Every summer, the Missouri Botanical Garden presents a special show from mid-May until early August. This year’s show, “Garden of Glass,” featured larger-than-life glass sculptures created by artist Craig Mitchell Smith. The show has been so popular, it will be held over for a week longer than planned. Another “Garden of Glass” show in 2006 featured works by Dale Chihuli. The Garden purchased four of Chihuli’s pieces for permanent display, and I suspect the same will be done with Smith’s pieces when they go on sale after the show.
The Missouri Botanical Garden, also called Shaw’s Garden, is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States. It is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was established by Henry Shaw in 1859, and includes Shaw’s original 1850 house, as well as his mausoleum. One of the most distinctive architectural features of the Garden is the Climatron, a geodesic dome that houses tropical plants. Most of Smith’s glass creations were on display in the Climatron. The entire Garden (79 acres) is beautiful and restful, and is always a wonderful place to walk, relax, and enjoy the scenery.
A Chihuli sculpture in the lobby of the visitor center.
The Climatron viewed over a reflecting pool with floating Chihuly glass “Onions”
A quiet courtyard decorated with mosaics
The plantings in this garden are changed each season.
Henry Shaw’s mausoleum
Shaw’s sarcophagus in the mausoleum.
Ted and I chose a perfect summer afternoon to visit the “Garden of Glass” exhibit. The exhibits were beautiful beyond what I can describe. We were so impressed with them that we decided they were worth a second look in the evening, when each piece would be lighted. The evening shows are offered only on weekends, so we had to wait a few days, but it was worth it. We took pictures of every exhibit–day and night–and together, we went through the pictures four times to narrow them down to a reasonable number to include in this blog. It was very difficult to choose, and the pictures are a poor substitute for seeing the sculptures in person.
Bird of Paradise sculptures
We are standing behind the lighted waterfall. Between the two columns of falling water, you can see the vertical streaks of Smith’s “Waterfall” glass, also lit in blue. In the daytime, the water and glass were white and were nearly indistinguishable from each other. True artistry!
Three glass mobiles titled “Spring”
“Poppies”
“Phoenix” was strikingly lit at night, but didn’t photograph as well as in the daylight.
“Night Blooming Cactus” lighted for the evening show.
Titled “Tree of Life,” this sculpture includes 1,000 glass monarch butterflies.
This 16-foot tall dandelion is called “Make a Wish” and includes 50 dandelion “seeds” that were hung among the trees along the path as though they had been blown off the dandelion stem.
“Passion” as found in a Garden fountain
Another beautifully lit piece: “Cubanola-Domingensis.”