At the foot of the Space Needle, the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibition is beginning to take shape on the Seattle Center campus.
But the most striking image that visitors would see right now is the metal skeleton of the exhibition’s massive Glasshouse. This 4,500 square-foot structure will feature a 43-foot tall curving wall of glass that resembles a wave. Inside the nearly 100-foot-long room will be the largest suspended glass sculpture that Chihuly has ever made. It will include approximately 2,000 red, orange, yell, oxblood, citron and amber elements. The installation will be so large that it will be visible from various viewpoints around the Seattle Center campus.
“I know what I’m looking forward to the most,” said Ron Sevart, the CEO of the Space Needle, LLC, who lobbied for the exhibition to be built. “It is watching people from all over the world being inspired by the exhibit. Hopefully, they are walking away inspired to develop their own artistic endeavor.”
This has been a long process for Sevart, who first began thinking about a replacement for the Fun Forest when he took the job as CEO of the Space Needle in 2008. Since then, he has been working to place something on the site that would “bring energy” back to the campus.
The project was controversial from the beginning with some observers questioning whether a private enterprise should build the hall on public property. Various special interest groups also lobbied for other projects to be housed in the building that formerly used by the Fun Forest and to be built on the grounds around the Space Needle.
After one failed attempt to talk the Seattle City Council into the Chihuly exhibition hall, Sevart came back with a sweetened deal in April of 2011 that won the council’s unanimous approval. The new deal called for the Space Needle to build a playground to the south of the exhibition hall. The Seattle Center will also be able to sell artworks by other artists.
According to published reports, the lease agreement with Chihuly’s Center Art LLC specifies that the base rent would be $350,000 a year for the exhibit space. The lease will increase to $500,000 in the future. Seattle Center would also get a percentage of the glass exhibit’s net sales after the fifth year of its operation. The lease also only lasts for a limited. So, if the exhibition hall isn’t the success expected, it can be replaced.
But failure is the furthest thing from Sevart’s mind. He said the exhibition would open the eyes to the rest of the world to the quality and quantity of art that is being made here in the Puget Sound area.
“Over the next several years, people will start to understand that there is so much art and culture here in Seattle,” Sevart said. “We plan to connect other art exhibits and cultural experiences around the area.”
Other elements of the exhibition hall include a 4,500 square-foot outdoor plaza located between the exhibition building at the glass house. In the plaza will be seven covered walkway chandeliers of different colors. There will also be a 16,000 square-foot outdoor garden surrounding the glasshouse that will feature various artworks, including a large sun that is 16 feet in diameter and is built with 2,200 glass elements. There will also be a 30-foot tall “Yellow and Green Icicle Tower,” and a 20-foot tall “Rose Crystal Tower,” made up of about 250 glass elements.
The site will also contain a bookstore, gift shop and a 70-seat lecture hall and theater.[[In-content Ad]]