Feature... Chihuly in the Botanic Garden

Chihuly Merchandise, 2024, Photographer: Connor Patterson. 

Dale Chihuly, Ethereal Spring Persians. 2022. Photographer: Nathaniel Willson.  CHIHULY® is a registered trademark. 

Chihuly in the Botanic Garden

In September 2024, the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium in Adelaide received a vibrant transformation as it hosts the extraordinary glassworks of internationally renowned artist Dale Chihuly. The exhibition, Chihuly in the Botanic Garden, will run for seven months, drawing visitors from across the globe. During this period, Adelaide will become a city celebrating the art of glass, highlighting our South Australian talent. 

Dale Chihuly, hailing from Seattle, boasts a career spanning over six decades. He is celebrated for his large-scale sculptural forms, often displayed in public gardens, creating immersive experiences that blend art with nature. Given the deep connections with glass studios worldwide, JamFactory has partnered with the Botanic Garden for this spectacular event. 

JamFactory will present a retail outlet for the Chihuly in the Botanic Garden exhibition, located within the Museum of Economic Botany. Here visitors can find a range of Chihuly merchandise, products by JamFactory artists, and for the first time in Australia, a selection of Chihuly’s limited edition glass artworks and prints, for the contemporary collector. 

In addition to the retail collaboration, from October 2024 to April 2025 JamFactory will also present a series of exhibitions with a specific focus on South Australian Glass Artists. University of South Australia’s Head of Glass, Gabriella Bisetto’s exhibition first breath, last breath, everything inbetween explores the themes of ageing, disease, transience, and the relationship we have with the body as it ages, translating these themes through her glass practice. 

Both the making process and finished product of glass art are captivating. Not only will visitors be able to come and see spectacular finished works in the galleries, but JamFactory will have daily live glassblowing demonstrations where people can sit on the viewing platform mesmerised by the practice of shaping and manipulating molten glass. 

The long-term legacy outcomes of the Chihuly in the Botanic Garden exhibition will be many and for many years to come. This exciting event shines a light on the outstanding reputation of JamFactory world-wide, and the important role that Adelaide has in producing world-class artists. 

With fifteen glass installations spread across the Garden, including the unique and integrated display In Full Colour: Dale Chihuly to be installed in the Bicentennial Conservatory, the artworks will change with the light and seasons creating renewed experiences throughout the duration of the exhibition. 

Chihuly in the Botanic Garden will be open to the public from 27 September 2024 – 29 April 2025.

Visit jamfactory.com.au/chihuly and botanicgardens.sa.gov.au/chihuly for more details, public programs, and visitor information.