A besotted fan evokes the setting at a tete-a-tete following Diane Ravitch’s speech to the Hartford Federation of Teachers:

In the calm, factual, rapid-fire manner for which she is known, Ravitch delivered her sobering depiction of the deplorable state of education reform in America beneath the fiery red-orange structural intricacies of Dale Chihuly’s magnificent “Ode to Joy” glass chandelier. Her remarkable recitation of facts and debunking of popular disinformation juxtaposed against the intensity of Chihuly’s emotive creation could not have been more fitting, as scholar and chandelier together made for a magical melding of intellect and passion, both conveying implicit messages of hope for the future.