This summer is seeing a quite deserved Renaissance at the Denver Botanic Gardens, with the addition of dozens of glassworks by Dale Chihuly among the voluminous plant, tree, and flower exhibits. Over the past twenty years, the Gardens haven't expanded their space, but have tremendously expanded the variety and sheer numbers of plantings and exhibits. The entire area is now filled with flora not only that is native to the arid Mountain Desert region, but also heavily populated with varieties that are native to other parts of the country, even other parts of the world.
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| One of the larger displays, in front of the Greenhouse. |
Chihuly has many styles of glasswork, and a subset of them is represented here. The most prominent are glass spires of red, blue or yellow, strewn about native grasses like tall reeds. But the more interesting displays are when those grandiose installations are eschewed in favor of something a bit more subtle, if subtlety is even possible in a show like this.
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| Globes, fingers and spires of purple and blue trail out of a small boat. |
The show is also open at night (under separate ticket prices), where some of the glass is lit externally, and some internally through neon lighting.
This installation in front of a waterfall is reminiscent of Chihuly's work on the ceiling at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, though of course that's only a small fraction of what's on display.
Come down and see it before it's gone - it's a popular traveling show, so it may never come back!
