On our trip home from Seattle, we stopped at the glass museum in Tacoma. This is the home of glass artist, Chihuly, who was involved in founding the museum. There were exhibits in the museum that were not glass related. One was an exhibit of work by Joyce Scott who does mixed media work and included some quilts and lots of bead work ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù all making a political statement. I enjoyed it.

No photos were allowed except in the Hot Shop where a guest artist was blowing glass with the help of a crew of glassblowers. Mr C and I enjoyed this so much that we did not want to leave. Here are some photos of the action. The end result was to be a glass beach ball. They start with a rectangle of fused glass in different colors that is shaped into a cup-like object. Then they heat it up and blow away.

This woman donned this fireproof outfit and carried the finished ball to an annealing oven. Amazing!

Here is a finished beach ball.

Some of Chihuly’s work was on display in the Hot Shop:

Some shots from outside:

A bridge of glass connects the museum with downtown Tacoma. There are cases of glass objects and is a ceiling
made of 2,364 objects from Chihuly’s Seaform and Persian series. It was a visual delight.

Click for a larger view.

I also enjoyed the chalk drawings on the bridge:

If you are ever driving through Tacoma, I recommend stopping for the Museum of Glass.

To see the complete set of photos from the Museum of Glass or our Seattle trip, click here.