Mixing children and glass may not seem like a good idea unless you're renowned glass blower Dale Chihuly. I came across this amazing work called "Eye Candy" while visiting the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It's visible from all four floors of the museum where interesting facts are posted about the piece, like how it's dusted (very carefully...)On the ground level, Chihuly found a way to actually make his art interactive by creating stations for kids to replicate the structure with similarly shaped and colored plastic pieces.
On the wall nearby is a framed copy of Chihuly's original rough draft notes when conceiving this piece. What impressed me so was that he not only imagined the art work, he also imagined how people would react to it. His drawings include kids shouting, "Cool!" and "Wow!" and "I want to try that!"What a great lesson for all of his when considering having a conversation, pitching a new idea, or creating a presentation: Consider the affect you want to have on others, then create the work that will inspire that reaction. So often, I think we just concentrate on what we want to say, with little thought of how others may respond.
After spending four hours at this museum hearing kids squeal with delight and parents look up in amazement, I think Dale Chihuly has the process right. Everything he imagined came true, at least during my visit. All I can say is, "Wow! I want to try that!"
