In honor of its 100th birthday, W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory in Wright Park recently had a sensational glass art exhibit installed among its wealth of rare flowering plants and trees, courtesy of Tacoma’s own native son Dale Chihuly.

An amazing feat of blending nature with man-made objects, every piece in the collection fits so perfectly among the conservatory’s rooted residents that they look as if they sprouted up of their own accord. This is exactly how the team of glass artists intended them to be and it was not easy according to Terry Rishel, Chihuly photographer and manager of his Tacoma studio. He said placing the more than 250 individual pieces amounted to “a fine science. The idea is to make it feel like it is supposed to be there. It is a lot harder than it looks to make it look random,” he said, and even harder to delicately accentuate the perfect design found in nature.

The whole collection represents upwards of $1.5 million in art, Rishel said, so 24-hour security will be on duty at the conservatory at all times. Guests are asked to contribute $5 to see the exhibit (although no one will be turned away due to lack of funds). This money will help pay for the additional staffing and for maintenance and future projects at the Victorian-style glass conservatory, one of the few of its kind remaining.

For upcoming Third Thursday Art Walks - Dec. 18, Jan. 15 and Feb. 19 - admission will be free and the conservatory will remain open until 8 p.m. Otherwise, hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Chihuly visited the conservatory Nov. 18 to see the finished installation for himself. Strolling through the botanicals he commented, “I’ve always loved this building. This is a beautiful little spot.” He said he remembered how his mother used to take him there when he was a child.

“He’s been in the biggest and most prestigious conservatories in the world, but out of all of them this little conservatory is his favorite,” said Rishel, a member of Chihuly’s team for going on 20 years. He commented that the installation is a gift from Chihuly to the people of Tacoma. “(The conservatory) isn’t being charged one penny for this. It’s all on Dale.”

“This is a wonderful time to be doing this,” said Mary Anderson, manager of the conservatory. “We’re big fans [of Chihuly] so we’re all pretty excited.” She noted that the collection will be on view through Feb. 22, which allows for the art to accentuate major plant display changes coming up. Right now a big variety of mums are on view. Next month, the holidays will be celebrated with fragrant paper whites, exotic amaryllis and a marvelous show of poinsettias. Then in January, visitors will get an early taste of spring with azaleas, tulips, cyclamen and miniature daffodils. February welcomes hyacinths, tulips, clivias, orchids, azaleas and cinerarias in many colors.

Rishel said the glass art is at its most breathtaking at night. “When it gets dark, the drama starts.” Two Chihuly electricians spent days choreographing the narrow, high-intensity spotlighting to bring out the best of the medium.

Upcoming events at the conservatory include its annual Victorian Holiday Celebration Dec. 6, complete with a visit from Santa, and the on-going Second Sunday music program with Tom Brooks Jazz Trio featuring Gregg Glassman (guitar, bass, drums) Dec. 14; Mister Fusion featuring Joe Izenman and Erich Sachs (vocals, guitar and doumbek) Jan. 11; and The Hayburners featuring Jennifer Spector and David Tieman (original material covering a variety of musical genres, folk and bluegrass) Feb. 8.

For more information, call (253) 591-5330.