As the weather warms up the urge to get outside is irresistible. Quick excursions and day trips are the perfect antidote to spring fever. One of our favorite easy getaways is a trip to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Easily accessible by car or mass transit—Metro North even offers special packages from Grand Central—the Garden is an oasis within the so-called concrete jungle.
This season, the New York Botanical Garden is hosting CHIHULY, the first major New York show by the artist Dale Chihuly in 10 years. Twenty installations have been erected throughout the gardens, and the artist’s drawings and select early works are featured in the library. NYBG has created a schedule of events around the exhibition that will run through the fall. Here are four unique ways you can enjoy this incredible show.
Jazz and Chihuly. With the historic Haupt Conservatory as a dramatic backdrop, the New York Botanical Garden presents this year’s summer concert series of three themed evenings (The French Connection, 100 Years of Jazz, Songs of Protest and Reconciliation) developed in collaboration with Catskill Jazz Factory and Absolutely Live Entertainment to showcase an amazing range of contemporary jazz artists. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy the best seat in the house on the scenic Conservatory Lawn. Before the concert, be sure to check out Chihuly’s works in the conservatory and library, and after the show stroll among the installations glistening at dusk and illuminated after dark. Food and drinks are available at the garden.
Artpark Revisited. The water features in the Native Plant Garden and the Haupt Conservatory Courtyard’s Tropical Pool are the settings for new works inspired by the artist’s 1975 Artpark installation in Lewiston, New York, near Niagara Falls. Three new works—Koda studies—provide a rare opportunity to view the effects of reflection and light created by colored panels as day transitions to night. Photo by Ben Hider.
Chihuly Nights. Saturdays through June and Thursdays in July and August are Chihuly Nights, from 6:30–10:30 p.m. As the sun goes down, the artworks are illuminated showcasing the unique quality of the glass and the beauty of Chihuly’s colors and form. Performing artists and musicians provide entertainment in the Visitor Center plaza where you can enjoy shopping, eating, and sipping a specialty Avión Tequila cocktail. Photo by Ben Hider.
CHIHULY Interactive Guide. You can experience the exhibition in a new way on your phone. The NYBG CHIHULY Interactive Guide shows each installation as an icon on a virtual map, and as you approach the sculpture, the guide offers information about the artwork or the process of its creation. And you can upload your images to the app and share them with other visitors and friends. Photo by Ben Hider.
