Virginia Museum show features glass art pioneer Dale Chihuly_美文

Virginia Museum show features glass art pioneer Dale Chihuly

“I’m inspired by anything that has to do Venice, which is my favorite place in the world.”

Native American blankets and baskets also inspire the artist. The museum displays some of his collection of these objects. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts also has the glass baskets that he created to look like real ones.

Dale Chihuly also finds ideas in nature for his glass sculptures. His work “Red Reeds” was placed in the museum’s reflecting pool. Lights make it glow in the water at night. The artist says the glass itself is the strongest guiding force of his work.

“This material is so phenomenal, and with light. There are very few materials light goes through. When it does, it can be pretty amazing.”

The extraordinary play of light is most evident in his famous “Persian Ceiling.” It is made of a thousand colorful glass pieces. “Persian Ceiling” hangs over the heads of museum goers, with light coming from behind the object. Some people lie down on the floor for the best view.

Dale Chihuly is seventy-one years old, and has no plans to retire anytime soon. He works with his team at Chihuly Studio in the state of Washington, where he grew up. However, there will be an end to “Dale Chihuly at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.” The show closes February tenth.

Chinese Students at Universities in America

The number of students from China studying in the United States has grown sharply in recent years. Economists say that is because of a growing middle class in China. More than four thousand Chinese students are attending schools in the Los Angeles area, including the University of Southern California.