Quiet Day of Culture

Today was a quiet day. Muffin got new shoes for his car and did a little grocery shopping in the down time.  I did a little laundry. We had a very effective Body Flow class and afterward went downtown to view an exhibit we had been wanting to see since May. The image above is the advertising image from the show, titled "On the Trail with Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keeffe."  The description of the exhibit reads, "The album was produced by Adams after his 1938 trip to Yosemite with his close friends Georgia O'Keeffe, David McAlpin, and Helen and Godfrey Rockefeller. Adams documented the trip with landscape photographs of key locations along the route through the High Sierra and included remarkable portraits of his illustrious camping companions and the outfitters who guided their trip."   This is the show that inspired the new work by Dave Brubeck. 

My favorite exhibit of the three we saw was this one by George Tobolowsky.  We were amazed that the second floor of the museum would hold the weight of all the steel in the artists very ambitious works.  The museum is an historic hotel downtown near the railroad where my Daddy's barber shop resided between the Coffee Shop and Western Union.  Here is the advertising description of the exhibit:
In 2004, Dallas artist George Tobolowsky began seriously scouring scrap yards and realizing his dream of a second career as an artist. Soon, he was spending his nights and weekends welding in his sculpture studio in Mountain Springs, Texas. Rusted industrial cast-offs are transformed and testify to Tobolowsky's keen eye for balance and love of undulating rhythms. In acknowledgement to his day job as a successful entrepreneur, his artwork frequently bears decidedly "corporate" titles, such as The Auditors, or Dealbreaker. 

This one is titled "Working Woman Two"  I even like the shadows.

One of the smaller works.

All I need is money and this could be mine.  I would put it in my music room and let its extraordinary energy fuel my violin students.

Third exhibit, in the main gallery is titled "Drawing on the Past".  Here is the description:

Collections and exhibitions of Texas art typically focus on a particular artist or groups of artists, subject matter, medium, region, style, decade or era. With the stated purpose of collecting Texas art that resonates with the ever-evolving story of Texas, Bobbie and John L. Nau III of Houston have amassed a broad and diverse collection in the short span of only seven years. Their extensive collection includes more than 700 paintings and works on paper dating from the mid-nineteenth century through the first decade of the twenty-first century. This inclusive approach to collecting and their desire to share their collection for education and research affords a unique opportunity to examine strong crosscurrents between early trailblazers in the arts in Texas and the talented artists they taught, inspired and mentored in subsequent generations.Drawing on the Past: Selections from the Bobbie and John Nau Collection of Texas Art brings together important examples of Texas art created during the last 150 years, documenting the continuing tradition of personalized visions of the Texas experience.

This evening we attended a performance of this musical at our historic Paramount Theater--the auditorium with the twinkling stars and floating clouds in the ceiling.  The performers were highly energetic, well trained singers and actors who were all local residents.  The show itself is hilarious and audience interaction was abundant tonight.  My favorite song of the show is Olive's lament about her friend The Dictionary.

  

Exiting the theater we saw old friends and former neighbors--always a bonus of living in a small town.  Leaving the downtown area the beautiful full moon low in the Eastern sky illuminated the sparse clouds on the horizon.  Life is good.