Canlis Glass

I held a private event at Canlis on a Saturday afternoon. It was an alumni event for Illinois Wesleyan University. Not that it matters but if you were curious, now you know.
The space can hold no more than 50 people, which was the perfect size for our group. They allowed us to bring in our own food and drinks — we just had to pay for renting the space.
Virginia Peterson was the on sight coordinator and she was fantastic. She called me the day before to make sure that we were all set and she was there when I arrived 1 hour before the event began. She helped me assess the space and decide where to put the food, drinks, check-​in table, etc. She stayed throughout the event and offered to take pictures, serve drinks, etc. I really appreciated that.
The glass is impressive and gives people something to look at in between conversations.
Overall, it was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone looking to host an event for fewer than 50 people.

This glass gallery tucked away in the Denny Way/​Western/​Elliott Way intersection is a gem.
We had our company holiday party last night at Canlis Glass for about 40 people, it was the perfect size for our group and a lot more interesting than just about any other location I can think of.
The art is not what you typically see when you think «glass gallery», no foofy galloping horses or sea creatures nor wavy flower things. The sculptures are inspired by the ocean, but they have a very substantial and modern feel, and the best part, you can touch them! Brittany, the gallery manager, is fantastic to work with, she knows the art very well and has good intuition on how to set up the space for events.
Before the party planning people (me and one other coworker) arrived, Brittany, our caterer, and our sommelier (Apulent and Vino Verite, respectively and will be reviewed separately) already had everything moving at full force and we really didn’t have to do much. They even unpacked our party gifts and set them up all nice on a table. During our event, Brittany helped keep us adhere to the timeline so we could keep things moving. After dinner, she gave us a tour of the working glass studio.
For special events, they have a list of preferred caterers that include Apulent, Lisa Dupar (a.k.a. Pomegranate Bistro), Wild Ginger, and Gourmondo. We went with Apulent since they have the most experience with this venue.
We were very impressed by the art, the atmosphere, and how easy it was to work with Canlis Glass. I think it’s really raised the bar on how our parties will be in the future.
Oh yeah, they do not allow wild dancing or young children. Their fee is very reasonable compared to other venues (historic home, Frye Museum, and Hotel Andra) we looked at.