Gardens of Glass

Gardens of Glass is an exhibit that has been on display at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley since mid-June; it has thirty glass and metal sculptures on display throughout the gardens. The gardens at the MSV are such a great spot to visit; they are absolutely beautiful and always have some sort of exhibit on display within them - we've seen gigantic Lego displays in Spring and Christmas lights in December.

The sculptures were all created by a Michigan-based artist named Craig Mitchell Smith and two of the thirty sculptures were created especially for Winchester; an apple blossom and another with tiger swallowtails; the state insect of Virginia. The sculptures were woven throughout the garden, some of them in water features and some of them popping out of the flowers and greenery! 

We didn't have the most perfect weather when we went to see the exhibit - we were going on a week of gray skies and rain, so we were thankful that we only had gray skies on the Sunday afternoon we attended the exhibit. The weather was cloudy and cooler, so I was able to comfortably wear my new jean jacket as we strolled around the exhibit; that was nice because the last time I was at an MSV exhibit, it was so hot I could feel the sweat rolling between my shoulder blades - ew. 

I took so many more pictures than I realized - but everything was lovely, even with the gray skies. Some of the sculptures; like the one below, reminded me of Fruit Roll Ups that I used to eat as a kid... the glass looked almost pliable and candy-like to me. 

Of course, some of my pictures are of actual flowers and not glass ones, ha-ha! The gardens still had plenty of blooms that were showing off their colors; I know as Autumn continues to descend, the flowers will fade as the leaves trade their green for yellow, orange and red - so it was nice to still see the pinks, purples, greens, whites and other shining Summer colors. Although - I am more of a Fall girl myself! 

Can you tell the difference between the glass and the real flowers? The gorgeous swallowtail sculpture that was made especially for this display is pictured above, and that orange flower is real, ha-ha! I'm not sure which of the thirty sculptures was my favorite, but I did love the yellow and blue particularly - then again, I've always loved all things blue!

The other sculpture that was created for this display specifically was the apple blossoms that I took a picture of; above and below. I'm sure these sculptures take on a whole different light in the sunshine; I can't imagine how brightly the chandelier of leaves would sparkle in the sun... however, we thought that the final day to see the exhibit was September 30th, but it looks like it is still on display through the 13th of October - so if you're in the Winchester, Virginia area - it's worth checking out! 

I hope you enjoyed my excess of pictures from our little visit to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley and their Gardens of Glass exhibit. I can't wait to see what lovely exhibits they bring to the area in the seasons to come!