In 2008, famed glass artist Dale Chihuly created a series of dramatic sculptures in stunning shapes and colors to be displayed in Arizona’s Desert Botanical Garden in Chihuly: The Nature of Glass. While the exhibit saw thousands of arrangements installed throughout the garden, the DBG seeks to permanently display a few such sculptures so that visitors may continue to enjoy their beauty indefinitely – but the garden needs the public’s help in making this wish a reality.

At the entrance to the DBG are the “Desert Towers,” magnificent yellow-green sculptures resembling yucca plants, which Dale Chihuly designed specifically for this location. Since their installation, the “Desert Towers” have been on loan from the Chihuly Studios, and their presence, along with the other works, have drawn such a high number of visitors that the DBG began making plans to keep a few of the sculptures as public art. The original goal was to raise $1 million by June 2010 in order to purchase the towers and create an endowment fund to provide for any future maintenance they would require. As of the end of May, the DBG has received more than $553,000 toward reaching this goal, and Chihuly Studios has graciously extended the timeframe for the towers’ purchase.

The garden is asking the public to join its community in a final push toward meeting this objective and securing the future of the “Desert Towers” as a Phoenix landmark and unique expression of the beauty found in our Sonoran landscape. Gifts and donations may be made online here.

Image by Alex Smith