Need an excuse for a trip to Maker’s Mark? Chihuly exhibit is back and bolder
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- Maker's Mark distillery hosts Dale Chihuly’s glass art exhibit through Dec. 7.
- Nine installations include Kentucky debuts, permanent chandelier piece and unique ceiling.
- Expanded tours, dining and cocktail experiences support the exhibition’s return.
A Kentucky distillery known for its dedication to the arts and craftsmanship is once again hosting a special exhibition of blown glass.
Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto is showing nine stunning installations by Seattle-based artist Dale Chihuly, who showed six works on the campus in 2017.
Rob Samuels, managing director of Maker’s Mark, said at a media preview July 18 that as the first and largest craft distiller, Maker’s Mark is committed to offering visitors the finest collection of art as well.
“It’s just an honor to bring the Chihuly Studio back to Kentucky. This is a celebration of like-minded, pioneering creative leaders, and it’s just exciting to share the work,” Samuels said. “I didn’t think it was possible to bring an even more spectacular exhibition experience to Star Hill Farm, but I think (Dale’s team) has accomplished it.”
Britt Cornett, director of exhibitions for Chihuly Studio, said the distillery space was special.
“A little bit of an unconventional setting for contemporary art, but it’s proved spectacular,” she said.
What’s new at Maker’s Mark for Chihuly exhibit
The “Chihuly x Maker’s Mark at Star Hill Farm” exhibition runs July 19 through Dec. 7 and includes new-to-Kentucky works as well as one that appeared in the 2017 exhibition and the distillery’s first permanent piece, “Spirit of the Maker.”
And to accompany the event, Star Hill Farm will offer an expanded dining and cocktail program with additional bookable experiences.
Tickets begin at $26 and can be booked at makersmark.com/distillery/visit-us. Admission to the exhibition will include a printed map for self-guided tours.
The distillery will have after-dark tours on Fridays and many Saturdays, and they must be booked in advance online. Evening tours include a cocktail and a neat pour. The Star Hill Farm restaurant also will be open until 8 p.m. with limited seating on Saturdays.
And as special as the exhibit is during the day, it might be even more amazing at night, when the sculptures are lit by spotlights.
The restaurant will have a new cocktail and culinary program with a menu of seasonal handcrafted cocktails and dishes, plus seating on a new outdoor patio. They’ve added non-alcoholic drinks and family-friendly food to accommodate visitors of all ages as well as those who might come more for the art than the bourbon.
But if you are coming for the bourbon and have a driver, I highly recommend the Maker’s Mark slushie, made with Ale-8 One, a berry puree for color and garnished with a pineapple wedge. It has near-miraculous cooling powers.
Chihuly works in this exhibit
The new exhibit begins with “Sapphire and Platinum Waterdrop Tower,” a piece that was inspired in 2017 by the distillery’s natural watershed. Made with more than 300 individual forms and over 12 feet tall, it’s now standing near the visitors center.
Inside the center is “Amber and New Oak,” a chandelier also created in 2017 that has become a permanent addition to the distillery’s glass-roofed welcome center.
“We thought this would be a good location, to greet visitors on arrival,” Cornett said.
“We actually built this entire space that chandelier,” Samuels said.
On the grounds, visitors can see “Sol del Citron,” created in 2014, one of Chihuly’s signature “sun” pieces between the bourbon warehouse and the innovation lab.
Inside the warehouse, “Venetians” features five vases inspired by traditional Venetian glass-blowing techniques.
Two more large-scale pieces on the grounds — Moonbow Fiori and Red Reeds on Logs — were created for this distillery exhibition.
In the cellar aging warehouse is a spectacular addition, “End of the Day Persian Chandelier,” a 2015 piece that hangs above barrels of private select bourbon.
And inside the tasting room, leading to the gift shop, is “The Spirit of the Maker,” Chihuly’s homage to Maker’s Mark itself with hundreds of pieces arrayed in a ceiling, filtering colored light onto the walls of bourbon below.
Chihuly x Maker’s Mark at Star Hill Farm
When: July 19 through Dec. 7
Where: 3350 Burkes Spring Rd., Loretto, KY
Tickets: makersmark.com
