Dale Chihuly Returns to Venice with New Glass Installations Along the Grand Canal

Dale Chihuly's 'Chihuly: Venice 2026' opens in Venice, featuring three large-scale glass sculptures installed along the Grand Canal, visible from the Accademia Bridge. The exhibition celebrates the 30th anniversary of his 1996 'Chihuly Over Venice' project. The works—'Gold Tower' (31 feet), 'Blue Green Tower' (26.5 feet), and 'End of the Day Chandelier' (16 feet)—were all created in 2025 at his Seattle studio. The show is organized by Pilchuck Glass School (founded by Chihuly in 1971) in partnership with Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. A concurrent gallery exhibition at Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, curated by Suzanne Geiss, displays Chihuly's faxed drawings, notes, photographs, and his 2017 'Celadon Baskets' series. Chihuly first studied glassblowing at Venini in 1968 on a Fulbright. The opening follows a vandalism incident at Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, where 12 sculptures were smashed. Chihuly, who turns 85 in September, did not attend the preview; his wife Leslie Jackson Chihuly and son Jackson Chihuly represented him.