Chihuly's Big Ice Wall Is Melting, Melting

JERUSALEM - For Dale Chihuly, it was just another day at the office. Flying halfway around the world to oversee the actualization of yet another immense project didn't seem to faze the flamboyant Pacific Northwest glass artist one bit.

But even Jerusalemites who'd become accustomed to the Chihuly name through the hugely successful "Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000" installation at the Tower of David Museum here raised an eyebrow at the transitory venture which brought Chihuly and his team back to the city this week.

Chihuly's Seattle crew, along with local crane operators and engineers, built a 40-foot-long, eight-foot-high, three-foot-thick wall of ice last weekend just outside the walls of the citadel of the Old City, in front of the Tower of David Museum. The wall is asymmetrical, with several broken ice blocks forming an artistic pile.

No one could predict how long the wall would stay standing in a city where October daytime temperatures routinely reach the upper 80s, but by yesterday afternoon, the wall was suffering from a major meltdown - the top level of ice blocks lay haphazard and forlorn on the gravel, with huge holes gaping between the remaining bricks of ice.

Chihuly called it "a metaphor for the melting of the walls between peoples here," and a gesture in gratitude for the response to his glass installation at the Tower of David. (Museum officials estimate that more than 300,000 people have visited the exhibit since July).

And there was no mistaking the gasp of appreciation that rose up from the crowd when the colored lights were turned on as dusk descended on the citadel. Once lit, the contours of the three-ton blocks of ice clearly reflected the shape of the stones in the city wall behind it.

Pressed to talk about the ice wall, Chihuly explained, "I love to work with transparent materials - water, ice, glass. We didn't know how this would turn out, but it's better than we expected. As the sunlight hits the ice, it makes bubbles; if it was totally clear, you wouldn't see the colors," he noted. "It's more of a night piece," he acknowledged, as he ordered his technicians to experiment with the lighting effects.

Chihuly claims the ice wall cost $100,000 to erect, including a $10,000 contribution from Boeing. But it's hard to imagine how the bill for purchasing 62 tons of ice in Fairbanks, Alaska; shipping it for two months in three containers via Tacoma, New Jersey, Italy and Haifa; hauling it from Haifa to Jerusalem; hiring a crane and crew to move it into place; laying down layers of gravel and a drainage system for the ice runoff, plus accommodations and travel for a staff of 15 from Seattle could add up to a paltry $100,000.

But even at that price, some Jerusalem residents who came to watch the first night's illumination of the wall wondered out loud whether Chihuly could have made a more meaningful gift to the city. "The ice wall is lovely," noted student Yitzchak Abolofia, 19, "but just think of all the unemployed people we have here. He could have given more than 20,000 people 20 shekels (about $5) and they could have eaten for a few days - that would be a meaningful gift."

Once the ice wall was completed and opened to the public, Chihuly turned his attention to the select international entourage of 150 collectors, museum heads, gallery owners and friends whom he'd invited to view his Jerusalem installations.

At a buffet dinner inside the citadel, the invited guests wandered among the ramparts admiring Chihuly's massive colorful pieces as they mingled with Israel's political and arts elite. First lady Nava Barak was given a special tour. Knesset speaker Avrum Burg schmoozed with Absorption Minister Yuli Tamir and former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek.

But there could be no mistaking the objective of the gathering - a young, well-spoken museum staff member called on the guests to contribute $1,000 to further Chihuly's projects. In return, they would take home a small piece of signed crystal and an autographed catalog of the Jerusalem exhibition. Patrons were also offered the opportunity to purchase a Chihuly "Jerusalem cylinder," glass pieces created exclusively for the occasion, emblazoned with a Jerusalem 2000 logo.

The morning after the opening, the ice wall was well into its disappearing act. Chihuly was nowhere to be seen, but members of Chihuly's team were standing watch. Keeping them amused were a local Arab and his camel who had been drafted from their regular post near the Dung Gate to pose for the cameras in front of the Alaskan ice. But ice wall or no ice wall, Chihuly will have left his mark on Jerusalem.

Former Seattle resident Judy Lash Balint writes from Jerusalem.