Dale Chihuly: The Man, the Eye Patch

You missed seeing “Chihuly at Fairchild.” You wanted to go, but it was just so far away, and the ticket price was a little steep for your overdrawn checking account “budget.” Well, now you’re in luck. Nova University commissioned the famous glass gardener to create one of his masterpiece installations right inside of the Alvin Sherman Library (3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale) on its main campus in Davie; making this one of only six blown-glass Chihuly installations in libraries worldwide. After four years of planning, fundraising, and designing, the tiled atrium mezzanine has become fertile soil for this permanent exhibit, “The NSU Glass Garden.” It spans 18 feet in length with brilliantly-hued, glass-stretched blooms blossoming seven and a half feet in height. Part underwater abstract, part desert oasis, this prickly blend of slender shoots and oversized orbs forms an unconventional indoor landscape where inanimate objects are given life, and tiny imperfections are necessary to its complete beauty. Since this is the only free exhibit of Dale Chihuly’s work in South Florida, you won’t even have to blow your allotted weekly gas money to check it out. All you really need is your library card.
Starts: Aug. 3. Daily, 2007