Dale Chihuly, artist, marketer, philanthropist

To local charities, artist Dale Chihuly is a philanthropist. He willingly donates his artwork, his celebrity name and his caring personality to promote nonprofit organizations that help the community.

Our city should be proud to have an artist of such caliber that he is compared to Salvador Dali, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. It is no secret that Chihuly is a brilliant businessman — and an amazing marketer ["Chihuly Inc." series, Seattle Times, Aug. 6-8]. In fact, one of the reasons he is such a popular artist is because he knows how to get his artwork in front of the people. And his work is beautiful, vibrant and a delight to own. We applaud Chihuly for his marketing prowess and reject the notion that true artists must be starving artists.

The Seattle community, as much as any, should understand the impact of brilliant marketing. Bill Gates is a brilliant marketer who led Microsoft to become a leading software company through great marketing. One's work should not be criticized simply because it is popular.

Let's face it, art is controversial. It always has been and always will be. It is what makes art so fascinating to view and analyze and what makes it so vital to the vibrancy of a world-class community. We don't deny that Chihuly's glass has caused controversy. We are willing to embrace this controversy and would venture to guess that in the long run it will make it even more valuable.

As a nonprofit organization that supports seniors and the poor and vulnerable through housing, health-care and hospice services, we are proud to be associated with Dale Chihuly.

This year, Chihuly — as our presenting artist — graciously and generously donated an original glass Christmas tree to our Nov. 29 Providence O'Christmas Trees gala dinner and auction. He shaped the concept for this tree and is overseeing the creation of it. Simply said, there were absolutely no strings attached. We are not paying Chihuly for the tree or for any services provided by him, his staff or his company. He is donating it free and clear and has asked for nothing in return.

We also recognize Chihuly as one of the few philanthropists who wholeheartedly support seniors. Providence facilities have offered his Seniors Making Art program to our residents and participants for several years. It is a valuable and popular program that is immensely appreciated by those we serve.

We are thrilled to have Chihuly's one-of-a-kind glacier-ice-blue neon tree to actively promote to our donors. We hope it helps us draw new constituents to our event. Offering a chance for our donors to bid on a unique Chihuly glass tree helps us attract additional support of and attention to our organization. This is something that we can only classify as being a sincerely generous gift by Chihuly and his organization.

We applaud Dale Chihuly's contribution to the art community, our city and the nonprofit community and hope that his generosity continues well into the future.

Patricia Szabo is executive director of Providence O'Christmas Trees, raising funds to support housing, health-care and hospice programs provided by Providence Health & Services' Senior and Community Services in King County. More information about Chihuly's donation is available at www.providence.org/otrees