Chihuly in the Desert at the Desert Botanical Garden

Our Visit

Our Night at the Garden

We were able to see the blown glass artwork during the evening light and sunset. If you’re trying to time your visit with the sunset, take note of the sunset time that day and plan to arrive around that time or a little before. We saw the best sunset colors within the half hour after the sun broke the horizon line.

We were able to walk through out the Garden’s paths and check out some of plants we’ve seen out on the trails but also plants that typically only grow in specific regions of the U.S. The Garden also has a cool crested saguaro. “Cristate or “crested” saguaros form when the cells in the growing stem begin to divide outward, rather than in the circular pattern of a normal cactus. Scientist believe there is one crested saguaro per every 200,000 normal saguaro.” – NPS

Chihuly

Dale Chihuly is an American artist born in Tacoma, Washington. He attended the first glass school in the United States at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Chihuly studied glass blowing on a full scholarship. After receiving his masters, Chihuly goes on the Rhode Island School of Design, earns a Fulbright Scholarship, studies in Italy, becomes a professor, starts a glass school, and so much more. All of which you can learn more about at the Chihuly Website. Chihuly is known for his ability, his creativity, rich colors, shapes and more, but the artwork speaks for itself and there is no better way to confirm that in Arizona than by visiting “Chihuly in the Desert” at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. Purchase tickets here.

Artwork

“Chihuly In the Desert” features 11 glass art installations and an indoor art gallery. The the glass artwork distinctly placed within the Garden helps create a desert landscape charged with color and shape. The installations pop against the desert colors and shapes, yet complement the scene enough to not feel out of place.

While visiting “Chihuly in the Desert”, we highly suggest visiting the indoor gallery. Inside is a collection of glass blown artwork and paintings by Chihuly. The artwork is stunning, and it’s clear that countless hours and detailed attention went into creating the pieces on display. We’ve included some of our favorite photos we took while at the Garden, but intentionally didn’t include everything – you’ll have to go see for yourself!

This post is sponsored by the Desert Botanical Garden. All photos are taken by The AZ Hikeaholics. All glass artwork is © Chihuly Studio.