CHIHULY Blue Polyvitro Crystals at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

For the past couple weeks I have been writing about Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park's special Dale Chihuly exhibit which you are able to enjoy now through November 1st just outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I thought it would be interesting to share with you some information I found online about each of the pieces/displays which make up Chihuly at Meijer, and I have two more to share with you. While there is a gallery of Chihuly pieces which you have to buy an extra ticket to see (and I will write about this tomorrow), most of the exhibit is available for you to enjoy with the purchase of your admission ticket - or if you have a membership, you can go see it as often as you like throughout the exhibit! Today I am very happy to let you know about CHIHULY Blue Polyvitro Crystals at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park -

Created in 2006 by American artist Dale Chihuly, “Blue Polyvitro Crystals” is a large-scale outdoor installation featuring translucent, jagged blue shapes made of Polyvitro—a lightweight polymer the artist engineered to mimic the look, light transmission, and refractive qualities of rough-cut glass. 

Design and Structure

Composition: Typically stands over ten feet tall, built from a core of steel and 13 deep-blue Polyvitro crystals.
Water Integration: Includes an additional set of translucent blue crystals which float directly in the surrounding pond or pool.
Material Innovation: "Polyvitro" is Dale Chihuly's own term for a specialized plastic cast into chunky, raw forms resembling cullet or chunks of glass chipped from the bottom of a hotshop furnace. 

Key Benefits of Polyvitro

Weight: Weighs roughly half as much as traditional cast glass.
Durability: Far more resilient and weather-resistant, making it ideal for open-air installations and water features.
Scale: The reduced weight allows the artist to construct massive, towering outdoor sculptures which would be too heavy or fragile if rendered entirely in glass. 

Exhibition History

Debut: Originally created for the 2006 exhibition Chihuly at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Tours: Has traveled to major botanical gardens and museums worldwide, including prominent showings in Denver (2014) and the New York Botanical Garden (2017).

CHIHULY Blue Polyvitro Crystals is located in the large waterfall in the Sculpture Park at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. My grandson loved how the Koi swam around this exhibit - the Koi are a regular - and much loved - feature of the large waterfall.

If you live near Frederik Meijer Gardens be sure to check out the Chihuly exhibit - if you do not live near Grand Rapids, MI, then please make a plan to visit . . . the only other place in the world where you are able to see a Chihuly exhibit similar to the one at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is in Venice, Italy! 

The Chihuly exhibit will give you so much to see at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park along with all their other amazing sculptures and gardens - the CHIHULY Blue Polyvitro Crystals absolutely will give you another reason to visit - you will be so glad you do!