| Tacoma Union Station is my favorite train station
on the West Coast-well, it is my hometown. Built in 1910 by Reed
and Stem, architects of Grand Central Station, it was the terminus
of the Northern Pacific railroad. The building was opened with much
fanfare in 1911, but was later abandoned when the railroad moved
the station to another location. The future for Union Station wasn’t
looking too good until 1990, when it was renovated and attached
to a new federal courthouse. It was restored to its former glory,
pristine white inside, and I jumped at the opportunity to use the
space.
The sheer size of Union Station-the central dome is ninety feet
high-spurred me to make pieces larger than ever before. These
mark the real beginnings of my monumental-scale work. Hanging
in the dome is a twenty-by-nine-by-three-foot Cobalt Blue Chandelier.
Made of about two thousand parts, the piece is basically flat,
an interesting element made necessary because of weight restrictions.
Behind it the Monarch Window looks out on Mount Rainier. The Basket
Mural at Union Station was the first time we altered the drawings
to fit the space, rather than simply “wallpapering” the wall with
what would fit.
Union Station also represents an important community collaboration.
Brought together for the first time, a local art museum (Tacoma
Art Museum), a local artist (me), and local patrons (the Executive
Council for a Greater Tacoma) joined with the federal government
to present a public art project open to all, with no admission
charge.
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| — Chihuly |
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![[image]](Art/fax_Us.1f.gif)
