Flash Your Fiction

Four Chambers Press is an independent literary magazine based in Phoenix, Arizona that has the goal of bringing literary arts to the public. Four Chambers prints two issues a year, welcoming all genres. They often motivate first-time writers to publish their work.

On September 13^th, 2014 this group brought literature to the public by holding a Flash-Mob style reading called “Flash Your Fiction” on the Phoenix light rail system. In doing so, they hoped to honor the daily occurrence of public transportation and strove to represent the unpredictability of life, which can be turned into material for poems or prose. The Flash-Mob participants divided in three groups to board the light rail from Central Ave. and Camelback Station. They staggered their reading times and performed for about twelve minutes per group, to finish at the Public Farmers Market in Roosevelt Station.

 The readers joined the several light rail riders, and once on board they introduced themselves, shared their motives for reading, and started to perform their art. Poet and co-organizer Kelly Nelson was the first performer on the third train, sharing her poem “Murder in a Bus.” She was followed by her fellow writers with prose pieces such as “Happiness is the Worst Drive,” “Materialistic Desire”, and “Directions Home.” The riders expressed their gratitude by clapping between pieces. 

The readers were able to connect with a diverse public of all ages and backgrounds by sharing work that reflected the real experiences of riders in the public system. They were able to link the emotions of daily life with literature. The literary arts are often misinterpreted by others as being boring or mundane, but once the public has experienced the intrigue of a story or a poem, they recognize how much can be expressed in a few lines of literature.   -Zalma Aguirre

merj Launch Event

Where will you be on April 2? If your answer is anywhere in the Phoenix area, it should also involve this awesome event, hosted by merj magazine! merj is a new online and print publication, designed to get artists from different mediums interacting and creating together. The goal of merj is to foster collaboration between artists and forms, and promote art within the community.

The event, which will take place from 6-8 p.m. at Art Intersection in Gilbert, AZ, will feature multimedia projects, such as photography, music, and poetry, copies of the first issue, delicious cupcakes, and more. It's a great way to support the local Arizona art scene and celebrate the creation of a new literary and arts journal.

Francine Prose visits Phoenix March 2nd and 3rd

Francine Prose, author of Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife, Reading Like a Writer and a host of wonderful novels will be visiting Phoenix later this week, and we'd love for you to come to any of the Piper Center for Creative Writing events, which are free and open to the public. Prose's Public Craft Q&A will take place at the Piper Writers House on Arizona State University's Tempe campus on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 2:00 pm. Feel free to come and ask any questions you may have about her work or the craft of writing.

Prose's reading and booksigning will take place at the Phoenix Art Museum in Whiteman Hall on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 7:00PM. Admission to the museum is free on Wednesdays so you can enjoy art before or after you enjoy the reading.

Prose's new book looks to see who the person is behind the diary and how one girl's account of a horrible tragedy is seen as a universal icon, read all over the world. The Wall Street Journal spoke with Prose about her own motivations for writing a book about one of the world's most widely read books. The article also includes a link to a book excerpt. The Los Angeles Times reviewed Prose's book saying, "With 'Anne Frank,' then, Prose means to remove Frank from the wistful amber of her posthumous celebrity and reveal her to us in a more realistic light." Read the full review here.

New Poets of the American West Reading Tonight!

Join poets Jefferson Carter, David Chorlton and others from the anthology New Poets of the American West for a reading at Pheonix's Puppet Theater, on the corner of 3rd Ave. and Latham at 7:30 tonight, September 22.

Editor Lowell Jaeger says of the anthology, "Collected here are poems about horse racing, mining, trash collecting, nuclear testing, firefighting, border crossings, buffalo hunting, surfing, logging, and sifting flour. In these pages you will visit flea markets, military bases, internment camps, reservations, funerals, weddings, rodeos, nursing homes, national parks, backyard barbecues, prisons, forests, meadows, rivers, and mountain tops. In your mind s eye, you will meet a simple-minded girl who gets run over by a bull, two mothers watching a bear menacingly nosing toward unsuspecting children, and children who have yet to be toilet trained out of their souls. You will learn to reach into the sacred womb, / grasp a placid hoof / and coax life toward this certain moment. You ll teach poetry to third graders, converse with hitchhikers, lament for an incarcerated brother trying to fill the holes in his soul / with Camel cigarettes / and crude tattoos. You will sit at the kitchen table where perhaps the world will end while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite. In the short time each of us has in this world, here s your chance to experience life widely and to reflect on your experiences deeply."

26 Blocks: Can you Think Inside the Block?

Joey Robert Parks, creator of the 26 Blocks art project, has paired 26 of the best writers with 26 of the best photographers from the Phoenix Metropolitan area "to capture the past, present or future of 26 randomly selected downtown Phoenix city blocks."

The writers and photographers are asked to complete a piece of collaborative art: a photograph with a written description. Although the descriptions are limited in word-count (500), they are not limited in form. The photographs can be 4 pictures in 1 of any style.

The project began after the death of one of Parks' closest friends inspired a change. "Time is shorter than I imagined. Great things can occur, but not if I keep waiting for them to come to me. There isn't time for fear."

Why 26 you may ask? 26 is the atomic number of iron. It sounded cool. The URL was available. A marathon run is 26 miles. But really, "one of the first ways children get strong in their minds and hearts is by forming words with the 26 letters of the alphabet. It's a stepping-stone to communication."

Can you Think Inside the Block? You can enter to be a part of 26 Blocks. If your photograph or piece of writing is selected as the winner, it will appear alongside the 26 professional writers' and photographers' pieces at the After Hours Gallery. The winner also will become an equal part of the 26 Blocks show and will be invited to come along on the 7-month Metro Phoenix art! Details on how to enter can be found at the 26 Blocks website. The deadline to enter is April 30th!

Notable ASU blockers include: T.M. McNally, Karen Werner, Sally Ball, Andrea Avery, Daniel Severn Frey and Scott Hermanson.

Extended Deadline: Phoenix Sister Cities International Competition for Writers with Disabilities

Eligibility: Persons 19 years of age and older with a disability residing in the State of Arizona or one of Phoenix’s nine sister cities: Calgary, Canada; Catania, Italy; Chengdu, China; Ennis, Ireland; Grenoble, France; Hermosillo, Mexico; Himeji, Japan; Ramat‐Gan, Israel; and Taipei, Taiwan.
Type of Writing: Poems of 32 lines or less written in English.
Theme: Reflections on Life
Entry Fee: $15 per entrant residing in Arizona, regardless of the number of poems he/she submits.
Submittal Format: Poems may be submitted electronically as word or Adobe files or other formats if accommodation is requested. Poems may also be submitted in hard copy. A copy of the competition entry form must accompany all entries. Due Date May 15, 2010.
Prizes: $500 first place; $350 second place and $150 third place as well as plaques. A certificate of participation to all entrants.
Publication: Poems will be published on Phoenix Sister Cities Website and made available internationally. Poems may also be published independently. Awards Event Friday evening June 11, 2010 in Phoenix. For More Information See International Competition for Writers with Disabilities 2010 brochure, which can be found on‐line at here and contains the entry form.

Free Association Poetry - One Year Anniversary Reading Tuesday April 9th

One year ago, a group of accomplished poets from Glendale and Surprise formed the Rorschach Poetry Collective to spread live literary arts into the West Valley. Over the past year, they have organized poetry events for the West Valley Art Museum and locally owned coffeehouses, but their monthly open mic reading at Glendale Community College (called Free Association) has remained the focal point of their literary sprawl.

These monthly events welcome and encourage community participation, through open mic readings and are free and open to the public. Each month also brings two distinguished featured poets, so West Valley crowds can be exposed to a diverse sample of the best writers from other scenes, ranging from widely published academics to National slam champions and performance poets. April's Anniversary Celebration will be a good example of the kind of poetic diversity that we integrate, on a monthly basis.

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Free Association Open Mic Poetry Reading. One-Year Anniversary Celebration. Tuesday April 13th at Glendale Community College. with special featured poets Bakeem Lloyd & Patricia Colleen Murphy. FREE and open to the public. open mic starts at 7pm. hosted by Shawnte Orion
Glendale Comunity College (in Student Union room 104ABC). 6000 W. Olive Ave. Glendale, AZ 85302.

To Think - To Write - To Publish Fellowship

A unique writing and publishing fellowship: To Think-To Write-To Publish--A program for "next generation" writers of any genre with an interest in science and technology. Learn creative nonfiction techniques. Develop and pitch ideas to book and magazine editors and literary agents. Publish your work. Featuring two intense days of writing, highlighted by an intimate and practical workshop with Lee Gutkind, author and editor of Creative Nonfiction Magazine and a conversation with New York Times science writer, Gina Kolata and Vice President and senior editor for Free Press, Leslie Meredith. Participants will enjoy an all expenses paid, five day retreat as the guest of the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University, including a stay at the Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, Arizona, plus a $500 honorarium. Application deadline is March 15, 2010. For more details see our flier. If you have specific questions, contact 2think2write2publish@gmail.com or to apply: simply send a bio and letter of interest to CSPO@asu.edu.

Poetry Out Loud

The Arizona Commission on the Arts in partnership with ASU's Young Writers Program and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing (the home of HFR) invite you to attend the 5th Annual Poetry Out Loud Arizona State Finals on March 5 from 7:00 to 9:00 at Burton Barr Central Library Auditorium in Phoenix. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance and competition. And it's a lot of fun to watch.

Dzanc Day: Tempe Edition

Dzanc Books, publishing conglomerate and champion of great writing, is hosting a national workshop day in 30 states across the country on March 20, and Tempe, Arizona is on the list. The details:

EXPLORING THE NOVEL AND THE SHORT STORY
This five-hour session on fiction writing will discuss both the short story and the novel (but mostly short stories), as well as the craft, the writing life, and the business of writing. There will be writing exercises and discussion, and a visit from Bhira Backhaus, author of the novel Under the Lemon Trees. 12:00pm to 05:00pm; $50.

INSTRUCTOR: JENNIFER SPIEGEL
Jennifer Spiegel has an MA in Politics from New York University, and an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Arizona State. Having taught composition, literature, and creative writing at the college level—including several fiction workshops for ASU’s Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing—she continues to teach a variety of on-line university courses. Her work has appeared in several anthologies and journals, ranging from THE GETTYSBURG REVIEW to NIMROD. Dzanc Books will publish her collection of short stories, THE FREAK CHRONICLES, in 2012. Additionally, her unpublished novel (LOVE SLAVE) was a finalist for the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel in 2005.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SIGN UP FOR THIS WORKSHOP PLEASE VISIT WWW.DZANCBOOKS.ORG/DZANCDAY/ OR CALL (734) 756-5701.

Tomorrow: Open Mic Featuring Kirk Nesset & David Chorlton

Free Association open mic poetry reading, featuring Kirk Nesset & David Chorlton. FREE and open to the public (but books will be available for purchase and/or signing) in the Student Union room 104E, Glendale Comunity College, 6000 W. Olive Ave., Glendale, AZ 85302. Open mic starts at 7pm. Hosted by Shawnte Orion.

Kirk Nesset is Professor of English at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. He has published two books of stories, Mr. Agreeable and Paradise Road, as well as a nonfiction study, The Stories of Raymond Carver, a book of poems, Saint X (forthcoming), and a book of translations, Alphabet of the World: Selected Works of Eugenio Montejo (also forthcoming). He was awarded the Drue Heinz literature prize in 2007 and has received a Pushcart Prize and grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. His stories, poems, translations and essays have appeared in hundreds of journals, including The Paris Review, Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, American Poetry Review, Gettysburg Review, Iowa Review, Agni, The Sun, Fiction and Prairie Schooner, among others.

David Chorlton was born in Austria and grew up in Manchester, England, home of rain and industry. His poems have appeared in hundreds of literary magazines, including Connecticut Review, The Bitter Oleander, Bloomsbury Review, Poet Lore, and Hawaii Pacific Review. He has had many individual collections of poetry published, including Return To Waking Life (Main Street Rag Press) and Fever Dreams (University of Arizona Press). Recent chapbooks have been awarded prizes from Slipstream Press (for The Age Of Miracles) and Rain Mountain Press (for The Lost River).

Campus map and other details can be found at www.myspace.com/rcpoets

It's Time for the Poe Show

The Poe Show is a birthday party for Edgar Allen Poe, one that has become the largest west of the Mississippi. This year, the show's on Saturday, January 16th, at 7:30PM at the MADCAP Theaters in Downtown Tempe.

Come and listen to original interpretations of Poe's work, music and skits based on Poe's themes. Whether it's the hilarity of Klute and Steve's "show and tell" recitals, the tremendous wonder of a Johnathan Standifird performance, or a homemade movie by the Nelsonettes, the show will have something for everyone.

The Poe Show is a benefit for Anthology, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to bringing poetry to the Valley for over 15 years. More information here.

Family Day of Culture for the Holiday Season!

Arizona Consortium for the Arts and Peoria Home and Garden Expo Center present A Day of Culture for the Holiday Season. Performances by local groups and readings from the fall issue of The Blue Guitar magazine, including a dedication of the issue in memory of Scottsdale resident and World War II veteran Richard Colosimo. This event is FREE to attend; there will be a raffle and display of art works. Please come join us for a day of fun festivities and more surprises await you!!!

Date: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Time: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: Peoria Home & Garden Expo Center
8606 W. Ludlow Dr., Suite E
Peoria, AZ 85381
623-487-3343

Poetry Reading at Scottscale Museum of Contemporary Art

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) will be resurrecting its poetry series titled “Museum Heart” in honor of a special free December 3rd public reading at 6:30 p.m. in the galleries featuring two notable Arizona poets, Alberto Rios & Brian Diamond. Museum Heart Readings were coined for a poem by the same title written by Alberto Rios which was dedicated to SMoCA during the Museum’s grand opening in 1999. The readings are co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program at Arizona State University.

Celebrated poet Alberto Rios reads selections from his new book, The Dangerous Shirt, and some pieces from his memoir, Capirotada. A recent finalist for the National Book Award, Rios is the author of ten books and chapbooks of poetry, including The Theater of Night—winner of the 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award—three collections of short stories, and a memoir about growing up on the border, Capirotada. Ríos is the recipient of numerous awards and his work is included in over 200 national and international literary anthologies. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music. Ríos is a Regents’ Professor and the Katharine C. Turner Chair in English at Arizona State University.

Brian Diamond will also be reading work for this event. Diamond holds an MA in Creative Writing from California State Northridge and is an MFA candidate at Arizona State University, where he is international poetry editor for HFR. His work has previously appeared in such publications as Sycamore Review, The Los Angeles Review, 42 Opus, Redactions, and Oakbend Review. He is a one-time winner of the New Yorker cartoon contest and is currently working on translations of Yiddish poetry.

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s upcoming free poetry workshop event

SMoCA's Director of Education, Carolyn Robbins, has organized a two-part event on Nov 5 + Nov 12 (6:30 pm) called “Language as Lens: Seeing Art Through Poetry” taught by Mark Haunschild, former HFR poetry editor, and MFA candidate in poetry at ASU. On November 5th, folks will tour through one of the museum's current exhibitions titled "southwestNET: film & video; Looking Through the Other End of a Telescope" and begin to write. Then, they’ll return to workshop new poems on the 12th. If you'd like to participate, you'll need to pre-register at 480-874-4641.

More info here.

HOT LIST: October

Are you into the literary night life? Looking for some literary-based events around Phoenix? Want to learn from the masters? Read and discuss classic or new works of fiction? Then go no further. I said no further! Just check out some of the events below. We’ll be profiling the top fiction and poetry related adventures each month, starting now.

(1) Leslie Marmon Silko is coming to town.

Author Talk and Book Signing: Thursday, October 8th at 10 am in the Labriola Center on the second floor of Hayden Library

An Evening with Leslie Marmon Silko: A reading and audience discussion, also Thursday, October 8th at 7 pm at the Heard Museum, located on 2301 Central Avenue, in Downtown Phoenix.

Leslie Marmon Silko is most known as the author of Ceremony, she has written two other novels and numerous books of short stories. She also received the MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 1981. She will read from her new memoir, Turquoise Ledge.

(2) Author Sarah Vowell reads in Tempe.
Public Reading: October 12, 7 p.m., Changing Hands Bookstore, 6428 S. McClintock, Tempe.

Bestselling author Sarah Vowell, contributor to NPR’s This American Life and voice of Violet in Pixar’s The Incredibles, visits with her new book, The Wordy Shipmates. To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that really means, and what it should mean.

(3) Kimiko Hahn and Harold Schechter are coming to ASU.

Wednesday, October 14:

Public Craft Q&A with Harold Schechter, Noon-1 pm

Public Craft Q&A with Kimiko Hahn, 1:30-2:30 pm at Piper Writers' House

Reading and Book Signing at 7:30 pm at Ventana A Room (Room 241A), Memorial Union - ASU Tempe Campus

Kimiko Hahn is an award winning poet. She was awarded the PEN/Voeckler Award for Poetry in 2008 as well as an American Book Award.

Harold Schechter is most known for his work in the true crime genre, in addition to which, he writes mystery novels, most notably a series of mystery detective novels featuring Edgar Allan Poe, the inventor of the detective story himself.

(4) Sherman Alexie is appearing at The Heard Museum.

Friday, October 16th - 2301 Central Avenue, Phoenix, 85004

Tickets for the event are $7, but come with a $7 voucher for purchase of Alexie's new book, War Dances. Tickets can only be purchased at Changing Hands Bookstore.

Sherman Alexie is a National Book Award winner, bestselling author, film director, screenwriter, comedian and poet. He is known for his bitingly witty insight into the culture of Native Americans, both present and past.

(5) Creative Writing graduate students read every Thursday in Tempe.
Every Thursday, 8 PM, Tavern on Mill, 404 S. Mill Ave., Tempe

If you’re interested in meeting ASU’s MFA students, drop in on one of their wildly popular Thursday night readings. A mix of fiction and poetry (and beer).

Have something we should add to the list? Email us at HFR@asu.edu.

HOT LIST: SEPTEMBER

Are you into the literary night life? Looking for some literary-based events around Phoenix? Want to learn from the masters? Read and discuss classic or new works of fiction? Then go no further. I said no further! Just check out some of the events below. We’ll be profiling the top fiction and poetry related adventures each month, starting now.

#1 Poet & Author STEPHEN DOBYNS craft talk and reading.
Public Craft Q&A: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 1-2 pm, Piper Writers House - ASU Tempe Campus
Reading and Booksigning: Thursday, September 17, 2009 , 7:30 pm Pima Auditorium (Room 230) - ASU Memorial Union

Stephen Dobyns has published twelve books of poetry, twenty novels, a book of essays on poetry, and a book of short stories. All events are fee and open to the public. If you are interested to learn more about the Author and event please check out the following links.
Piper Book Blog
Event Info
Dobyns Info

#2 On September 21, Changing Hands bookstore will host a reading of contributors from the Superstition Review, the online literary magazine at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. The innovative magazine, committed to publishing fresh art, fiction, interviews, nonfiction and poetry, is student designed, student maintained, and student edited. It gives undergrads a one-semester crash course in magazine publishing. This reading will feature contributors to Issue #3, Spring 2009. More info: Superstition Review and
Changing Hands.

#3 Get a head start on Maricopa County Library’s BIG READ, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. This selection will be discussed all throughout October and the Maricopa County Libraries, followed by a showing of the movie. For more information on the event and meetings, go to the BIG READ.

Check back in a few weeks for exciting events throughout October!

The Best Bookstore in Phoenix

I can’t keep the secret anymore.

Usually I hold the information about where I buy my books very close. You won’t be able to pry from me the locations of my favorite thrift stores or second-hand sales. They are sources that I guard like Woodward guarded Deep Throat.

But finally the guilt has become too much, and I want to shed my miserly ways. So I’m going to make up for it by giving away my crown jewel; I’m going to tell you what I believe is the best used bookstore in Phoenix, AZ. Now listen to me carefully, because you may not believe it at first: The best used bookstore in the Valley of the Sun is in the Arizona State University Textbook store on the Tempe Campus.

Go inside those big glass doors. Ignore the foam fingers, ballcaps, and mascot shot glasses. Go to your right. On the wall you will see six book bays (with three facing shelf units) with signs quietly announcing the the used book section. You won't need any help finding the good stuff. Good stuff like: T.C. Boyle’s Stories (for $8.95!), Echo Maker by Richard Powers ($7.95), Richard Ford’s short story collection Multitude of Sin ($6.95), which is also the price of Alice Munro’s View From Castle Rock. Now I know you’re thinking those prices are pretty typical for used quality paperbacks, but each of the above quotes refers to a good quality hardback copy that has been lovingly wrapped in Brodart. The paperback prices are so cheap I’m not even going to mention them for fear I won’t see any the next time I go.

Long-time resident bibiophiles might recognize here the handiwork of Scott Krause, the former proprietor of Reid’s, a small bookstore on Apache Blvd in Tempe that from ’96-’99 carried more bang per board foot than anywhere else. It was a sad thing when Reid's closed, and to see Scott’s discerning eye at work again quickens a book lover’s heart.

Though he still refers to it as a ‘side-project’, the title depth is awesome, the books are cheaper than cheap, and (and this is the real Scott Krause hallmark) their condition is excellent. If you want a copy to own, a copy to sit on your shelves and be enjoyed multiple times, this is the place to find it. The section relies on its own merits to produce sales, with no one hand selling the tomes. But Krause sees that as an advantage. “People should be rewarded for browsing,” he says. I couldn’t agree more.

So stop by. Now is the perfect time since most of the student body is away and the shelves are heavy with literary fruit waiting to be picked. Everything but that $7.95 hardback copy of Ann Beattie’s Park City. That’s one thing I’m not sharing.

The ASU bookstore (which is independent and not part of a textbook chain) is at the ASU Tempe Campus on Orange Mall between the Computing Commons and Physical Education building. Parking is free along Apache Boulevard. For an interactive map of the campus, click here.

Phoenix Public Panels Poetry - Present your Person

Join us for a celebration of public art on Friday, April 3. At 7:00 PM the City of Phoenix will be dedicating the newest set of its 7th Avenue Streetscape Panels. These are light boxes that feature fine art and poetry, in a pedestrian friendly setting. The Project puts art in front of the people everyday, and only takes work that from writers who have not had a commission from the city before. This insures an emphasis on artists that may not have had their work displayed publically before, something that we here at HFR can get behind as we also try to bring the best of new works to the reading public. Poets will read their work at ten minute intervals until 8pm. We'll be there supporting two of our own: Sean Nevin, with work that will start its tenure at the outdoor gallery that night, and also Elizabyth Hiscox, who will be able to take her panel home in pride now that it has finished it's tenure.

This happening on a First Friday, the monthly celebration of art in downtown Phoenix, so there is sure to be a crowd. Come early, and support public art and poetry. We'll see you there.

So, What's There to do in Phoenix (Art-Wise)?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Phoenix may not be New York or San Francisco, but we've got our fair share of fun art and literature events. We'll keep you posted of these events (and more!) in our sporadically updated review "So, what's there to do in Phoenix?"

ArtEvent: Chihuly: The Nature of Glass; Desert Botanical Garden; Phoenix, AZ; November 22, 2008 to May 31, 2009

Vibrant colors and sculptures, oh my! Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden is offering an exhibit that can't be passed up. Dale Chihuly's passion for glass-blowing is a remarkable gift, perhaps even more remarkable because he has sight in only one eye, a fact that seems nearly impossible when you experience the beautiful, intricate, detailed world of his work. Influenced by an environment that fostered the blurring of boundaries separating all the arts, as early as 1967 Chihuly was using neon, argon, and blown glass forms to create room-sized installations of organic, freestanding, plantlike imagery.

His work is displayed in over 200 museums throughout the world including many memorable installation exhibitions: Chihuly Over Venice (1995–96), Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000 at the Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem (2000) and Mille Fiori at the Tacoma Art Museum (2003). Gardens are the dominant theme in his most recent work which can be seen at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory (2001), the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (2005), the New York Botanical Garden (2006), and Pittsburgh's Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (2007).

The picture here features my absolute favorite piece in the show. According to his website, his fascination with boats "allude[s] to his childhood in Tacoma, Washington, marked by his love of the sea and his recognition of its importance to the economy of the Pacific Northwest." Though the pictures of his work online are impressive, I really encourage you to see the show in person. The way the light shimmered through the colorful pieces created a dream-like feeling as I wandered through. Truly, not to be missed!