Chihuly Art

A fantastic sculpure project emerged during August here at the Child Study Center. It carried us into new discoveries with color, light and materials; we carried it to new places in our environment. Here is the story, in brief, of how we discovered Chihuly.

	Ms. Abby, our summer student assistant, brought news of her weekend journey to the Knoxville Museum of Art where she saw an exhibit of glass scultpure by artist Dale Chihuly. Many children were interested in his oversized creations in colored blown glass; their inquiries led us to the internet.
Picture after picture on the internet and in the exhibit book revealed example ofter example of how light and color interact through sculpture, both indoors and outdoors. The children noticed that some scuptures looked like"...big bunches of grapes...". It was much too fantastic not to try it ourselves! Balloons were suggested as a material that would show the light; our construction began.
	Using 2 1/2"-3" pieces of packing styrofoam, a base was built. It took some brainstorming to figure out how to attach balloons to the base: tape wouldn't hold, glue was too drippy. Voila! Toothpicks poked through the tied off, loose end of the balloon worked! It also became a necessity to wear eye patches BECAUSE, as we learned on the internet, Mr. Chihuly wears one. In one instance, the eye patch was especially important. A balloon popped in Adam's hands, he instinct- ually reached up to cover his eye, saying, "Thank goodness I had my patch!"
After several days of problem solving and construction, our structure was hung where we could see color and light in a new way. What a work of art! What a triumph of problem solving and cooperative construction! What jubilant creators!
	It was just a day or two following the first "installation" that a second opportunity emerged. Translucent cups, leftover from a center picnic, were presented as possible sculture materials. The children went right to work, creating a piece that was strong enough to take outside. With our second piece of sculpture, we added to earlier efforts to make the garden more beautiful.
The Chihuly project attracted children and teachers alike, all of us marveling at the beautiful colors, the innovative use of materials and the great wave of excitement and energy in creating. We mailed a packet of photographs and questions to Mr. Chihuly and hope for his reply. This will give us opportuntiy to revisit the project, and perhaps inspire new creations!