Dale Chihuly

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Dale Chihuly (b. September 20, 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, USA) is a modern day glass sculptor.

Chihuly grew up and graduated from high school in Tacoma. Supported by his mother after his brother George's death in a flight-training accident in Florida and his father's death of a heart attack, he had no intention to continue his education until his mother convinced him to enroll at the College of the Puget Sound (now University of Puget Sound) in 1959. A year later, he transferred to the University of Washington at Seattle, where, though he studied interior design and architecture, he first tried glassblowing. In 1967 he received a Masters of Science in Glassblowing from the University of Wisconsin. In 1968 he received an Masters of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he later helped establish the school's glass program. In that year he also received a Fulbright Fellowship, and went on to become the first American glassblower to work in the prestigious Venini Fabrica on the island of Murano. Along with several other glass artists, Chihuly founded the influential and inventive Pilchuck Glass School in 1971 in Stanwood, Washington. Chihuly lives and works at his 25,000 square foot (2300 m²) studio on Lake Union. Since losing the vision in one of his eyes in an automobile accident in 1976, Chihuly (who wears an eyepatch) no longer has the depth perception necessary to handle the molten glass himself. Instead, he conceptualizes each project with paint and canvas and then employs a team of artists to do the handiwork. In 1991, Chihuly began his Niijima Floats Series (see link below), some of the largest blown glass pieces in the world, at the Niijima International Glass Art Festival in Japan.