It's the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit at the Seattle Center. Protesters marked the day with a call to boycott the famous artist's museum.
Shame on Chihuly Glass and Garden. Keeping out our kids, keeping out low-income residents and catering to the elite. This is our Seattle Center and all they care about is their profits, yelled boycott organizer Anita Devi.
Devi is with UniteHere Local 8, representing Space Needle workers. The union is upset that union Space Needle workers are not employed at the Chihuly Exhibit.
Some local artists complain they were promised exhibition space at the museum.
Currently, Dale Chihuly is the only artist exhibited at the museum, said local graphic designer Alyssa MacLachlan.
Chihuly Glass and Garden executive director Michelle Bufano said, We're able to expose a lot of our artists from the Northwest through the bookstore at this point.
Another complaint is the promised playground.
When the old Fun Forest was torn down, instead of keeping the property public, the city leased the area to private owners, with the promise of a playground elsewhere at the center.
To get city approval to build the glass museum, the owners of the Space Needle, the Wright family, pledged to build a million dollar playground. But it hasn't been built.
2014. It will be complete, said Bufano.
Bufano says the Seattle Center delayed the playground until after the Center's 50th anniversary celebrations were over.
And, there's the issue of a view.
Many citizens expected more transparency at the museum site, but it's blocked off by trees and the hefty $19 admission fee.
Chihuly Garden and Glass has given out more than 10,000 free tickets, but with some Seattleites, the good will is broken.
