Saturday, March 22, 2025

Macy's Closing in Philadelphia (3/22/2025)

Saturday, March 22, 2025
No time to plan! Learned that today was perhaps the last day to hear the Wanamaker Organ, because Macy's was closing tomorrow. Took the SEPTA regional rail train from Wawa Station to Jefferson Station in Philadelphia, and walked up Market Street.
The historic Wanamaker Building (est 1861,
building 1910-1911, by Daniel H Burnham
in Florentine Renaissance style)
The Market Street entrance to Wanamaker's, which was
sold several times after 1978, and most recently has been
a Macy's Department Store since 2006
A glimpse of the statue of William Penn
atop the Philadelphia City Hall
Even the store fixtures were being sold at Macy's
The Wanamaker Organ (former 1904 St Louis World's Fair
pipe organ) is located in the Grand Court; it is the
largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world
President William H Taft delivered the dedication address
"Meet me at the Eagle" is a
famous phrase in Philadelphia
Kent and Tamiko with the Durana the Eagle
(1904, by August Gaul) in the seven-story
Grand Court of the Wanamaker Building,
while the organ played
Originally nine of twelve floors were retail, but
Macy's used only three (KSS)
Tree of Knowledge Mural (2003, by Michael Webb) (KSS)
We had lunch at Reading Terminal at Beck's Cajun Cafe;
a huge muffaletta (KSS)
Mac and cheese balls (KSS)
Jambalaya (KSS)

Thursday, March 20, 2025

September Farm Cheese Market (3/20/2025)

Thursday, March 20, 2025 (continued)
Another stop at the September Farm Cheese Market in Honey Brook (Lancaster County), PA.
September Farm Cheese came highly recommended
First thing: cheese tarts
A vast array of flavored cheeses
Post-pandemic cheese samples come in tiny
individual plastic containers (lower right)
Prepared foods
Crunchy snacks
Butters and jams
Beeswax Food Wrap, to use instead of cling wrap
Horseradish and mustards
Enough icing on these cinnamon rolls?
Flavored roasted nuts
Ice cream in unique flavors

Frost Entomological Museum (3/20/2025)

Thursday, March 20, 2025
Did not go to Buffalo since our colds suddenly worsened, so heading back home with a stop at the Frost Entomological Museum at Penn State. Entomology is the study of insects.
Frost Entomological Museum in Headhouse III (1961)
Methods of collecting insects
Microscope slides of insects and their parts
Insects displayed by Orders of which there are 26
Another of the 16 panels of insects by Order
Largest to smallest of insects
Camouflaged insects
Display on honey bees
A varroa mite in human scale, a pest of honey bees
Lycorma delicatula/Spotted Lantern Fly art
These are invasive insects
Wasp galls as habitats for other insects
Several types of galls, where a certain wasp larva develops
Evidence of leaf miners
Stopped at the now thoroughly modern Berkey Creamery
(est 1892) on the Penn State campus
Tried the Berkey Creamery "stickies" without grilling
Tussey Mountain Ski Resort in Boalsburg, PA

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Palmer Museum of Art (3/19/2025)

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 (continued)
Still on the way to Buffalo, another stop at the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State in State College, PA.
The new Palmer Museum of Art (est 1972, 2024, by Allied
Works with landscape design by Reed Hildebrand)
Entry Gallery: Roots and Renewal:
Mother and Son (1799, by John Brewster, Jr)
Lullaby (1945, by Robert Gwathmey)
Grand Staircase:
Lupine Blue Persian Wall (2023,
by Dale Chihuly)
Modern: Beyond Abstraction:
Untitled (1970, by Louise Nevelson)
Self-Portrait (1985, by Keith Haring)
Paper: The Global Majority:
Kansas Samurai (2004, by Roger Shimomura)
European: Devotion and Defiance:
The Siege of Bethulia (c 1530, by Hans Schäufelein) is an
amazingly detailed four-panel woodcut print telling
the story of Judith and Holofernes whom she beheaded
The Act of Judith (1979-1980, by Jerome Witkin)
Special Exhibition: The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art (2nd floor):
Iris Vase with Metal Stand (c 1910, by
Legras & Cie, France)
Armchair (c 1925, by Pierre Chareau)
Contemporary: Breaking Boundaries:
Kingfisher and Iris (1840s, by Ando Hiroshige)
One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Spalding
Dr J Silver Series)
(1985, by Jeff Koons)
Holy Cup Tree (2016, by Arnold Zimmerman)
Harlem Rose (2005-2006, by Willie Cole)
is made with shoes
Arts of Africa:
House of the King Headdress (19C,
by the Kuba people of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Teaching Gallery: Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection:
Profile Landscape 438.074 (1977, by Linda Stein)
is painted on a map
Possessions 932, from Displacement from
Home
(2018, by Linda Stein)
Glass: Material Metamorphosis:
Cocoe (2010, by Davide Salvadore)
that did not look like glass!
Orange and Green Bowl from Exotic Bird Series
(c 1990, by Toots Zynsky who studied with Dale Chihuly
and went on to develop her signature glass thread vessels)
Ceramics: Tradition and Innovation:
Bowl (date unknown, by Inoue Manji)
American 20th Century: Modern Medley:
Lake George (1924, by Georgia O'Keeffe)
Mountains in Stone, Dogtown (1931,
by Marsden Hartley)
American 20th Century: People and Places:
Shallow Creek (1938-1939,
by Thomas Hart Benton)
Peacocks Fighting (1934, by
Anna Hyatt Huntington)
American 20th Century: Urban Visions:
The Staten Island Trolley (c 1907, by Guy Pène du Bois)
Sculpture: 
Forest (c 2012, by Barbara Diduk)
American 19th Century: Whose Pennsylvania?:
Mrs Clement B Newbold (Mary Scott)
(1894-1895, by Mary Cassatt)
The Artist's Last Birthday (1865, by Rubens Peale)
American 19th Century: The Spread of Impressionism:
Harney Desert Landscape, Oregon (1904,
by Childe Hassam)
The Wisteria Vine (1919, by William Glackens)
American 19th Century: Home and Abroad:
Displayed as in early art galleries
Boy Holding Logs (1873,
by Winslow Homer)
Hot Springs at Yellowstone (1889, by Grafton Tyler Brown)
The Greek Girl (1851, by William Morris Hunt)
Special Exhibition: The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art (1st floor):
Nénuphars Side Chair and Writing Table with Cartonnier
(both c 1900, by Louis Majorelle)
Morning Glory Vase (c 1900-1904, by
Cristallerie d'Émile Gallé)
Necklace (c 1909, artist unknown)
Paris Métro Entourage (unroofed enclosure) Panel
(designed 1900 by Hector Guimard)
Nénuphars Cabinet de Travail (1902,
by Louis Majorelle)
Gooseneck Sprinkler (c 1898-1899,
by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company)
Outdoor Sculpture Path:
Adventurer (1977, by Seymour Lipton)
Explorer (1963-1964, by Seymour Lipton)