Nice article in USA Today about the IMA's Sacred Spain exhibit.

Sacred Spain at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

[No photography of the exhibit is allowed]

For some reason, Mrs. WYA! is drawn to icons in art so she was really excited about the Sacred Spain exhibit at the IMA (on display now through January 3rd, 2010). It did not disappoint. First of all, we are amazed that the IMA can offer this for free. We are lucky enough to have this great art museum that doesn't charge admission and to not have a fee for a special exhibit is really generous. We are grateful to whoever made this possible because it is obvious that a lot of planning and manpower went into the exhibit. The walls are different gorgeous hues in each room to showcase the pieces in them. Some of the paintings are really large and all of them are so vivid and bright that you can hardly believe that they are from the 1600s. There are also well preserved books and sculptures. A figure of Christ in the middle of one room is so striking; it has been used in the Good Friday procession in the Spanish town of Navalcarnero since 1652! In the special gift shop at the end of the exhibit there is a film running showing it in the procession.


Even if this art doesn't represent your belief system, anyone who appreciates beauty and history will enjoy it. Show the IMA some love by buying a little something in the gift shop (we bought a Virgin of Guadalupe magnet) and/or putting some money in the museum's collection boxes.

Artique Winter Fair in Lawrence, Indiana

Picturesque Louis Jenn Park:

We checked out the inaugural Artique Winter Fair at Louis Jenn Park in Lawrence today and were impressed with the beautiful pieces that were for sale there. There was a wide variety of arts and crafts including bird feeders (there was a gorgeous glass Buddha one that was $80 but we should have bought anyway), photography, paintings, purses, jewelry, and wooden bowls by Earlybirde Art. This looks like the start of a nice tradition by The Partnership for Lawrence and we hope that it continues.

Autumn in New York- continued

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

We're ashamed to say that it took us our fifth trip to NYC to get inside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was as overwhelming and amazing as we thought it would be.

Here is a detail of the top of their building facing Fifth Avenue:

We don't know about you but, for us, sometimes we walk through various museums and view what is there knowing that it is perhaps very old and/or people with way more knowledge of such things has deemed it important so we try to appreciate it but it maybe isn't something that strikes us or hits our particular interests. However, for us anyway, there are moments when you come upon a piece that really resonates with you and you don't even have to read about its history or the artist to be moved by it. We appreciated the exhibits that we looked at first but when we ambled from the small room we were in into the expansive and bright American Wing Courtyard, we were overcome. In truth, Mrs. WYA! started to get a little teary. The space is so big and there are exquisite sculptures, a Louis H. Sullivan staircase, pieces by Tiffany, and a facade of the Branch Bank of the United States that was once on Wall Street. The great thing about art is that it is so subjective and different pieces will affect everyone differently but this was our favorite room at the Met. It turns out that we're lucky that we didn't come here until this visit because this area was renovated and just opened this spring.

This is detail from the top of a Vanderbilt fireplace so enormous that you can barely fathom a home big enough to hold it.

We also liked the Parisian rooms. These are the furnishings of a room from the Hotel de Crillon in Paris:

In the "well done curator" department, another breathtaking moment was when, from several rooms away, we could see Perseus with the Head of Medusa illuminated through the doorways.

Detail from Ugolino and His Sons:

Our only disappointment at the Met was that the entire Japanese art area was closed. We were especially surprised because a special exhibit of Japanese Mandalas in it runs through 11/29/09 so we certainly thought that we'd be able to see it. There also appeared to be some amazing Buddha statues in there and we were looking forward to seeing the Japanese Buddha altar that was pictured in our Museum Plan. When we asked an employee she said that the area was closed due to manpower. We're not sure if it was because it was Columbus Day or if they are just generally having employment issues. We were able to take this picture from the hallway:

Subway Tiles

We're sure that, if we lived here, riding the subways would just become routine and a grind but, as visitors, we love it. On one of our rides, we were talking about how nice it would be (and how much quicker) to take the subway from our house to the west side for dim sum. We also really like the tiles, some more ornate than others, that display the subway stops.

Scenes

What we love about Manhattan is that the whole island is like a living museum. On the way to the subway station you can just pass by a building that Abraham Lincoln spoke at in 1860 (Cooper Union, pictured below).

We had to snap a pic of a newsstand because, with everyone on the subway carrying their various electronics, we have to wonder how much longer they can exist. Personally, we still prefer to get the paper version of The New York Post.

Another reason to love Greenwich Village, they really get into Halloween here. We liked this window display.

Ah, to be wealthy and live in the Village.

We had the uber-rare ride in an empty subway car since we caught it on its first trip after being cleaned (which was nice not only for picture posing and breathing room but also because the Duane Reade ad in the subway car reminded us that the poles have about a "gazillion" germs on them).

City dogs are so sophisticated.

We love the old-timey signage:

The Empire State Building looked a little Christmas-y one night:

The gorgeous top of Grand Central Station:

Mrs. WYA! loves the Chrysler Building and really wanted to channel Margaret Bourke-White and climb out on one of the gargoyles for a photo but Mr. WYA! and laws meant she had to be happy with street shots.

Murals at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue:

Ceiling:

We passed the Chelsea Hotel nearly to the day of the 31st anniversary of Sid and Nancy's infamous night there when she died.

Detail of The Puck Building:

Tamara De Lempicka

Just a brief post about Tamara De Lempicka as an excuse to add beauty to our blog by showing some of her paintings. We came across this book about her at the Book Corner in Bloomington and were reminded of how much we love her gorgeous art deco depictions of lovely ladies.

Papaya Art

Some of the journals and greeting cards that really caught our eye at the Whimsy store in Madison were from a company called Papaya Art. We looked at their website and were agog at the their cool products. We will definitely be purchasing some of their wall art (like the one pictured here) for only $16.

Yay- it's Stutz Open House time today and tomorrow. It's as casual and unintimidating as an outdoor art fair but inside the very cool and historic Stutz Building.

While browsing through the Indiana artists on Zazzle the other day, we came across many talented people. We LOVE the poster of The State theatre in South Bend by Michael Sriver.

Mrs. WYA! has added more images that you will see in the right margin that can be ordered as customized cards via Zazzle. See the full gallery here.

Many of you are creative with sewing which we really admire (why didn't Mrs. WYA! pay attention to her Grandma when she was sewing all of those clothes for her when she was little?). If you are handy with needle and thread, or have a loved one who is, these adorable note cards are perfect. The Little Bookroom actually has a lot of fabulous gift card sets that Mrs. WYA! won't be able to resist. She recently bought the ¡Hola Cuba! one through Amazon and the cards are gorgeous. They are presented in a really nice box in case you want to give the set as a gift for the ephemera-phile in your life.

Well happy birthday Jackson Pollock. (We only realized that it was your birthday because Google is honoring you with your design where their logo usually is).

Taliesin West- Scottsdale, AZ

The triangular pool mimicking the shape of the mountains.
FLW saved several of these Chinese characters from destruction and had them restored.

The living room with its origami chairs.

One of the original sprites.

Here FLW created the modern patio and managed to find a wonderful breeze in the desert.

A fire-breathing dragon.

Inspiration for the design of apartments and hotels.

Heading towards the sculpture garden.

Quote on the wall inside the auditorium.

A beautiful Buddha sculpture.

Here's the post on Taliesin West that we promised when we blogged about our Arizona trip. Frank Lloyd Wright fans are undoubtedly very familiar with Taliesin West but it is a worthwhile tour even for a casual fan. We took the 90 minute "Insights" tour for $32/ticket. As a testament to Frank Lloyd Wright's popularity, they offer this tour every 30 minutes November- April (and every hour May- October). We paid for our tickets in the lovely book/ gift shop and browsed while we waited for our tour to begin. There turned out to be 4 other people besides us that thought it would be a cool thing to do at 9:30AM on a Monday. We had a great tour guide (we think her name tag said Weise) who led us through several areas of the property. Tours aren't taken into every space because it is still a working school. We still felt like we got to see a lot from the living room and private living quarters to the cabaret building. As our guide reminded us, it wasn't built as a home per se but as a campsite. It was remarkable to walk through and think about not only the genius of design but of all of the hard work put into it throughout the years. We felt honored that we could walk the grounds. There were a couple of things that our guide told us that really stuck with us. One was that when someone asked Frank Lloyd Wright which building was his favorite, his answer was "the next one". Even in his 70s and 80s he was looking ahead which is something we aspire to do as well. Also, as our guide took us through the sculpture garden, she showed us a piece that represented the different stages of man (from a child learning motor skills on up). She said "you know how people say at high school reunions, 'you haven't changed'? Don't you think that maybe the point is that we're supposed to change?" That is so true and Frank Lloyd Wright was definitely a man who kept changing and evolving and we'll be playing catch up with him for a long time.

Bizarro at the Eiteljorg

Fans of the comic strip Bizarro will want to note that the creator, Dan Piraro, will be at the Eiteljorg. His blog outlines his schedule there from January 19th- 25th culminating with a comedic lecture highlighting the cartoons that he has done over the years about the Old West, Native Americans, etc. He seems to think that it will be a little chilly here in January, especially coming off of a trip to Hawaii so we hope that lots of folks show up and warm his heart with hospitality.

You learn the most fascinating things from My Space Friend requests. That is how we found out about Dr. Sketchy's Anti- Art School. From what we read about them, burlesque performers strike poses and hold them for you while you sketch them. You bring your own drawing materials and let your creativity run free is this fun, informal setting. On January 17th, Dr. Sketchy's has a Winter Wonderland event at Locals Only Art & Music Pub. Profits from the event will go to the Pink Ribbon Connection. Out of the ordinary, fun, a little saucy, and for a good cause- what other reasons could you need?