Chihuly Cattails & Copper Birch Reeds 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. While there is a gallery of Chihuly pieces which you have to buy an extra ticket to see, 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 Cattails & Copper Birch Reeds at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park -

Cattails and Copper Birch Reeds is a prominent outdoor glass sculpture installation created by American artist Dale Chihuly. First introduced around 2019, the artwork features tall, slender, and curved blown-glass stalks in luminous shades of amber, orange, yellow, and red which mimic natural field grasses and reeds. 

Design and Visual Style

• Organic Shapes: The fragile, elongated glass forms replicate the organic movement of real plants swaying or standing tall in a landscape. 
• Color Contrast: The brilliant warm tones of the glass create a striking visual contrast against green lawns, water features, and botanical garden backdrops. 
• Environmental Dialogue: The installation is engineered to blend seamlessly into nature, altering how viewers perceive space and light outdoors. 

Exhibitions

• Global Display: The piece is frequently featured in major botanical garden exhibitions worldwide, including prominent placements at Kew Gardens in London and the Missouri Botanical Garden. 
• Current Settings: These installations continue to tour major cultural institutions and sculpture parks, highlighting Chihuly's lifelong integration of large-scale glass art with open-air natural environments.

Chihuly Cattails & Copper Birch Reeds is located in the Sculpture Park on the other side of the hill from the American Horse Sculpture. My husband says this is one of his favorite exhibits/pieces of the Chihuly exhibit. When we first saw it the beginning of May, it was quite lovely as it covered the side of a hill, but as we moved through Summer, we noticed many wildflowers blooming on the hillside among the Chihuly Cattails & Copper Birch Reeds making it even more beautiful and interesting! There is so much to see in this exhibit/piece - all the deep reds, the yellows, and oranges - the glass pieces are so tall and interesting and there are so many pieces! It is really an amazing part of the Chihuly Exhibit.

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 Cattails & Copper Birch Reeds absolutely will give you another reason to visit - you will be so glad you do!