Art Institute of Chicago

I was lucky enough to have a little time Sunday morning to check out the Art Institute of Chicago. A friend of mine who lives in Chicago and works at the AIC hooked us up with some tickets to the museum, very generous.

An author once said that viewing art should be done in limited quantity. To try to make it through an entire museum and all the galleries is not only taxing but eventually the senses become dull and it's hard to appreciate the art that you're viewing. I think I subscribe to this philosophy. I enjoy trips to the museum but I don't have much of an eye for art, unfortunately. An hour or so hitting a couple of galleries is time well spent and easy on the eyes.

Two areas of the museum I wanted to see most were the Impressionism gallery and the Modern American Art gallery pre 1950.

A lot of the impressionists were represented in the first gallery. Monet (water lilies and hay stacks abound), Manet, Cézanne, Pissarro, and Renoir. I don't recall seeing anything by Degas. Of course what I wanted to see most was Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte - 1884 by Georges Seurat. It didn't disappoint. Not only is the work as beautiful as I imagine and a great example of pointillism, it's also a very large painting.


The image above I took with my iPhone at the gallery. Apparently the AIC doesn't have an rules about photography. Indeed everyone was snapping pictures left and right and some with flashes. I found this very odd and surprising.

The next gallery I wanted to see was the modern American art pre 1950. This is where the story takes a turn into what I can only describe as an episode of Seinfeld. We tried to use the map to find the gallery, it was supposed to be somewhere on the second floor. After wandering through some horrific modern art wings (modern art isn't my cup of tea) it was time to break down and ask directions.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how to find the gallery that houses American Gothic?"

"Go back to the other end of the this gallery, go down the stairs, head toward the Asian gift store, make a left, go up the set of stairs and you should find it."

After going up the same sets of stairs and through an Asian gallery several times we were unsuccessful in finding our destination. We ask for directions again.

"Go back to the other end of the this gallery, go down the stairs, head toward the Asian gift store, make a left, go up the set of stairs and you should find it."

This scenario happens THREE MORE TIMES! By the last time I ask for directions my eye is twitching and I'm about to have a meltdown. Finally we find the Asian gift store which was masked due to it's close proximity to the Asian gallery. Finally, after all this time, and about a million stairs, we find what we're looking for...


I'm still not sure the picture of Grant Wood's wife and his dentist friend was worth it!

If you're ever in Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago is worth the $18.00 admission fee and even better when a friend can smuggle you in for free. As a casual art observer the museum was more than I expected and I look forward to exploring more of it in future trips. Beware trying to find the modern American art wing!

Oklahoma Land Run Monument

One of the sites J. and I saw on his trip here in Oklahoma City this weekend was the Oklahoma Land Run Monument, located at the south end of the Bricktown Canal. It was an amazing work of public art and from what I've read it's still in development. Though the work has been in progress since the Centennial in 2007, I had never wandered down that far from Bricktown to check it out! If you live in Oklahoma or are visiting here, it's definitely worth a visit, directly south from the Bass Pro Shop in historic Bricktown.

"The Centennial Land Run Monument commemorates the opening of the Indian land in Oklahoma Territory. The frenzied energy and emotion from one instant during the 1889 run is captured in bronze. Through Paul Moore’s masterful hand, a still and silent sculpture comes to life. When complete in 2015, the sculpture-in-progress will be one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants, frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads."

Yes, I'm a horses ass!

Festival of the Arts

If it's raining in Oklahoma City, it may be the last weekend of April and you may be attending the Festival of the Arts. I had the opportunity to hang out with Dann, Mel, and the Captain on Saturday afternoon at the festival.


View of the Oklahoma City skyline from the Festival. The large cranes are being used in the construction of the Devon Tower, a 51-story building expected to be completed in 2012.


The Festival is great, there's lots of art to see/purchase, plenty of food from local vendors and restaurants, and of course beer. Pictured above is me, Mel, and Jaclyn hanging out in the park area.

Toward the end of the afternoon we were running low on cigarettes so Dann and I headed downtown on a quest for smokes. I can't believe how far into downtown we had to walk to find a shop that sold cancer sticks.


I took some pictures of the buildings as we walked around downtown. This is the First National Center, built in 1931 and currently the second tallest building in Oklahoma City. The building inside and out is a prime example of art deco art design. This is my favorite building gracing the Oklahoma City landscape.





We finally were able to find a shop that sold cigarettes near the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, they were $7.50 a pack! There are rumors about the hotel being haunted, just ask the New York Knicks.

The Daily Fish Wrap

The Daily Fish Wrap aka The Daily Disappointment aka The Daily Oklahoman (the worst newspaper in America according to the Columbia Journalism Review some years ago) actually had a piece of useful information in it today. Auntie Mame is playing at the Jewel Box Theatre. Too bad it’s not the musical.

I don’t know why I read The Daily Oklahoman but I’m sure as hell not going to pay for it. I feel bad enough visiting their website from time to time.

Feed Me Seymour!

Dann and I went to see Little Shop of Horrors last night at the Civic Center presented by the Lyric Theatre. I’m always amazed at how good our local productions can be here in OKC. Little Shop of Horrors was no exception. Great staging, music and performances, particularly by Matthew Alvin Brown and Amy Eschman. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a stage production of Little Shop of Horrors so I forgot how fun it is and how it differs from the movie, most notably the ending. The production runs through the weekend so there’s still ample time to catch Lyric’s last show of the season.

The next couple of months sees the Oklahoma City Philharmonic opening their season on September 19th and “Lyric at the Plaza” opening their season on October 22nd with “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” I’m going to try really hard to purchase season tickets to both series. I’ve been to more live performances than ever this year and it’s really got me excited for the upcoming seasons. Support your local arts programs, there’s a variety of programs that can please just about anyone, not to mention you’re stimulating your local economy!

Information on the Plaza District.