Chihuly And Venice: A Match Made In Art Heaven

Dale Chihuly’s career in glass art didn’t begin in Venice. Not exactly.

 

Well, kind of.

 

Studio glass in America prior to Chihuly’s receipt of a Fulbright Fellowship which took him to Venice in 1968 was rudimentary to be kind. Rubbing sticks together would be an analogy.

 

In Venice, Chihuly (b. 1941) studied and worked at the Venini glass factory on the island of Murano. He was the first American to do so. It was the only factory to welcome him; countless others rejected his mailed inquires for invitation.

 

Venetian glassmakers and their Murano glass is renowned worldwide for its superiority. Has been since the 13th century. The homeland of glass. In Venice, Chihuly observed the team approach to glass blowing which has proved foundational to the way he has worked ever since. His fascination with the potential of glass as a medium for contemporary, monumental art, was set ablaze.

 

Upon returning from Venice, Chihuly became an advocate for sharing the Venetian techniques he mastered with other American artists. In 1971, he cofounded Pilchuck Glass School 50 miles north of Seattle. Chihuly recruited Italian maestros to teach, beginning with Checcho Orgaro, who trained him at Venini and was the first Muranese glassblower willing to work with an American. Soon after, legendary talents Lino Tagliapietra and Pino Signoretti joined the faculty, creating a celebrated trio of acclaimed glass artists and devoted friends who taught at Pilchuck for decades.

 

With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art for more than 50 years. There was studio glass in America before Pilchuck, and studio glass after Pilchuck, same as there was a Dale Chihuly before Venice, and a Dale Chihuly after Venice.

“There is nothing that possibly compares with Venice,” the artist has said. “Its light, its history, and its breath-taking architecture have been a constant source of inspiration for me.”

 

Among the special cities of the world, Venice ranks high on the list. Being there feels like inhabiting a painting from Canaletto or Sargent. It still looks just like that. More tourists.

 

Gondolas replace cars. Craftsmanship replaces efficiency. Stone and wood replace steel and plastic.

 

Time doesn’t stand still in Venice, it seems to move backward.

 

Dale Chihuly’s legend as a glass artist didn’t begin in Venice. Not exactly.

Well, kind of.

 

In 1996, Chihuly and his studio team of 20 staged an audacious guerrilla Venice “takeover.” In a matter of days, the crew, including his Project Director and future wife Leslie Jackson, assembled and installed 14 monumental Chandeliers.

 

“Venice was not the canvas for contemporary art that it is today and we never got permissions to do what we did,” Leslie Chihuly, who now serves as President and CEO of Chihuly Studio, told me on a March visit to Seattle. “We had one person in the city that believed in (the project) and we visited with him five times in the previous year, he was the minister of culture. We said, ‘We don't have permission. We have to ship the glass. Shall we ship the glass?’ And he said, ‘Go ahead and ship the glass, it'll be okay.’ We did (‘Chihuly Over Venice’) on a wing and a prayer and we didn't know if we would get shut down or not.”

 

The spiraling, tangled, serpentine, vibrantly colored Chandeliers were suspended above bridges, rose in plazas, and seemed to float above the city’s famous canals. The team’s only restriction was to not attach them to the city’s ancient buildings.

The Venetians were enchanted by the extraordinary gift, though it only lasted three weeks.

 

In America, the project was captured for a PBS documentary, its first filmed in high definition. Millions watched. Chihuly went from icon in the narrow niche of glass art to household name. If his name isn’t familiar to you, his signature glass sculptures surely are. They fill more than 200 museum collections worldwide. They hang in airports, occupy botanical gardens, and float over the lobby at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. You’ve seen them.

“Chihuly Over Venice” has remained a major artistic declaration and a defining highlight of the artist’s career, serving as a cherished memory for the city and a powerful tribute to the medium of glass.

 

Thirty years after transforming the city and its canals with “Chihuly Over Venice,” the artist and his team return with “CHIHULY: Venice 2026.” This time, three dramatic new sculptures are being installed along the Grand Canal celebrating the artist’s enduring dialogue with the city that fundamentally shaped his career.

 

The installations will be accompanied by an interpretive and archival center housed at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, opening May 5, 2026, concurrent with the Venice Biennale, through November.

 

“Venice has always been a crucible for Chihuly, a place where he confronted tradition, expanded his vocabulary, and embraced the creative risks that transformed his work,” curator of the Istituto Veneto presentation Suzanne Geiss said via press release. “‘CHIHULY: Venice 2026’ brings that history full circle. The Grand Canal sculptures expand on the ambition and experimentation that defined ‘Chihuly Over Venice’ in 1996, while the exhibition at the Istituto Veneto gives insight into the collaborative, process-driven nature of his practice.”

 

The three monumental outdoor works are all visible from the Accademia Bridge, known for its panoramic views of the Grand Canal. A 30-foot-tall gold tower installed in the Palazzo Franchetti’s garden invites visitors to experience the intricate nature of the artwork and closely view new forms created specifically for this Venetian presentation.

 

The Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, in Campo Santo Stefano is adjacent to the installations. In this intimate setting, drawings, photographs, videos, and documentation chart the evolution of Chihuly’s process, the making of “Chihuly Over Venice,” and the artist’s lifelong engagement with experimentation, collaboration, and risk.

 

“CHIHULY: Venice 2026’ is presented by Pilchuck Glass School and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI. The artist’s partnership with Meijer Gardens goes back decades and extends with a major exhibition of his work opening on May 2, 2026.

 

“(Chihuly is) a catalytic artist, and like Fred Meijer, Fred used 158 acres in the middle of the country as a tapestry to build a botanic garden, sculpture park, and amphitheater–this weird amalgamation of things–and Dale, in the same spirit, is putting together different materials, different colors, and there's two creative spirits from different sectors coming together,” Charles Burke, President and CEO of Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, told me at the Seattle Preview Event for “CHIHULY: Venice 2026” on March 26. “Ultimately, (the purpose) is to introduce people to joy and happiness and experiencing art that is approachable.”

 

“CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens” will transform both the outdoor gardens and indoor galleries to showcase the artist’s unparallel range and creativity. The exhibition will feature outdoor installations such as Chihuly’s towering sculptures, vibrant Reeds, and other site-specific artworks sited within Meijer Gardens’ landscapes. Indoors, visitors will experience a rich, varied survey of works, highlighting more than four decades of Chihuly’s artistic evolution. Featured series include Baskets, Macchia, Seaforms, Putti, Ikebana, Persians, Venetians, Cylinders and Rotolo, complemented by original drawings offering insight into his creative process.

 

Chihuly’s artworks have been a favorite at botanical gardens since the early 2000s. The Norfolk Botanical Garden gets in on the act for 2026, adding one of the nation’s most significant permanent collections of Chihuly as a centerpiece of its The Garden of Tomorrow project scheduled to open late summer. The collection will be integrated into the rare and endangered plants section.

 

A standout piece in the new collection is the Chiffon and Sangria Azalea Chandelier (2024). Designed specifically for NBG, the artwork pays tribute to the 220 African American Works Progress Administration workers who originally planted the Garden’s azaleas. The vibrant colors of the Chandelier honor the heritage of these early gardeners and their lasting impact.

 

Born in 1941 in Tacoma, WA, Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Emerald City remains the best place to see Chihuly artworks in volume thanks to Chihuly Garden & Glass which opened underneath the iconic Space Needle in 2012.

 

Beginning with the inspiration Chihuly takes from Northwest Coast Indigenous baskets through the various series that have defined his career, Chihuly Garden & Glass serves up the artist’s greatest hits in one place. The on-site bar and restaurant whimsically display a sample of Chihuly’s collection of collections.

 

In Seattle’s artsy and historic Pioneer Square neighborhood, the Pilchuck Glass School has a gallery with glass art for sale.

 

In 2002, the Museum of Glass opened in Tacoma as the premiere contemporary art museum dedicated to glass and glassmaking on the West Coast. Its original intent was to honor Chihuly, who grew up two miles away, but the artist–a founding member of the institution–wanted that focus expanded. Expanded beyond a singular person to a singular medium reinforcing glass as art.

 

When the Museum completes a renovation in the fall of 2026, it will again display a treasure trove of Chihuly artworks, highlighted by his Tacoma Chandelier. Until then–and after–pop in to observe the studio hot shop where top glassblowers and artists from around the nation and world work their craft daily in front of visitors.

 

An exceptional collection of Chihuly artwork, donated by the artist, can also be seen at theTacoma Art Museum a couple blocks from the Museum of Glass. Chihuly masterworks can be found throughout Tacoma.

 

Because of Chihuly, because of Pilchuck, because of the Museum of Glass, the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle area in particular are the epicenter of studio glass in America. Thirty-eight glass art educational institutions call the Puget Sound area home. The region hosts more glass studios and glass artists than even Venice: more than 100 studios and more than 700 artists.

 

In recognition of this, Chihuly Garden & Glass in partnership with Visit Seattle launched“Refract” in 2019. The festival showcases glass art, artists, workshops, and galleries throughout Seattle each October.