joined by a common interest in the arts…

Working as an artist implies the intention to convey thoughts through the product of my labor. In every attempt to make a meaningful statement with a piece I put out in the world, it’s a shot in the dark because the recipients of my message are unknown and perhaps there won’t be anyone focused and thinking about the things I’ve produced. Many artist friends have expressed similar feelings to me; a kind of self doubt.

After years of art education to know and understand the history of art, particularly 20th century art, I place myself mentally in a continuum of working artists, turning the skills and experience I have gained toward my own expressive notions. This requires an optimistic outlook with expectation that the ideas I’ve realized in the finished works will be appreciated. When I receive good response and someone tells me what they feel about a piece it confirms my dedication to such an uncertain way of making a living, and has for many years provided the impetus to continue. It’s not the ego boost or the dollars that make such response a good thing, it’s the sense that what I have spent so much time making, and whatever resources I have invested to get the piece just right, resulted in something meaningful.   

Over many years Linda and I have come to know a lot of the people who own our art. Their variety of personalities, experiences, professions, and interests is a constant source of delight and appreciation for us. It is truly surprising to have so many friends all over the US, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere in the world. This way of engagement with the art world is a treasure that we never expected, but it has become a profoundly delightful part our lives.   

It’s likely that our attitudes and feelings will remain through the trying times of this epidemic because we are not the only ones thinking this way. The community of friends and acquaintances joined by common interest in the arts is huge and enduring, even while constantly changing to accommodate newcomers who often bring new interests into the conversation. Our culture thrives on creative endeavor and its support by many interested parties, which provides much satisfaction to all of us. I feel certain this will endure.  

Dan Dailey
April 7, 2020
Kensington, NH 

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Dan Dailey: Character Sketch, on view at the Chrysler Museum of Art has been extended, and includes thirty-three works by the artist.

Enjoy the exhibition catalogue published by the Chrysler Museum of Art, designed by Ken Gray at Dailey’s studio and supported by Schantz Galleries. © 2020 Chrysler Museum of Art. Used with the permission of the artist.

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Dan Dailey uses tape to create a mural as a part of his exhibition, "Dan Dailey: Character Sketch," at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk 2020. Thanks to the Virginia Post for this video.

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This second film was produced by Trillium Studios for the Smithsonian in 2006. In it, Dailey discusses drawing as a planning tool, the design and production process, and the value of teamwork.

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Below are some of the works currently available and primarily on exhibition at the Chrysler Museum of Art, which will be part of our exhibition in Stockbridge in 2021.

About the Artist

In 1970 Dailey received a teaching fellowship at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island where Dale Chihuly, was teaching at the time. Dailey became Chihuly’s first graduate student and along with other students, he assisted in building the RISD glass studio and began to develop concepts for illuminated sculpture. Dailey received a Fulbright Hayes Fellowship in 1972 and was invited by Ludovico Diaz di Santillana, the director and owner of the Venini Factory in Murano, Italy, to work as an independent artist/designer. Dailey created a series of blown glass and brass sculptural lamps while in residence at the factory. This industrial experience became a model for Dailey’s future work in several glass factories later in his career.

In 1976 Dailey was invited by Jacques Daum, nephew of August Daum, to work as an independent artist at Cristallerie Daum in Nancy, France. Between 1978 and 2003 he produced 7 editioned pate de verre sculptures. This experience created a working relationship that continues today.

The numerous works created at Cristallerie Daum were produced as limited edition, pate de verre works. Dailey is one of three Americans to have worked with Daum and holds the longest standing relationship of any artist after 32 years of work with the company.

In 1987 Dailey was honored with a solo exhibition at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Henry Geldzahler wrote an essay for the catalog including: Dan Dailey’s achievement is in the seamless marriage he effects in his work in every medium between the idiosyncratic convolutions of his inner landscape and the classic harmony and lucidity of the great tradition in glass, of whom Daum, Nancy and Lalique are giants. Dailey’s work joins in that tradition, but with a contemporary spin that causes the viewer to smile in complicity.[4]

Dailey was invited to work as an independent artist by Waterford Crystal, Kilbarry, Ireland, in 1998.  Dailey visited three times between 1998-1999 to create chandeliers, wall sconces, and seven engraved vases, using particular processes unique to the history and specialty of Waterford Crystal. In 2001 he received the Masters of the Medium Award, James Renwick Alliance, and the Art of Liberty Award, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Dailey is Professor Emeritus for the Glass Program at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, in Boston.  He is notably humble and very generous with students. His work is included in over 50 public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA and the Renwick Gallery,Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC