Born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941, Dale Chihuly lost his only brother and sibling in 1957 to a navy training accident, and then his father in 1958, leaving just Dale and his mother, Viola. He studied interior design and architecture at the University of Washington where he experimented with glass for the first time, creating a textile that incorporated flat strips of glass woven into the fabric the wall piece. While experimenting in his basement studio he blew glass for the first time in 1965, melting stained glass and using a metal pipe. In 1966, he entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study with Harvey Littleton in the first university program of its kind in the United States. With his MS in sculpture from UW-Madison he went on to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) where he received his MFA. At RISD he experimented with blown glass as well as neon, argon and eventually co-founded a glass program that still thrives today. He completed a Fulbright to Italy in 1969, where he became the first American to work in the prestigious Venini glass factory on the island of Murano. That same year he became the head of the glass department at RISD where he taught for the next eleven years. In 1971, Chihuly co-founded Pilchuck Glass School, located on land donated by Anne and John Hauberg, in Stanwood, Washington. This school continues to be profound influence in the contemporary glassmaking world. He began one of his most successful and noteworthy series, the Navajo Blanket Cylinders, in 1975, collaborating with Flora Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick to create the patterned elements for his blown vessels. Three of these vessels were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1976. That same year he was in a car accident in England that resulted in permanent damage to his foot and ankle as well as the loss of sight in his left eye. This loss would prevent him from continuing to blow glass. Chihuly returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1983 for good where he continues his practice. Over the years his body of work has grown, from the Persians and Niijima Floats, to chandeliers and expansive outdoor installations including Chihuly Over Venice. His first chandelier was made in 1992 and displayed at the Seattle Art Museum.