It's The Journey...

Monday, August 26, 2013

Music City, USA

I traveled to Nashville, TN, better known as MUSIC CITY, USA, with friend Karen several weeks ago. We had the great pleasure of staying with some friends I met recently. Richard and Kathryn were wonderful hosts and it was terrific to get better acquainted with them.

Here is a glimpse of our quick weekend trip:

First stop was in downtown Nashville. Our destination was Hatch Show Print which is one of the oldest letterpress poster shops in the country. In business since 1879, Hatch is owned and operated by the Country Music Hall of Fame and has created art for Grand Ole Opry stars and performers associated with the country music scene.

On the way to Hatch Show Print we passed some of the local color of Nashville.

One disclaimer! I am not a devotee of contemporary country music and the whole scene attached to it. But plenty of people are if the numbers of people roaming downtown Nashville are any indication! Broadway Street is loaded with honky tonks and bars of every variety and it looked like a 24/7 scene for the country music crowd.

It's a Nashville thing!

And a striking feature of downtown Nashville is the Music City Center, an enormous convention center that is brand new to the city. And I mean IT IS BIG.

And of course you cannot be in Nashville without coming across a tribute to The Man In Black!

Saturday: First stop of the day was the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. The Frist Center is a significant architectural landmark in Nashville. It occupies what was the former downtown US Post Office. The building was constructed in 1933-34 and represents the most distinctive architectural style of the period, Art Deco. It was the perfect place to view the exhibit "Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles". The automobiles and motorcycles in the exhibit were built in the 1930's and 1940's and they are big and shiny and streamlined and luxurious.

The cars were lots of fun to see BUT I have to put in a plug for the other exhibit at the Frist. The artist is Vik Muniz and the exhibit title is "Garbage Matters". Vik Muniz constructs his "paintings" by assembling hundreds of pieces of post-industrial waste - garbage. The best way to see and understand the depth of what he is doing is by seeing the documentary on his work "Wasteland". I highly recommend it. It is enlightening and full of heart.

Next stop was The Parthenon, a full scale replica of the famous Greek temple in Nashville's Centennial Park.

It's Nashville: Gotta have MUSIC!

Sunday: Last stop was Cheekwood Art and Gardens. The Cheekwood mansion and it's 55 acres of grounds were once the home of Leslie Cheek and Mable Wood. This family is responsible for the Maxwell House brand of coffee and they played a significant part in the growth of Nashville. The Art Center and Gardens were opened to the public in 1960. Below are some shots of the garden areas.

Again, special thanks to Kathryn and Richard for providing a place to stay and for their very special company.

Thanks for looking.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Limberlost & Gene Stratton-Porter

I took a road trip this week to pick up some of my art work in Wabash, Indiana and then drop off art work in Fort Wayne, Indiana for a show there. Finished with those stops, I decided to stop at Limberlost, the adult home of noted Indiana author and naturalist, Gene Stratton-Porter. Both her childhood home near Rome, Indiana and her adult home, Limberlost, are Indiana State Historic sites. Both are in the north-east section of the state.

In 1895 Gene Stratton-Porter and her husband built their home near the Limberlost Swamp in Geneva, Indiana. The "swamp" covered 13,000 acres and it became an inspiration for both her fiction and non-fiction writing. By the time she settled there a long term drainage project had begun, altering the natural wetland environment for the purpose of allowing large scale farming operations.

The home at Limberlost is a large 14 room rustic log cabin built in the Queen Ann style.

Gene Stratton-Porter published both nature studies and novels celebrating the life and the ecology of the Limberlost region. By 1910 she had become a recognized American author publishing Freckles in 1904 and A Girl of the Limberlost in 1909.

What I learned from my visit to the state historic site is that her legacy reaches far beyond her status as the writer of classics of Indiana literature. She has been widely recognized by the conservation community for her non-fiction books and her early environmental activism. She spoke out often to ensure that natural areas were not drained for economic gain.

In 1993 a group called Limberlost Swamp Remembered formed in order to begin reclamation of a portion of the original 13,000 acre swamp. Today 1,500 acres known as Loblolly Marsh are available to the public, having been restored. And this year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gene Stratton-Porter. She died suddenly on December 6, 1924. Today she is still read, quoted and written about by contemporary students of both American literature and the conservation movement.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Historic New Harmony...in the rain!

New Harmony is located in southwestern corner of Indiana just minutes from Illinois. I went there last weekend to participate in "Arts In Harmony", an annual arts and music festival. It is Spring in Indiana and that means the distinct possibility of rain and lots of it. And yes, it rained all weekend in New Harmony! So here are just a few photos to give you a taste of this small historic community. I might add it was actually raining when I took most of these pictures, intrepid photographer that I am.

Approaching New Harmony...

The Atheneum (Visitors Center)


The Wabash River creeping into the parking lot of the Atheneum!

New Harmony is the site of two of America’s earliest utopian communities. It was founded in 1814 by a group of 800 Lutheran dissenters from Wurttemburg, Germany. The Harmonie Society, led by George Rapp, arrived in the United States in 1804, seeking religious freedom. After 10 years, the Harmonists purchased 20,000 acres on the banks of the Indiana Territory’s Wabash River. The Harmonists moved to the area in 1814. As a society and as individuals, they pursued Christian perfection through every aspect of their daily conduct. To that end, they created a highly ordered and productive community at New Harmony. Between 1814 and 1824, the Harmonists constructed more than 180 log, frame and brick structures in their settlement. The community was entirely self-sufficient and produced a wide variety of goods that were traded as far away as New Orleans and Pittsburgh. Harmonist wares also were sold overseas in the British Isles, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany.
In 1824, George Rapp decided to sell New Harmony. He found a purchaser in Robert Owen, a wealthy industrialist of Welsh descent, who was operating a textile mill in New Lanark, Scotland. In 1825, with his business partner William Maclure, Owen purchased the community of New Harmony outright, hoping to establish a model community where education and social equality would flourish.
Owen’s “Community of Equality,” as the experiment was known, had dissolved by 1827, ravaged by personal conflicts and the inadequacies of the community in the areas of labor and agriculture. Despite the breakdown of his experiment, Owen’s utopian dream brought significant contributions to American scientific and educational theory, study and practice. Early feminist activity in New Harmony increased national awareness of the issue of women’s suffrage.

The "Roofless Church" in the background.


Peaceful park setting just off Main Street, New Harmony.


I lived and worked in New Harmony between 1999 and 2001 so this trip was a "blast from the past" for me. New Harmony remains tranquil and unique in it's sense of place and character.

Thanks for looking!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

November in the Windy City

Self Portrait: 7 AM Election Day 11/6/2012 The Windy City

My recent trip was to Chicago in early November. I attended another Road Scholar trip with a focus on the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute and Millennium Park which is adjacent to it across Monroe Street. So, just to orient you below, in the lower left quadrant of the picture is the Art Institute Complex. And the lower right quadrant is Millennium Park with the pedestrian bridge across Monroe Street that connects them. (Hopefully this will make sense as you look at the pictures)

The main entrance to the Art Institute on Michigan Avenue.

The lions at the entrance are forever synonymous with the Art Institute.

The pedestrian bridge from the New Wing into Millennium Park.

The Modern Wing of the Art Institute from The Lurie Garden in Millennium Park.

Great hall of the Modern Wing.

Millennium Park is wrapped into your visual experience inside and outside of the Modern Wing. It is always present as you experience the new wing.

And now, on to the Park itself.

First stop is "Cloud Gate".

110 Ton Stainless Steel Sculpture

Better know as "The Bean"

Created by British Sculptor Anish Kapoor

The arch is 12 feet high, providing the walkway underneath the Bean.

Looking toward the Crown Fountain from the pedestrian footbridge.

The Crown Fountain, inspired by the people of Chicago whose faces appear on the LED display on the 50 foot tall glass block towers. In better weather, water cascades from the towers creating a pool for play and reflection. The day of my visit it was rainwater at the base of the tower.

Looking toward the Pritzker Pavilion and the signature Frank Gehry outdoor concert venue from the pedestrian footbridge.

The pavilion is 120 feet high with a "headdress" of brushed stainless steel ribbons.The concert venue seats 4000 in fixed seats and can accommodate another 7,000 on the Great Lawn.