Night Magic at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix

 

Despite the cool temperatures (~50F/10C) and occasional rain drops between 6 & 9 pm, we were thrilled to be part of the music, lights, and desert nighttime Christmas magic.

Throughout the garden were seating areas, heaters and stages hosted by musical groups ranging from mariachi to Navajo flute, to brass, jazz, and blues bands..

                

(a borrowed photo)

Thousands of luminarias* lined the walkways and trails for the Desert Botanical Garden's annual Las Noches de las Luminarias. *A luminaria or farolito is a small paper lantern (commonly a candle set in some sand inside a paper bag) which is of significance in the Hispanic culture of southwestern United States at Christmas time, especially on Christmas Eve.

The huge, illuminated glass sculptures of the Chihuly in the Desert exhibit added a dramatic element to the evening.

Glass sculptor, Dale Chihuly, first filled boats like this one with glass pieces in Nuutajärvi, Finland, in 1995, after tossing bulbous glass pieces into the river to let them float downstream. Chihuly’s team salvaged a rowboat from the river and filled it with a variety of glass forms and he's been using the technique ever since.

 

The Seattle-based Chihuly Studio ships the thousands of individual glass pieces wrapped in foam and carefully packed in hundreds of heavy-gauge cardboard boxes; they also send some extra elements so if something breaks on site, they have replacement (s). Apparently the glass is so durable that it can withstand hail!

Probably 20 ft tall!

The Chihuly scuptures are illuminated by

 electrically charged argon and mercury.