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Chihuly Collection Gift Enables New Museum For Saint Petersburg
(Media invited to attend and cover)
St. Petersburg, Florida (October 12, 2006) Mayor Rick Baker; Evelyn Craft, Executive Director of The Arts Center; Marshall Rousseau, Director of the Chihuly Collection; Arts Patron and Developer Jimmy Aviram; Artist and Philanthropist Beth Ann Morean; Arts Center Board Chairman Dick Jacobs and Chairman-elect, Terry Brett announced that Jimmy Aviram and Beth Ann Morean will give a $6 million collection of major glass works created by Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly to the Arts Center in St. Petersburg, FL.
The Chihuly museum will be the centerpiece of the Arts Center's anticipated $35 million, 133,000 square feet, new contemporary art facility in downtown St. Petersburg dedicated to contemporary art and the creative process. It will include a dramatic glassblowing hot shop with auditorium seating, a nine story studio art education tower, 27,000 square feet of galleries to showcase rotating exhibitions, and the 11,000 square foot Chihuly museum. It will be part of a mixed used residential and retail community with a focus on the arts, including a 35-story condominium tower under development aptly named The Arts.
"The incredible vision and generosity of Beth Morean and Jimmy Aviram will create a living legacy for St. Petersburg and for the world." says Evelyn Craft Executive Director of the Arts Center. "Through their generosity and under the leadership of Mayor Rick Baker, Board Chairman Dick Jacobs, and the Center's Board of Trustees, we will be able to create something truly unique a museum dedicated to one of the most influential and prominent artists working today while he is still alive and creating new work. The story is not written yet, but one thing is certain, it will be an inspiration to our children and grandchildren for decades to come."
The collection will hold many of Chihuly's most impressive works including a monumental glass tower, a large-scale Venetian boat, a Persian Maccia floor and ceiling, a garden installation, and a dramatic floor-to-ceiling drawing gallery. The only installation of its kind in the world, the Chihuly museum will focus on the life and work of this major artist who has launched the careers of countless glass artists and whose creative direction continues to unfold. The museum space is being designed collaboratively with the artist to best showcase the current collection and plan for future expansions. Chihuly will "make something very special for Saint Petersburg."
The state of the art glassblowing Hot Shop will allow visitors to witness the creative process from concept to execution and even participate with hands-on classes if they wish. The planning builds in expansion for our educational programs and contemporary art galleries and will become a legacy for the city of Saint Petersburg.
About The Arts Center
The Arts Center is a 501 c 3, non-profit, located in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. The Arts Center inspires, educates, and engages a diverse population in the creation of contemporary visual art by providing a dynamic, professional environment to foster the creative process, allowing artists and the community to meet and exchange ideas. We offer extensive studio arts classes at all levels across a wide variety of media, and we exhibit outstanding recent work by local, regional, national and international artists through an extensive program of rotating exhibits created by student, emerging, mid-career and established artists.
