Valentine's Under the Chihuly

11 Feburary 2010 ~ Frederik Meijer Gardens ~ Northeast Photography by: Tim Motley

The Connection at Meijer Gardens invited GRSD to join in on the fun at the "Valentines Under the Chihuly" event. Guests and members of young professionals group, The Connection, mingled and enjoyed the two Chihuly sculptures in the Meijer Gardens permanent collection titled Lena's Garden and Gilded Champagne Gardens Chandelier.

According to the artist Dale Chihuly's website, he is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the Studio Glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. However, Chihuly's contribution extends well beyond the boundaries both of this movement and even the field of glass: his achievements have influenced contemporary art in general.

It was a great honor to see Chihuly's work up close. Lena's Garden is the second of two Chihuly installations at Meijer Gardens. Its Persian glass in bright, primary colors gives it a noticibly different look than its counterpart, Gilded Champagne Gardens Chandelier which is mostly, well, champagne colored. Chihuly also has an installation titled at the Van Andel Institute in downtown Grand Rapids.

The Connection is a vibrant group of community members in the West Michigan Area in their 20s, 30s and 40s who wish to help "promote the enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of gardens, sculpture, the natural environments and the arts" in an innovative and fun way. The benefits of being a member of the connection include invitation to special events & exclusive parties including talks with artists, networking opportunities with other young professionals in the community and most importantly supporting West Michigan's premiere cultural destination.

As we usually do, a great time was had by all at this Valentine's themed event. We look forward to all the new things happening at the Gardens this spring. A special thanks to Amy Sawade for giving us access to the event and for being a huge supporter of GRSD.

Emily Horton works for Wondergem Consulting, and is a writer for the Grand Rapids Social Diary. You can follow her on twitter at @emhorton1

Ben and Elisabeth Mills

Tim Parris (center) who are these people? Email us.

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Pat Foster and (who is this person? email us)

Amanda Geiger and (who is this person? email us)

(who is this person? email us) and Doug Wondergem

Jolon Hull and

Jennifer Wilson and LeAnn Secord

Justin Eldred

Elisabeth Mills and Susan

Photography by: Tim Motley. All rights reserved. To inquire about images, please visit his website www.motleycatstudio.com