Actually, I believe that the Little Free Library Association calls the people who install and maintain little free libraries stewards which makes sense because the maintenance of them can be important. I think a little free library in my neighborhood might have a new steward because it just got quite a glow up.
I don’t think I even took a picture of it before because,to be honest, it looked like a library without a steward. It’s looking really inviting now.
Even if a little library doesn’t have a steward they still attract books but that doesn’t seem to be the case with other little spaces which seem to need curators to be successful. The Little Seed Library in my neighborhood never had seeds in it and when, due to construction, it was moved near a little free library it also started to aquire books. At one point a sign complete with seed packet insisted that it was a Little Seed Library to no avail. In fact, it often has more books in it than the little free library a few feet away from it.
Now that the construction is over, someone has installed a Little Free Art Exchange where the seed library used to be.
Unfortunately, as has been the case with the one in Andersonville, it was empty on the day I photographed it.
There are some well curated art gallery exhange ones that I follow on Instagram but I’ve yet to see one in the wild.
Speaking of art focused ones, I don’t think I ever posted the picture I took that illustrates the challenge of an art material exchange. Last summer in Columbia I was excited to open the box outside the Artlandish gallery.
Unfortunately, it was a very hot day and the crayons that someone had generously shared were melting and sticking to the box!
There might be a reason that Little Free Book libraries are more successful than Little Free Anything Elses!
Whenever I go to the Art Institute I like to drop by the Ryan Learning Center to see the current project. Last year I took pictures of the Elizabeth Catlett protest poster prompt but never posted them.
At my last visit to see the Matisse Jazz exhibit I expected cut paper art but the project was inspired by the Korean National Treasures exhibit I haven’t seen yet. Guests are invited to make drawings in the style of chaekgado – a type of still life featuring collected objects. Sounds like something I should definitely do when I return to see the exhibit.
I was impressed by the background inspired by the exhibit that they had mounted behind the display area.
Even more impressive was a new space that has replaced the room that used to be dedicated to an interactive exhibit about museum preservation.
There were lots of different areas for drawing.
And lots of things to draw with!
Also some drawing inspiration, a display about drawing, and a selection of books.
Maybe the next time I go I can see the room in action!
While the signage is a bit difficult to see the Cleo Wilson Center for Learning and Engagement Opportunities at the Intuit Art Museum is certainly meeting its mission. I recently submitted a piece in response to Henry Darger’s art and then went to the event to celebrate his birthday.
In addition to seeing my embroidery piece (that owes a debt to Darger’s method of using coloring book images) looking very large during the show, we got to see how Pooja Pittie’s collaborative piece “What We Build to Belong” had grown as guests had added a “piece of themselves” by writing or drawing a hope, word, phrase, or symbol that feels like home or adding a piece of string to reflect a feeling, desire, or tension.
And we got to think a bit more about Darger’s methods:
When we returned to the museum this weekend there was a project inspired by the new exhibit Monumental: sculpture by Dr. Charles Smith.
I’m looking forward to my next visit already!
At the end of last summer we went to Scooters on an end of the summer ice cream trip and when I went to the back I was surprised by this large lighthouse. It turned out to be from the 2018 Lighthouses of the Magnificent Mile public art display “celebrating access and inclusion for people with disabilities.” This one is “Lighting My Path” by Jim Carroll and it depicts Patricia and her guide dog Carson.
It made me wonder if I could find any other large pieces like it from other public art displays. While peering at Halloween decorations through the windows of Harry Caray’s at Navy Pier, I spied one of the original cows from the 1999 Cows on Parade.
Apparently there were several Harry Caray cows in the parade and they rotate among the seven restaurant locations. The next remnant I found was a German shepherd in front of Hotel EMC2.
He is from the 2017 Chicago K9 for Cops public art installation sponsored by PAWS Chicago and the Chicago Police Memorial to memorialize officers killed in the line of duty and support the families of those officers and officers catastrophically injured while serving.
If he’s been outside the hotel since 2017 he is in remarkably good shape! I’ve been keeping my eye out for other examples but haven’t found any others since last Fall so I decided to go ahead and write this post now. Although there is a horse on Clarke I’ve got to stop and check out one day…
My favorite projects in the art studio are the ones that are inspired by artists or the ones that are inspired by the current special exhibit at the museum and I especially love when both are true. The current special exhibit at the Chicago Children’s Museum is “I am Wild: A Charley Harper Exhibit” and our most recent project “Wild Collage” was inspired by it.
In addition to all these wonderful interactive exhibits there are a nice selection of Charley Harper prints on display.
We asked guests to think about shapes, color, and texture when creating their own animal collages and encouraged them to think like Charley Harper and see the shapes an animal is made up of.
We offered punches and stencils to help with shape making and we quickly realized that most animal’s bodies are oval shaped and that our stencil packs did not include an oval one. After a little internet research we found that we could order some 3D printed ones from Etsy.
And they were immediately put to use!
I actually remember when I became aware of Charley Harper. Pinch Pottery in Northampton had some Charley Harper tiles and I loved the cardinal one so I knew I had to make one and hang him on our refrigerator with some of my other art studio creations.
I had read enough about Bruce Goff before we went to the recent exhibit Bruce Goff: Material Worlds at the Art Institute to expect drawings and photographs of fantastical buildings but was surprised to find what the exhibit labels referred to as Realia. The Art Institute is home to a vast Bruce Goff collection and archive which includes his collection of a “mix of everyday and extraordinary objects that reflect his diverse interests and enthusiasms.” A museum label explained that it is unusual to find such personal belongings in an archive “which typically preserve written and printed materials” but that the “included selection of items provides a window into the passions and ideas that shaped Goff’s material worlds.”
Goff had a large collection of Asian objects and a life long interest in East and Southeast Asian art and culture.
I took note of the label that mentioned he only visited Asia in 1969 after decades of collecting because it reminded me of the time that a visitor to our apartment assumed that we were world travelers due to our collections. I was especially tickled to find a label towards the end of the exhibition that mentioned Goff’s “preference for experiencing the world at a remove, at home with his tuxedo cat and record player.”
Spring started with the traditional frog appearances. Those colorful frogs full of Cadbury mini eggs started things off. They were followed by the two vintage salt and pepper shakers from Inkling and the incredible frog cup I bought in Saugatuck last summer. On the first day of Spring all the frogs around the house gave birth to Cadbury mini eggs – a few are visible in the fourth picture.
We went to Ikea recently to buy a new bedside table light. It was only my second visit to an IKEA and it was so much nicer than I remember the first one being. I loved a set of three little bowls and another set of three glass eggs and thought they’d be perfect for my daughter’s and granddaughter’s Spring gifts.
All the decorations ended up in the same places again this year except these two little bunnies who are perched in front of the little basket of eggs we got at the Ukranian National Museum. We stopped there when we went to see the Ukranian churches during Open House Chicago this year. I bought the bunny plate at the Walmart in Columbia – speaking of places that are much better than the last time I went to one!
We had pancakes with our Easter baskets since Easter was on a Sunday and we weren’t having a brunch this year. My tiny Easter “basket” isn’t really visible in that picture but here’s where I put it on the sideboard after I ate the delicious Ghirardelli chocolate caramel bunnies out of it.
Since we weren’t having a brunch we had our traditional Easter casserole for dinner. I made it with fresh tomatoes for the first time and it was delicious!
When I arrived at Navy Pier last week the entrance was lined with motorcycles. There was nothing to indicate why they were there but there are often different things going on at the Pier so I snapped a photo and I thought I’d ask the person at the information desk why they were there. But there was no one at the desk and there were no signs or flyers or any other way of knowing what was happening that day – a pet peeve of mine that could be the subject of a whole other post.
After awhile I asked my coworker in the art studio if she knew what the story with the motorcycles was. They must be part of the Route 66 sign unveiling she said. The what? While I was only vaguely aware of Route 66 when I moved to Chicago, I was excited but a bit confused when I saw my first Route 66 sign.
This sign is in a small fenced park on Adams and Wabash one block west of Michigan and Adams and it seemed like an odd place for a road to begin.
Later I saw this sign which actually looks like an official highway sign on the corner of Michigan and Adams which made more sense since Adams actually begins there. It doesn’t exactly look that important though so I guess that’s why a new sign appeared two years ago right on Michigan Avenue at street level where way more people would notice it.
While there is some dispute about whether Route 66 begins or ends in Chicago and all the original official signs were removed when the route was decommissioned as the new interstates were built, I think it is pretty clear that Route 66 does not begin at Navy Pier.
I said as much to my coworker and she said that since there was a decision to have the road end at the Santa Monica Pier a few years ago they had now decided to have it start at Navy Pier. But that makes no sense I indignantly insisted. She didn’t seem to see the problem, it’s a Pier to Pier thing she explained and then she told me what she found far more interesting – there were going to be alpacas at the unveiling.
I left the museum without going to look at the sign or the alpacas and did some googling to find out what on earth was going on and found this on the Route 66 news website:
In celebration of Route 66’s centennial, the City of Chicago will formally recognize Navy Pier as the symbolic starting point of the highway.
The designation was approved through a resolution introduced by Alderman Brendan Reilly and adopted by the Chicago City Council in recognition of Route 66’s centennial and Chicago’s historic role as the route’s eastern anchor.
“Route 66 has always been about dreams and possibility,” said 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly. “Designating Navy Pier as the eastern terminus honors Chicago’s historic role while creating a powerful Pier-to-Pier connection that captures the true spirit of the American journey.”
Navy Pier is about one mile northeast from Route 66’s actual eastern terminus of East Adams Street and South Michigan Avenue.
In 2009, the symbolic endpoint of Route 66 (in California) was moved one mile west from the actual western terminus at Olympic and Lincoln boulevards — a once-nondescript intersection — to the gaudier Santa Monica Pier.
The symbolic move culminated with the erection of the “Route 66: End of the Trail” sign, though multitudes of Route 66 travelers already had ended their journeys at the pier for many years.
A new Route 66 sign will be installed at Navy Pier, marking it as the “Beginning of the Trail.”
The Pier-to-Pier connection creates a symbolic bookend to one of America’s most storied highways, linking Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean and reinforcing Chicago’s role as a historic origin point and a modern gateway for exploration.
“Route 66 has long represented connection and possibility, and we’re proud that its journey now begins at Navy Pier,” said Marilynn Gardner, CEO of Navy Pier. “As Chicago’s front porch and a gateway to the city, Navy Pier is a fitting starting point to honor 100 years of the American journey.”
Still in disbelief I went to check out the sign the next time I was at the Pier and as you can see the sign is in front of Harry Caray’s restaurant. More research reveals that the CEO of Harry Caray’s was instrumental in the city’s decision to make Navy Pier the starting point. “Harry Caray’s life perfectly embodied the spirit of Route 66…” Sure, I think the Tribune got it right this morning in their editorial “Get your kicks… on Navy Pier?”
“As far as we can tell, the reason for the cheeky change to the terminus/beginning of the Mother Road was that Navy Pier and its benefactors at the city of Chicago just decided it would be thus, so as to snag more business during this 100th anniversary year for Route 66.”
I was glad to see that at least one of my museum co-workers was not blasé about the change. Think of the commercial possibilities if all roads began or ended at Navy Pier!
Last week when Anna was showing me photos from her recent visit to the Baltimore children’s museum, I realized I’d never posted the photos I took of the children’s spaces at the museums I went to during our January Rushmer Christmas trip.
Rushmer Christmas was in Birmingham this year so we added a trip to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to see their outsider art collection. Of course I had to check out the children’s spaces too. The Greene Family Learning Gallery for infants to eight year olds has “two distinct spaces for creative play that combine cutting edge technology with hands on activities”
According to their web site Create is “an open studio centered on creative process and devoted to developing young visitors art-making abilities.”
The Paul Klee quote leads to one of the technological experiences.
And one of the pieces from their collection “Peekaboo” by Nabil Nahas inspired one of the hands on activities.
It reminded me of the CCM Young Artist Program chandelier project. I’ve never seen the handy built in trays before though.
Across the hall was Experience: “a deeply immersive gallery that enables visitors to explore what art means, how it feels, and where it can take us”
The next day we went to the Birmingham Museum of Art and to Art Venture and its “15 hands-on learning stations for toddlers to tweens”.
The Sonat Gallery offers opportunities for crawlers and toddlers to explore light, color and texture.
The Hess Gallery aims to “inspire a love of making” for 5 – 12 year olds and has activities including a maker space and a stop motion tech station.
Quite the spaces!
I took this photo when I went back to the estate sale in the afternoon. In the morning the tables were filled with larger platters and those blue and white fish bowls were on the floor. I picked out a stack of the small ones for my daughter.
I also found a small blue and white Dansk pitcher. It reminded me of my “fish bowl” that I fill with grapes every afternoon.
It turns out that they are both from the Dansk Arabesque line that was designed by Niels Refsgaard.
I thought the pitcher went well with the small tray in the back that was in my Christmas stocking this year. I understood why when my research into Niels Refsgaard revealed that he had also designed this pitcher.
Although now I’m wondering if I’m displaying the little tray upside down!
My sister bought three little egg cups like the ones our parents used for eating soft boiled eggs. All three of them were different and as I said to my sister channeling Harry Smith, “One of them clearly belongs in my collection”. So she gave it to me.
Google research reveals that the Cruz family lives and works in the Spanish province of Toledo which is in central Spain. The men make the pottery and the women paint it in the puntilla style incorporating the traditional “Castillo la Mancha” patterns “with their own one of a kind designs and colors.” No wonder I thought the egg cup belonged in my collection – the pattern is very similar to the pitcher and plate my daughter purchased in Segovia when she went to central Spain during college.
So both the sideboard and the china cabinet benefited from my first estate sale experience!
Collections and Other Stuff I Like 