Dale Chihuly: Cylinders, Macchia, and Venetians from the George R. Stroemple Collection
June 5 – August 28, 2021
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery and the Maribeth Collins Lobby
Dale Chihuly (American, born 1941) is an internationally recognized Seattle glass artist who helped revolutionize the studio glass movement in the 1960s and 1970s, co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School in 1971 in Stanwood, Washington, and who has pushed the boundaries of the glass medium to new heights of artistic skill and technical virtuosity since the 1980s. Organized by director John Olbrantz, who organized Chihuly’s first retrospective exhibition in 1984 as well as a history of the Pilchuck Glass School with Lloyd Herman in 1992, the exhibition will feature 72 glass vessels, sculptures, and drawings from the George R. Stroemple collection of Portland, Oregon, arguably the largest and finest collection of Dale Chihuly’s artwork in the world.
Included in the exhibition will be examples of his Irish cylinders, inspired by Irish themes, St. Patrick’s Day, and James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses; his macchia (Italian for spotted and/or stained), flamboyantly shaped vessels in virtually every color combination imaginable; and his Venetians, traditional vessel forms—cones, cylinders, amphorae, bowls, and ginger jars—with elaborate surface decoration and embellishment. In addition, the exhibition will include a range of his drawings from the early 1980s to the present.
Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1941 and attended the University of Washington, where he received his BA degree in interior design. He went on to earn an MS degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an MFA degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, both in sculpture, and in 1969 was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant to study glassblowing on the island of Murano in Venice. Chihuly taught at RISD in the 1970s before he returned to Seattle to work as a full-time glass artist in the early 1980s. Over the years, he has been featured in hundreds and hundreds of group and solo exhibitions and his work can be found in public and private collections throughout the world.
Timed-entry Admission is Highly Encouraged
To guarantee entry for your preferred time and adhere to current capacity restrictions, please reserve your timed entry ticket.
Walk-in entry may be accommodated based on availability and capacity.
Financial Support
This exhibition has been made possible by gifts from the BJS Family Trust, the Lawrence and Sandra Post Family Foundation, the Allan Rappaport Charitable Foundation, the Wyss Foundation, Kathi Belfer Cypres, and several anonymous donors; by advertising support from The Oregonian | Oregon Live; and by general operating support grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
