Shopping impulsively in the museum gift shop? Hey, we're on vacation...
Wondering how many Weight Watcher points are in Chicken Kashmiri? Why bother, hey we're on vacation...
Who knew Baltimore was such fun! I certainly didn't until now. This morning we ambled on over to the waterfront to take in the American Visionary Art Museum. AVAM is an extraordinary collection of outsider and folk art and the exhibitions are inspiring, outrageous and amazingly varied. As one reviews states, "This is not your stuffy old auntie's art museum and that's what makes it so unique and wonderful". If you find yourself in the area I recommend a stop.
Here's what will greet you before you even step foot in side.
A mosaic mirror-covered school bus adorned with whimsical found objects.
and an enormous whirlygig
towering above a beautiful mirrored mosaic wall.
I especially liked the satirical political figures.
and thought the figure of "W" especially timely.
Inside I managed to snag a few photos before spotting the
"Absolutely no photographs" sign and the security guards. Bummer.
These signs are the work of Jesse Howard of Callaway County, Missouri, a reclusive, self-taught artist who originally started painting signs after his property was vandalized in the 1940's. The walls of the entrance were covered with his work.
These signs are the work of Jesse Howard of Callaway County, Missouri, a reclusive, self-taught artist who originally started painting signs after his property was vandalized in the 1940's. The walls of the entrance were covered with his work.The museum has no curators and instead functions with guests who stage shows arranged on various themes. The theme of the current shows are Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness and OUT OF THIS WORLD: A Centennial Celebration of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein.
This enormous sculpture was hanging in the stairwell of the lobby
and all along the walls of the stairwell were examples of art from Post Secret. Post Secret is a clever community art project where folks send in anonymous secrets on post cards. It's quite entertaining and very clever!
After a morning of art and culture we had a lovely lunch on the harbor at the Rusty Scupper where we had a great view of the marina,
and the pirate ships!
After a morning of art and culture we had a lovely lunch on the harbor at the Rusty Scupper where we had a great view of the marina,
and the pirate ships!
After wards we took in several antique shops before heading back to the hotel. Dinner was at the House of India and let me just say this, dinner time for Ken and I usually sounds like this "gab, gab, gab, chatter, chatter, chatter, talk, talk, talk". Tonight it was "ohhhh, ahhhh, oh my god, ummmmm, oh myyyyy". The food was that good. We're home in our room now recovering, watching the latest Harry Potter movie on HBO and waiting for a lovely bottle of dry Reisling to chill. We would ordinarily be at the Old songs Festival this weekend camping with our dear friends and taking in some great music. Now don't get me wrong, I really do like to camp, but as I get a little older and a creakier I'm finding I prefer this...
Life is good.
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