hot sand, glass candy
Mr. Forte and I flew to Seattle to visit Son One for a weekend last month and spent a quiet, cloudy morning walking in Tacoma’s lovely Museum District. Watching glassblowers in the Hot Box at Dale Chihuly’s Museum of Glass wasn’t going to happen – all the museums are closed Mondays and Tuesdays except in the summer – and we thought we would have to make do with the outdoor installations of twisted and folded and curled glass until we wandered into Union Station, a historic building repurposed as the federal courthouse. The building itself is an architectural stunner, and its rotunda has five huge Chihuly installations.
The central chandelier is pictured above and below. Both photos were taken with the not-so-great camera in my Blackberry, the upper with the focus on the glass, the lower with the focus on the window in the dome, which makes it look as if it were taken at night. Nice trick, if unintended.
Last, below, is a slideshow from the Union Station Tacoma website. The space is available for private events. Still photographs from three weddings make up the slideshow, but don’t watch it just to see the couples kissing. Look for the red glass spears and the glass flower window.
After oohing and aahing in the rotunda, Mot and I went through security and into one of the working courtrooms where we listened to the sentencing hearing of a young woman who had been convicted of a drug crime. Life intrudes on art everywhere you go.
Click to play the slideshow
Tacoma Union Station Rotunda website
Posted in: cool stuff, oh the places you'll go, pics, snaps
Tags: adobe soup, art, Blackberry, candace mann, chihuly, courthouse, dale chihuly, federal, glass art, glass flowers, historic, judge, kissing, lawyer, mr. forte, museum, red spears, seattle, tacoma, twisted glass snakes, union station, wedding
What people are saying: 5 Comments
10.31.2011 - 6:47 pm
Life intrudes in art and thankfully the reverse is true as well. If you have any connections, I would like a chandelier like that in my dining room.
10.31.2011 - 7:05 pm
Yea for the Tacoma Glass Museum! I’m not sure if I’ve forgiven you yet though Candace for depriving me of meeting you in person.
10.31.2011 - 9:00 pm
Chris, so would I! But I’d have to have a much bigger dining room. Thanks, friend.
10.31.2011 - 9:02 pm
I haven’t forgiven myself, Marlene. But I’m just looking at that too-short visit as a great reason to come back. The museum of glass is *amazing*. Good to see you.
11.03.2011 - 3:24 pm
I wonder how long it will be before an enterprising bride will order a glass bouquet to match the exhibit, and then THAT guy will be busier than a one armed glass blower. These pieces are reminiscent of those placed (donated) to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville when it was built a few years ago. Worth hundreds of thousands and giving at least that much pleasure in a place that could really use it. Thanks for the visit to Tacoma!