Friday, November 30, 2018

Brooklyn: Brooklyn Museum (11/30/2018)

Friday, November 30, 2018 (continued)
The Brooklyn Museum is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States, founded in 1823 as the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library.
Brooklyn Museum building (by McKim, Mead & White,
west wing 1895-1897, central pavilion 1899-1905, northeast wing
1904-1907, northeast gallery 1913-1926, extension 1977-1980
by Prentice & Chan, Ohlhausen, auditorium 1991 by Arata Isozaki
and James Stewart Polshek & Partners, entrance and lobby 2004
by Polshek Partnership Architects)
We started on the fifth floor and worked our way down. I had a list of 10 things to see, but the list must have been from 2014-2015 as several items were from traveling exhibitions and no longer on display.
Colossal statue of Robert Fulton (1872, by Caspar Buberl)
Fulton holds a model of his boat, the Nassau, the first steam-powered
ferry to operate between Manhattan and Brooklyn;
the statue stood for decades near the Fulton Ferry Landing
Religion Enthroned (1900, by the J&R Lamb Studios)
was commissioned for the United States pavilion in
the 1900 Exposition Universelle Internationale in Paris
Dawn in the Woods in Springtime and Sunset
in Autumn Woods
(1905, by Tiffany Studios)
Dawn in the Woods in Springtime detail
Sunset in Autumn Woods detail
View of the Beaux-Arts Court with its translucent floor
The Dinner Party (1974-1979, by Judy Chicago)
is an important example of feminist art
The art installation celebrates the achievements and lives of 1,038 historical and mythical women whose stories have often been lost to history and their contributions to Western culture have been forgotten. The Heritage Floor has the names of 999 women on hand-cast tiles, while 39 women are commemorated through an embroidered runner and a decorated plate with a butterfly or vulvar motif.
Sacajawea
Saint Bridget
Ishtar
Another view of some runners, and the Heritage Floor
The Resurrection of Christ (c 1520-1525, by Giovanni della Robbia)
Exhibit in a box; actually shaded to protect the delicate artifacts from light
Mummy of Thothirdes (c 768-545 BCE)
Senet Game Board and Playing Pieces (c 1539-1295 BCE) for the
deceased to play in the afterlife to work his way through zones
to the underworld; there is evidence that it was also played by the living
Woman in Gray (1942, by Pablo Picasso)
apparently evokes the violence and bleakness
of life during World War II
Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps (2005, by Kehinde Wiley)
Spacelander Bicycle (designed 1946 by Benjamin J Bowden,
manufactured c 1960)
PUSH (2018, by Rob Wynne) is made from
poured and mirrored glass
Tile mosaic name of the subway station
Does she have enough keys?
From the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum we took the #2 train to the Hoyt Street station, walked about two-three blocks to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station to catch the G train back to Nassau Street.
Back at Maddy & Ryan's apartment, Fiona kept us entertained and active for much of the rest of the day!
The next day we headed to Rhode Island.
Next: New Bedford Art Museum.

Brooklyn: Coney Island (11/29-30/2018)

Thursday, November 29, 2018
We drove from East Stroudsburg, PA to Brooklyn, NY to visit Ryan and Maddy, and two-and-a-half-year old Fiona.

Friday, November 30, 2018
Maddy had to work, but Ryan and Fiona had the day off. We walked to check out the Sergeant William Dougherty Playground that was renovated after construction of the new Kosciuszko Bridge, but it was not yet open. Next to the Monsignor McGolrick Park:
Monitor Memorial (1938, by Antonio de Filippo) commemorates the
1862 battle of the ironclads, the Monitor and Merrimac, the crew
of the Monitor and its designer, John Ericsson
This is a Roadside America attraction, and they call it the Unclad on the Ironclad. However, there is no ironclad depicted as it is simply a "heroic" (as in large?) nude man pulling a rope around a pair of capstans.
Msgr McGolrick Park has two age-appropriate playgrounds, one for ages two to five and one for ages five to twelve. Fiona could manage many activities in both playgrounds!
Fiona on the big slide
Fiona at the end of the big slide
Daddy/Ryan on the big slide
Whew! Daddy/Ryan at the end of the big slide
Since Fiona would be taking a nap this afternoon, Ryan sent us on our way for sightseeing.
We walked to the Nassau Street subway station for the G line, the only subway line not going into Manhattan. There was a large vending machine that looked like an ATM with a slot for a Single Ride Metro card. We went to the 24-hour window to purchase a Metro card, but were told to use the machine if we were using a credit card. Oh! So that was a ticket machine! Why is it easier to identify a transit ticket machine in foreign countries than in the US?
We took the G train to the last station at Church Street, then caught the F train to Coney-Island-Stillwell Ave.
What do you call a mural on glass blocks?
The original Nathan's Famous (1916)
Coney Island Museum/Coney Island USA (a Roadside America attraction)
in a former Childs Restaurant (1917, by John C Westervelt in Spanish
Colonial Revival style), is open only on weekends in the winter
The beach at Coney Island on the Atlantic Ocean
The A&W Root Beer statues (a Roadside America attraction) on the
roof of Paul's Daughter Restaurant on the Riegelmann Boardwalk
Mama Burger (missing her burger) and Papa Burger (holding the flag
instead of a mug of root beer) (1963-1967)
New York Aquarium Education Hall mural (2017, by Danielle Mastrion)
Mural detail (KSS)
Another mural (2017, by Sheena Wong Shue) (KSS)
A third mural (2017, by Thomas Manco) (KSS)
The three murals were the result of a contest by the New York Aquarium to transform the Education Hall wall and inspire people to protect our waters.
View down the Riegelmann/Coney Island Boardwalk toward the
iconic but now defunct Parachute Jump ride tower (built for the
1939 New York World's Fair, then moved in 1941 to the
Steeplechase Park amusement park, closed in 1964)
Countdown to the next Hot Dog Eating Contest and the World Record
with a list of past champions on the Nathan's Famous building
Inside Nathan's Famous, where we had lunch
A Nathan's Famous hot dog with sauerkraut and mustard
Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station (1919, renovated 2001-2005)
Luna Park and the Cyclone roller coaster (1927,
refurbished 1974-1975, new track 2012-2015)
Luna Park and the Wonder Wheel eccentric Ferris wheel
(1918-1920, designed by Charles Herman); it is called eccentric
because 16 of the 24 cars slide to an inner ring on rails with gravity
We took the Q train to the Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center station to change to the #2 train to the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum station.
Next: Brooklyn Museum.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Bangor, PA (11/28/2018)

Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Today we started our "mini" grand tour (the grand tour minus Florida) by following I-80 east across the state of Pennsylvania. Took a short detour to Bangor, PA and the Columcille Megalith Park, a Celtic-inspired outdoor sanctuary.
Entrance to Columcille, named for the 6C Irish monk, St Columba
On a visit to Isle of Iona (Inner Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland) where St Columba lived in exile, the owner of this land in PA, William H Cohea, Jr, had a dream of a circle of standing stones closing in on him. Beginning in 1975, he began assembling stones left by the Wisconsin Glacier. The largest standing stones were found in a shale pit.
The largest stone, Mannanan, is 6 m/20' tall (KSS)
A circle of standing stones, a pre-Celtic sacred setting
A bell near St Columba Chapel
St Columba Chapel (1979) was built from
stones found on the property
A stone in a dry pond?
The Glen of the Temple, a hillside of megaliths... (KSS)
...topped by Thor's Gate, with Kent
Tamiko & Kent at Thor's Gate (KSS)
Fire pit (KSS)
Another trilithon
The Pond (with a little bit of ice on the near side!)
The Bridge to the Other World; the Isle of Iona,
according to ancient legends, was where the veils that
separate the worlds (earth and spirit) were very thin
St Oran Bell Tower
According to legend, St Columba tried to build a chapel on the Isle of Iona, but the walls kept collapsing. His companion, Oran, knew of the old ways, and suggested that he be buried in the foundation to appease the ancient energies of the island. This was done, and the walls remained standing. Three days later Columba had Oran dug out, but he was still alive. Columba quickly covered him with earth to save Oran's soul from the world and its sin.
A harp in the Bell Tower (KSS)
Bell Tower interior and bell
Columcille Megalith Park, a Roadside America attraction (KSS)
We spent the night in a hotel in East Stroudsburg, PA.
Next: Brooklyn.