Spending a day in Tacoma is a great way to see the very best in glass and art. Make sure to visit:
Museum of Glass: Located at 1801 East Dock Street, this is a 75,000 square foot museum with great exhibitions of glass. There is a hot shop where you can watch the artists work. There is a cafe and a really good museum shop featuring great pieces. The dome of the hot shop is the most attractive feature of the museum and there are some nice outdoor glass installations as well to visit.
Chihuly Bridge of Glass: To access the Museum from Pacific Avenue, you cross the wonderful Chihuly Bridge of Glass which I had seen reports of since it opened. It is a 500 ft. pedestrian bridge that contains a large number of his Seaform pieces in the ceiling and many of his Venetian pieces along the walls. You then see two beautiful blue crystal towers.
Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Avenue: The Tacoma Art Museum has the largest permanent collection of Chihuly’s work. In addition, when I was there, there was a special exhibition of his Pendleton Indian Blankets and his Native American Baskets which showed how these influences came to be in his glass pieces.
Union Station: Located at 1717 Pacific Avenue, between the Museum of Glass and the Tacoma Art Museum, is the old Union Station where you will find five Chihuly installations beneath the great dome of the historic landmark: Monarch Window, End of the Day Chandelier, Basket Drawing Wall, Lackawana Ikebana, and Water Reeds.
