Original artworks by Dale Chihuly will be featured in each guestroom at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers under an agreement Portland Press and the internationally acclaimed artist have reached with the hotel. While it is not unusual for hotels to feature original art in public areas, it is extremely rare for significant original artworks to be placed in guestrooms.
The 840-room Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers, which opened in downtown Seattle in 1982, was the first large hotel in the nation to feature original artwork in all its guestrooms and public areas. The lithographs, paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations at the hotel form a collection of art valued at well over $1 million. Seattle art advisor and Sheraton Seattle curator Margery Aronson amassed the original art collection and spearheaded the new agreement with Chihuly. Aronson is credited with being a major force behind the popularity of Northwest art - especially glass. The extensive collection of glass artworks in the Pilchuck Room in Fullers Restaurant was the first major public presentation of Pilchuck glass in the nation. In 1971, Dale Chihuly co-founded Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, the largest and most comprehensive international educational center for artists working in glass.
The Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers is in the process of updating its rooms, and three new Chihuly artworks will be installed in each guestroom as the rooms are renovated. These artworks include 20 original lithographs, signed and numbered in editions of 100, and over 35 woodblock prints in signed and numbered editions of 50, all created by Chihuly and depicting glass sculptures from his well known series of works. In addition, there are photographic images relating to Chihuly's experience in Nuutajärvi, Finland in 1995, when he created the first of the chandeliers for his visionary 1996 "Chihuly Over Venice" project.
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 Chihuly is one of the most recognized artists in the world. In 1986 he became one of only four Americans to be given a solo exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre in Paris. His works are included in over 200 museums worldwide, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
"We are thrilled to be working with Dale Chihuly on this project," said Carla Murray, general manager of the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers. "When our curator, Margery Aronson, first proposed that we approach Chihuly about it, the enthusiasm quickly stretched all the way to our parent company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. And as we see the new works Chihuly has been creating for the hotel, the excitement has continued to grow."
"From its inception the Sheraton Seattle has been committed to focusing attention on the finest art of the Northwest region, and our partnering with Chihuly has taken that commitment to a new and higher level. When the hotel first opened in 1982, paintings by Mark
Tobey, Morris Graves, Jacob Lawrence and other Northwest "Old Masters" hung on our walls. As we enter the 21st century, artworks created by "New Master" Dale
Chihuly, a Northwest native born in Tacoma, will join them. These artworks make an exciting and fitting addition to our collection." |
