On Thursday a City Council panel approved a lease agreement to bring a Dale Chihuly gallery space to the Seattle Center campus, according to a report by the SeattlePI.
The proposal to build a 44,000 square-foot Chihuly exhibition space has been the center of much debate since it was first proposed in March 2010 as part of the Center’s redevelopment plan to celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. After lots of back and forth between developers, Seattle Center administrators, Chihuly, city officials, and community members, Mayor Mike McGinn announced plans to move forward with the Chihuly space, alongside a new studio for KEXP and a kids playground and public open space area on the campus ground back in December.
However, according to the PI, the lease agreement clarified yesterday ensures that other artists will also be able to show and sell their works on campus grounds. From the PI:
The lease agreement was changed to allow other artists to sell their work at Seattle Center. The original lease would’ve precluded “certain retail art sales” other than Chihuly’s. Chihuly museum backers had previously said they would support a retail gallery that would exhibit and sell the works of other local artists, but that commitment wasn’t reflected in the original lease.
Councilman Nick Licata pushed for the amendment. “There will be space in the Center House where orther artists can display their artwork,” he said.
“I think we’re all in agreement that this was what we’d been talking about from the beginning,” added Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw.
As per the terms of the lease agreement, the rent for the Chihuly center will be $350,000 a year, and Seattle Center will get a cut of the glass exhibit’s net sales after the fifth year. The agreement, however, still needs to be ratified by the full City Council before development can move forward.
Read the full story at the SeattlePI.