National Museum of Women in the Arts

I found a folder full of photos I'd taken at the National Museum of Women in the Arts from last summer that I never posted. I'm actually not sure if I've ever posted about NMWA on this blog, which is just nuts. This museum is the only one of it's kind in the world, and it really is a special place to me.

Did I mention that the building is beautiful? I'm a bit obsessed with the gorgeous chandeliers, the intricate trimwork and moldings, and those dreamy arched windows.
The late-afternoon light in the great hall and mezzanine is heavenly.

But the art is really what matters here, and the truth is I would visit this collection if it were housed in a garage. There's a good mix of historical and contemporary artworks from women all over the world, and I'm always discovering new work I've never seen before. I particularly like to see portraits of women by women, and self-portraits of women artists in this collection. I did a huge research project almost 20 years ago (yikes!) on women as subjects of art versus women as objects of art in paintings in particular throughout history, and that project was heavy on my mind during this most recent visit.

I sometimes wonder if I should use this space to write more intellectually about art and design rather than "ooh pretty picture!" But then I think that anyone reading this right now who is interested in the cultural significance of how we depict ourselves and how others depict us has probably already studied and researched and discussed such topics at length, as I have. And maybe that's not why people read blogs anyway? I know I often turn to blogs for entertainment or escapism or inspiration or even just pretty pictures, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I guess I've been feeling a bit torn in general with what to post in this space lately, but that's a topic for another day. (I definitely mean to start showing my own work more regularly though, not just photography.)


**The paintings (top to bottom): Lady Reading by Lamplight by Minerva J. Chapman, 1898; Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky by Frida Kahlo, 1937; and Self-Portrait When Seventeen by Jane Fortescue Seymour Coleridge, 1842.

The BEACH

A few weeks ago, we went to The BEACH, an interactive architectural installation (a.k.a. a huge ball pit) at The National Building Museum, and it was so much fun! The walls, flooring, and furniture were all stark white, and the back wall was mirrored to make it look as if the monochromatic seascape stretched on forever. As for the ocean, it was made up of nearly one million recyclable translucent plastic balls. (Those balls are now being moved to another location to be repurposed as some sort of art installation. I can't wait to see what that's going to look like.)

Some people were hesitant to get their feet wet. :)

Others just dove right in.

There were plenty of beach chairs to relax in if you didn't feel like going for a swim. Peter and I spent a good amount of time here, just listening to the squeals of laughter and hanging out.

It's hard to show the scale of it, especially with this many people inside, but it was 10,000 square feet...that's a lot of feet! You can get a better idea of the size (and see photos much better than mine) in this flickr album.

Kids obviously went mental over the whole thing, but it was a lot of fun for adults too.

You might remember that NBM put on The BIG Maze last summer, and I think they may have topped that exhibit with this one. It was just so cool and futuristic looking. I can't wait to see what they do next year!

The Cornershop by Lucy Sparrow

In today's news of my dreams, artist Lucy Sparrow has converted an abandoned corner shop in east London into an art installation completely stocked with handmade felt everything. It's open to the public from now until the end of the month. I so wish that I could be there to see it in person! I read about this installation on a few other sites but felt like I had to post about here too because FELT (*raises glitter-covered spirit fingers).

Sparrow is dealing with larger themes than omg cute felt, obviously, like asking people to think about the politics of consumption and the disappearing cornershops in London. We are dealing with the same issue in America, only we call them "mom and pop" shops. I think I've actually posted about this issue before...buying with intention, thinking about the businesses you support and why, and knowing where goods come from. (It's also possible that I wrote that post in my brain and never published it.)

The shop will also serve as a means to foster community building; Sparrow will host workshops and live sewing events too.

I know there are lots of people who make felt food and candies--that's nothing new--and there are also lots of artists who've broached the subject of a disappearing high street and consumerism, but I don't think an artist's work has to be completely groundbreaking to affect people, make them think, make them laugh, bring a bit of joy into their lives, or inspire change. And isn't that the point?

I really really wish I could walk into the shop, touch everything, and then probably buy a felt candy from the felt cash register. But the next best thing to being there in person is to order a felt item from the shop online. I feel so much nostalgia looking at pics of the felt digestive biscuits and Hobnobs, which sadly have both sold out.

If you are lucky enough to be in London during the month of August, head over to 19 Wellington Row,  London E2 7BB and let me know what it's like! :)

(via Colossal)

National Museum of the American Indian

A couple of weeks ago, Peter and I decided to venture out to the National Museum of the American Indian, and I'm so glad we did. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we'd never been before, despite the fact that it's been open for something like 10 years. It was always on my list of things to see and do, but there's so much to do here, it's easy to get distracted. Anyway, I snapped a few pics on my phone to share.

The building is beautiful. It's worth going to check out the architecture alone.

The inside walls curve around a large atrium and stage. We hung around after we'd finished looking at everything to watch a traditional Native American dance. I think they have different groups performing on the weekends on a regular basis.

I probably don't need to tell you how much I loved looking at all the handmade things. I thought this was a little girl's dress at first glance, but it's actually a Seminole boy's shirt.

The teeny tiny boots in the bottom right corner killed me. To give you an idea of how small they were, the shoes next to them were probably normal sized baby shoes, so I can't even imagine how tiny the baby was that those boots were made for. My very favorite things we saw were all the handmade animals made from various materials, but for some reason, I didn't get any pictures of those. I think I was too much in awe.

We stopped in the gift shop on the way out, and I bought this little handmade Oaxacan animal. I think it's maybe a centipede snake...something that would no doubt terrify me in real life, but is just as cute and colorful as it can be in wooden form. :)

Right now he looks perfectly at home with the plants, but I don't know if I'll leave him there forever. The bay window gets tons of direct sunlight, which is great for the plants, but I'm afraid it might make his colors fade over time. I might move him to the studio to live with my favorite little cowboy.

All in all, it was a great visit, but Peter and I both wished they'd had more to see. I would've loved to have seen more handmade textiles, and Peter wanted to see more history. Part of the fourth floor was closed because they're getting ready for an exhibit opening in September, so maybe that was part of it. (On a side note, I think a lot of museums here tend to close parts of floors or entire floors during the summer when they're getting ready for fall exhibitions, which has always seemed strange to me since there are so many tourists here in the summer, but that's just the way it goes, I guess. So if you're planning a trip to DC, you might want to check out your favorite museums ahead of time to decide when's the best time to come.) I know I was a little bummed when we went to Florence years ago that parts of the Uffizi were closed. They still had the more famous works on view, but those weren't the ones I was particularly excited to see. We couldn't have changed the dates of our trip anyway, but I guess it's always good to know what to expect.

So have you guys been to any interesting exhibits lately? Anything I should add to my growing list of places to visit someday?

The BIG Maze

Last weekend, Peter and I went to check out The BIG Maze at the National Building Museum, and it was a lot of fun. I have a pretty terrible track record with large mazes, and this one was no exception. We kept running into dead ends. The whole theory that if you keep your hand on the wall the whole time, and it will lead you out, did not seem to work. There was a mom and toddler on a similar track, and she joked that if we were following the little one we wouldn't get very far. That might have been true, but she was nevertheless really cute and highly entertaining. Once we'd gone all the way through, we went up several floors to view the maze from above. I guess you could look at it from above first and then memorize the path through, but that's sort of cheating, right? Also, it's a little fun to get lost for a while. :)

The Building Museum is so huge, it's the perfect location for something like this maze. I should warn you, though, that it's not cheap; non-member adult tickets are $16 and kids are $13. Peter and I are used to free activities here, so that seemed like a lot to pay. But we hadn't done a large maze since visiting hedge mazes in Europe years ago, so it seemed like an ok splurge. And it was fun.

I have more photos from the weekend, but I think I'll save them for the next post. And I have new notebooks to share soon! Happy Friday, everyone! xo, Mary

Gari Melchers' Home and Art Studio

Last weekend, Peter and I took a road trip down to Fredericksburg, VA to continue our tour of small towns, all two of them, haha. (You can read about our first adventure here.) Anyway, on the way down we stopped at the Belmont estate, the country home and art studio of painter Gari Melchers. To be honest, I had never heard of Gari Melchers until earlier this year, despite studying lots of art history in school. As it turns out, most people have never heard of him. He was primarily a portrait painter and made a good living painting commissioned portraits, most notably of Teddy Roosevelt.

The house and grounds are beautiful. We saw one girl getting her graduation photos taken outside, and it's no wonder. I wasn't able to take photos inside the house (you can take a peek at the website if you're interested). But I did take lots of photos in Gari Melchers' studio and art galleries, which were the most interesting parts of the tour for me anyway.

I was excited to visit because I thought it might be a bit like Museo Sorolla in Madrid, which is one of those places that left an indelible mark on my brain, and even though it's been years, I still think about it. There's something about walking inside an artist's space and seeing paint spatters, brushes scattered around, worn wooden easels, and random trinkets that I find endlessly intriguing and inspiring.

I'm not sure if Belmont really had the same impact for me personally. Everything was set up very much like a historic house museum, with roped-off rooms, docent-led tours, and even a 15-minute informational video at the beginning. All of the women we met working at Belmont were very nice, and our tour guide was well informed and willing to answer any questions, but it all felt more like being in a museum or diorama than actually being in the space where Gari Melchers lived and painted, if that makes sense. I remember Museo Sorolla as being much more immediate and informal, being free to roam around and get up close to everything. It felt almost as if Sorolla and his family had just been there that morning. Anyway, that's how I remember it.

I'm definitely glad we went to Belmont, though, because spending an afternoon looking at art in a beautiful home is always time well spent. If you're ever in this part of the country and you like historic houses and antiques, you should definitely plan a visit.

I have lots of photos of the town of Fredericksburg too, but I'll save those for another post. xo, Mary