Last day in Seattle: Chihuly and a quilt shop

The ALA Midwinter Meeting went very well.  There were 5519 advance registrants, 1175 on-site, and 4,037 exhibitors for a total of 10,731. (By comparison, the total for MW12 in Dallas was 9929 and for MW11 in San Diego, 11,124.  Location makes a difference!)  Midwinter attendance is less than half than the Annual Conference in June.

My ALA responsibilities include service on Council, the 186-member governing body of the 60,000-member association. In addition I'm on  the Council Orientation Committee whose program for new Councilors was appreciatively-received.  I am the co-chair of the Association of American University Press Books for High School and Public Libraries Committee.  I'm also on the program committee for United for Libraries (advocates, Friends, trustees, foundations).  I'm convenor of the ALA BiblioQuilters and stopped in at the Exhibitors Round Table meeting, too.

"Libraries transform communities" is the ALA theme this year. Peter Block was the speaker at the President's Program. His ideas about building communities by enriching human capital are very much what many of us are trying to achieve in the Zion-Benton community, so I was very glad I heard Peter speak.

The trade show is a big component of ALA conferences. Publishers and other vendors to the library market show their products.  There are lots of new books-- both galleys ("advance reader copies") and the real thing.  I went to several book events, including two author panels. I always say I won't take too many books and I always do.  Here's a photo of my loot!


Tuesday afternoon after the final Council session my long-time friend (and fellow Councilor) Valerie and I went to Chihuly Garden and Glass :

Accordions on the ceiling 

Chihuly Garden and Glass provides a look at the inspiration and influences that inform the career of artist Dale Chihuly. Located at Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass includes an Exhibition Hall, the centerpiece Glasshouse and a lush Garden. The Exhibition Hall contains eight galleries and three Drawing Walls, offering visitors a comprehensive look at Chihuly’s significant series of work; the Glasshouse presents a suspended 1,400-piece, 100-foot-long sculpture; and the Garden is a backdrop for four monumental sculptures and other installations.


Lead soldiers 



Bakelite radios

Kathy, Nann, Valerie

Valerie and I met Kathy, another Councilor. We had lunch in the cafe, Collections. Chihuly has many collections -- accordions, bottle openers, radios, TVs, and Pendleton blankets.  Each table at the restaurant had items from collections in a well in the center. 



Interior of a bowl-shaped piece



After lunch we saw the glass.  Wow.  Such beauty -- indoors and out. (And of course the shapes and colors reminded me of fabric designs.  Imagine Chihuly and Kafe Fassett collaborating.)

Valerie and I returned to our hotels by way of Undercover Quilts.  After Chihuly it was almost anticlimactic! I bought some more Lida Enche fabric (see last Thursday's post).  I can't wait to make something out of these beautiful prints!