"Glass Art in the Northwest" - Day 5

On Thursday, October 14th, the Road Scholar group traveled 45 minutes south on I-5 by motor coach to spend the day in Tacoma. We visited the Chihuly exhibits at Union Station, the Tacoma Art Museum and the spectacular Chihuly Bridge of Glass and Museum of Glass.

While the group finished touring the Tacoma Art Museum, I walked a couple blocks to a stop where I rode the Tacoma Link light rail to the end of the line at S 9th. I photographed the old Tacoma City Hall. There was a NGS benchmark and a USGS benchmark. I walked back to the S 9th stop and rode light rail to Union Station stop. I walked across the Bridge of Glass where I joined the group at the Museum of Glass. We ate lunch in the Museum of Glass Café.

We saw the Glass Art Exhibits and watched artists blow glass in the hot shop. I watched a short film, The Making of Recycle, about a kid who designed glass art, the recycled robot, and then watched his design crafted in the Glass Hot Shop by professional artists. The Recycled Robot was displayed in the Kids Design Glass gallery, a uniquely MOG exhibition. The kid is given a Recycled Robot also. Tacoma’s Triniti Media filmmakers who created The Making of Recycle won a 2010 Telly Award.

We drove back to the Red Lion hotel about 3:30PM. We met in the hotel lobby about 5:45 to walk to the Pilchuck Glass School auction pieces on display at the The Westin Hotel. The Pilchuck Auction preview was open to the public. I was given a glass of champagne as I entered the room with the Auction Glass Art. There were more than 250 of the “hottest works in glass art by renowned masters and outstanding new talents from around the world.” I found about a half dozen pieces that I liked including a Chihuly, a Singletary and art glass by Mielle Riggie.

Back at the Red Lion hotel we photographed and then bubble wrapped the pieces that we had created at the Pratt Fine Arts Center earlier in the week. Someone won the large purple pumpkin in the drawing. We had dinner at Benihana a couple blocks south of the Red Lion hotel. We had frozen vanilla ice cream for dessert.