculptures. A new seating area allows visitors to be surrounded by the works and sit in contemplation, chat with friends, or browse through information on Chihuly’s extensive and innovative career.

Chihuly at Tacoma Art Museum is on continual view at TAM. Hours and more information at www.tacomaartmuseum.org.