When the Addison Gallery of American Art reopens Sept. 7 for the first time in 18 months, residents will find one of its greatest new acquisitions not in a gallery, but on its roof.
On Tuesday morning, a work by Dale Chihuly, considered by many the world's most creative glass sculptor, was installed on the Addison's new green roof. It is his first major installation in Massachusetts and arrives in advance of a planned 2011 show at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
The Addison installation is 10 spheres or "floats" of different sizes, inspired by the glass floats used on fishing nets by the fishermen Chihuly saw during a 1990s visit to Niijima, Japan. The work is a gift from Crosby Kemper, Phillips Academy Class of 1945, in memory of classmate Harry Morgan, who died in 2006.
Each float weighs between 35 and 15 pounds. The Addison and Chihuly decided on black floats that have subtle hints of gold, purple, blue and green to contrast with the environmental roof, which is covered by a hearty, low-growing plant called sedum.
"[The ground cover] is much lusher and more colorful than I imagined it to be. Before the heat wave there was a lot of bright yellow," said Brian Allen, director of the Addison Gallery. "In September and October there will be a lot of red. We didn't want a lot of color in (the floats) because it would compete.
"I think we made the right choice with the basic black with the subtle, mottled effect," said Allen. "They're going to be very beautiful in the snow. There will be times when the tops of the largest ones will be visible and the little ones won't be."
The floats are not visible from the ground, but are in front of the wall of windows in the Addison's new museum learning center, a key part of the $20 million addition now nearing completion.
The founder of the glass program at the Rhode Island School of Design and cofounder of the Pilchuck School and studios, Chihuly may be best known to the average person for creating the lobby ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas in 1998. The iconic ceiling contains 2,000 brightly colored hand-blown glass flowers.
Chihuly is credited by many with bringing glass blowing into the mainstream of art, but there are some critics who consider Chihuly's works more decoration than sculpture.
Allen sees the addition of the floats as a continuation of the approach taken by founder Thomas Cochran who collected not only traditional art work such as seascape paintings, but sculptures including ship models. The Addison has 389 sculptures in its collection and Addison employees believe the floats will attract students to other works.
"American art more so than the art of most countries is a continuum," Allen said. "This is going to be enjoyed and seen at the same time that children will be looking at and learning about art from throughout the collection.
"I find children respond to three-dimensional objects in a more immediate way. They're more accessible to children," Allen said.
From inside the learning center, people will view the floats and their subtleties through a stainless steel netting meant to soften the look of the glass addition and cut down on heating costs. Standing on the roof outside, one can even more easily see the differences between the floats.
The Addison had not expected to have any sculpture on the roof until about a year ago, said Allen.
"This is a learning space for children, this room. The green roof, that was always a separate space," said Leslie Maloney, chief preparator/building manager.
The Chihuly work ties the outdoors into the museum, she said.
"Students will definitely benefit from that. [The roof] becomes a gallery, it's an extension. It becomes more than an exterior space," said Maloney. "It's almost kind of nice that you have to come in to view this piece. You can't see it from outside. And this is a quiet, thoughtful space."
Tom Lind, project manager for Chihuly's studio, said the spheres will hold up to heat and cold and any weather short of golf-ball-sized hail. The floats can be cleaned with simple "ammonia-free glass cleaner, nothing too special," said Lind.
The Addison Gallery will leave the roof and its installation alone for the most part. When it snows, it snows.
"We won't shovel it, but we'll certainly weed it," said Maloney.
The Addison closed in 2008 for a more than $20 million renovation and addition that created the museum learning center, added considerable storage space, reclaimed display space by adding staff offices, and renovated the original building while upgrading its lighting, security and fire suppression.
The public will be able to see not only Chihuly's work when the Addison reopens, but 300 of the museums's prize pieces, in an exhibition called, "Inside, Outside, Upstairs, Downstairs: The Addison Anew."
About the new installation 'Black Niijimi Floats'
The 10 floats at the Addison range from approximately 32 inches to 16 inches in diameter and weigh between about 35 to 15 pounds each, said Tom Lind, project manager for Chihuly's studio. He said it takes a team of eight 45 minutes to an hour to make each float, which each person having a defined roll they repeat for each sphere.
Some of the Addison floats were created in the 1990s, as a result of Chihuly's trip to Niijimi, Japan, while others were made within the last year, said Lind.
The outdoor permanent exhibit is one of 254 items acquired during the museum's closure.
Chihuly floats, often brightly colored, can be found at several other locations including the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, said Lind.
On the website Chihuly.com, the artist is quoted as saying "just because they are so big, the Floats are technically, or let's say physically, the most difficult things that we have ever done. Even though a sphere or a ball is about the easiest form you can make in glass, when you get to this scale, up to 40 inches in diameter, it becomes extremely difficult."
Dale Chihuly on Floats
Around 1990 I went to the island of Niijima where they have a glass school. It is in Tokyo Bay, an overnight boat ride from Tokyo. While I was there, I was reminded of the Japanese fishing floats, which I used to collect on the beach when I was a kid, in Washington State on the Pacific Ocean. So not long after I was in Niijima, I started a series of round balls. The idea was to make them big, and to use a lot of color in different ways. We started making these Floats that eventually got up to 40 inches in diameter, which is by far the largest piece of glass that we make in terms of volume. It's just a huge piece of glass.
Source: Artist's statement on chihuly.com
