Persian Lilies (in Garfield Park Conservatory)

In 2001, the Garfield Park Conservatory hosted a spectacular exhibit of the work of artist Dale Chihuly entitlted Chihuly in the Park: A Garden of Glass that proved to be an overwhelming success. Chihuly (b. 1941) is an internationally acclaimed artist who has been lauded for his role in the Studio Glass Movement in which collaborative teams of artists produce artworks rather than a solitary glass blower. After studying interior design at the University of Washington, Chihuly attended the University of Wisconsin’s seminal hot glass program, receiving his M.S. in sculpture. He went on to study and teach at the Rhode Island School of Design, and co-founded the Pilchuck School in Stanwick, Washington, serving as its artistic director until 1989. Since that time, he has produced major exhibitions all over the world including Venice, Jerusalem, and Tacoma, Washington. The Garfield Park Conservatory exhibit was a monumental experience for both the artist and the site. Chihuly and his studio artists created and installed pieces that were inspired by the facility and its plant collections. This is especially true of the Persian Pool, an installation of sixteen yellow lilies designed specifically for the lagoon in the Conservatory’s Aroid House. A group of Chicago businessmen were so enthralled with A Garden of Glass that they raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire the Persian Lilies for permanent installation in the Aroid House.