Art Sculpture – The Bouncy Kitty

As the last year and a half starts to blur together, and we collectively try and negotiate the new normals of the world, or whatever that means, more and more of us are flocking back to our old favorite habits in new stomping grounds. For the better part of the last two decades, the music world was my life – concerts, festivals, massives, raves; whatever the event was, I was there and loving losing myself in the middle of a crowd of sweaty strangers that could quickly become close friends. I wish I felt that those situations were a viable, healthy option at the moment; alas, I don’t. With the blossoming number of COVID variants, paired with living with someone who is immunocompromised…simply put, is a stupid idea for now. So in the meanwhile, I’ve been amassing my list of fantastic parks, gardens and outdoor venues to frequent in the Pacific North West and am so eager to watch the colorful cacophony of Autumn colors come into being.

I really wanted to believe that I’ve seen all that the city of Seattle proper has to offer – but time and time again, I’ve been proven delightfully wrong. Just the other weekend, I took a proper afternoon excursion to the Olympic Sculpture Park and I was so incredibly enthralled with everything it had to offer.

Encompassing 9 acres right on the edge of the Puget Sound, the Seattle Art Museum‘s Olympic Sculpture Park offers a novel and whimsical view of the downtown skyline befit with large scale, immersive art pieces that inspire insight, awe and adventure. What was once before an industrial site was transformed in 2007 into a wonderland, befit with bike paths and walking trails, rocky beaches and stunning vistas. A stone’s throw from the actual Seattle Art Museum, the Olympic Sculpture Park sits in Belltown bookended by the Central Waterfront to the North and and Myrtle Edwards Park to the South.

Hidden right off the trails is one of my new favorite micro-parks, the Rose Garden within Centennial Park; it might have a teeny tiny footprint, spanning about the length and width of the street on one city block. Color me a hopeless romantic, but there’s something so special, serene and soulful about smelling the incredible blossoms while getting a look at the sweeping seascape of Elliot Bay.

Meandering south, you’ll stumble across fabled fixtures like Alexander Calder’s ‘The Eagle’, a collection of Tony Smith sculptures – ‘Stinger’ and ‘Wandering Rocks’, and a few personal favorites like ‘Seattle Cloud Cover’ from the incredible mind of Teresita Fernández, Roy McMakin’s ‘Love & Loss’ and the illusion inspiring mirrored collection from Beverly Pepper.

Whether you’re in the mood for a picnic in the heart of the city, a long stroll with the Seattle skyline, sunset on the water or incredible art installations – the Olympic Sulpture Park has it all, and more. Though most of the collection is permanent, there are assorted temporary pieces that flow in and out of the park on a regular basis; paired with the ever mercurial weather and plenty of detours, each visit to the park has the opportunity to be a unique experience to be coveted.

For more on the awe inspiring Olympic Sculpture Park, head to their social media channels – or dive right in and experience it for yourself.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | TripAdvisor

“I want people to be overwhelmed with light and color in a way they have never experienced.”
Dale Chihuly

I’m picky – with almost everything, but especially with what I want out of a museum. In my eyes – when art can exist in so many beautiful forms in ‘the wild’, let’s just call it, I have a hard time believing it should be relegated to a stuffy room with static lighting. I love when art is unencumbered and free – probably a reason I fell in love with large installations at music festivals, and the vast swaths of street art in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Art is everywhere you look, if you look with the right eye – or so, I’d like to believe.

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That said, it takes a special brand of both art and artist to get me into a museum. Growing up in the Bay Area, my family took me to plenty of museums growing up, but my heart was always much happier at the San Francisco Academy of Sciences, the Barbie Museum in Palo Alto, or roaming the city streets in search of hidden art right under our noses and feet.

Even with an immaculate collection of museums in and around Los Angeles -from the LACMA to The Broad, The Getty and Getty Villa to the Museum of Death and Destruction, and all the niche pop-up museums in between – I always enjoyed myself, but still gravitated more towards the street art in the alleyways as versus the art within. As mentioned before, my taste in artistic expression has been vastly shaped by both Burning Man art installations as well as music festivals like Lightning in a Bottle, EDC, Shambhala – and even the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, art makes me happier when I can interact with it; when I can engage multiple senses, and open my mind in new ways of thinking creatively.

I was over the moon when I stumbled across Hauser and Worth, and the Kusama exhibit at The Broad was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in person; but not shortly after we made the big move up north. Ever since migrating to Seattle a few years ago I have been searching for something comparably fantastic. As transplants, one way we could get to know the city and the community ethos was to try and visit as many museums, galleries and parks as we could fit into a day

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Up here, the nice days are exquisite and it’s your duty to get your cute butt outside and enjoying the fresh sunshine – but on a cloudy, rainy, blustery day it’s the diverse array of art that’s truly inspiring about the Pacific North West. So, believe me – when I heard about Chihuly Glass and Garden I immediately knew I had to have an adventure.

Built to host the exquisite designs and artwork of Washington’s own Dale Chihuly, Chihuly Glass and Garden is located in the heart of the Seattle Center in the mix of the hustle and bustle of Seattle proper.

With gorgeous gardens adorned with exquisite glass pieces, as well as several permanent pieces indoors and a rotating show of the latest and greatest in blown glass – this is a can’t miss museum that fairy tales are made of. From the second you get to the grounds, you’re greeted with a spectacular view of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle.

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Inside, you’ll meander through the hallways and large scale, open air designs with three different drawing walls and eight individual galleries of work. Once you’ve marinated on the unique and exquisite beauty indoors, you’ll be greeted by my favorite pieces – the Glasshouse, and the gardens. Standing over 40′ tall with over 4,000 square feet of radiant space -The Glasshouse is one of the most amazing things I’ve literally ever seen with the focus on a larger than life suspended structure in the middle, full of vibrant and delightfully rich colors.

The Chihuly Glass and Gardens is a phenomenal experience that deserves to be on everyone’s bucket list, Whenever travel is available again, it’s really worth visiting Seattle for – and 10 out of 10, I greatly recommend it! If the Pacific North West isn’t in the books anytime soon, there are also exhibitions around the country, including permanent galleries in the Tacoma Art Museum, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Ohio’s Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the Morean Art Center in Florida, and Tokyo’s Toyama Glass Art Museum.

For more on Dale Chihuly, his life’s work and his various galleries – head to his social media links and websites:

Chihuly | Chihuly Garden and Glass | Instagram | Facebook

“In Seattle, we live among the trees and the waterways,
and we feel we are rocked gently in the cradle of life.
Our winters are not cold and our summers are not hot
and we congratulate ourselves
for choosing such a spectacular place to rest our heads.”

What’s the most interesting museum that you’ve ever been to? Do you have a artistic niche that you cant help but be enthralled by? Let me know what some of your unique museum experiences in the comments below!