By LENNIE BENNETT, Times art critic
Published December 4, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - As plans for the Chihuly Collection at the Arts Center move forward, Dale Chihuly, the internationally famous glass artist, has created a signed, limited edition of 75 prints to help promote it.
St. Pete's Sunny Baskets will be sold exclusively at the Arts Center, 719 Central Ave., for $2,200 each. Chihuly is keeping one, so 74 will be available. Part of the proceeds will be used for the gallery, scheduled to open in early 2008, said its director, Marshall Rousseau. The work was created using the intaglio process, which is a type of reverse-etching.
Chihuly is famous for his elaborate blown-glass installations, which will be showcased at the new gallery, but he is also a prolific painter and printmaker. Rousseau said the artist will offer more limited editions in various media before the gallery opens. Rousseau said architectural plans for the gallery and a new, $20-million Arts Center one block west of its current location will be unveiled shortly.
The Arts Center is also benefitting from a $200,000 Neighborhood Excellence Award recently given by Bank of America. The money will be given in two annual installments for the center's operating fund.
