Docent so close to me, don't stand so close to me! I want to have the mental and physical space to form my own reactions to the art in your small gallery. I'm quite harmless. No intent to stick my chewed Doublemint gum on a work of art.
Immediately upon arrival at the Hillestad Textiles Gallery at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to view the "Recycling & Resourcefulness: Quilts of the 1930s" exhibit a volunteer docent-in-training attached herself to me like one of those non-skid bathtub daisies on an early 1970s bathtub. Ecstatic that the gallery had a live visitor, she made me her bosom buddy to practice her spiel and stayed within hug-ability range. I've had a marriage with greater adhesion, and certainly less conversation.
This was not the most aggravating experience of suction docent syndrome, but very annoying anyway. I've been involuntarily conjoined to docents at the MADI and the MAC in Dallas, thePhilbrook in Tulsa, and the Wheelwright in Santa Fe. Thanks to the Valley House Gallery for being less velcro!
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
© 2007 Nancy L. Ruder
Showing posts with label Santa Fe museums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa Fe museums. Show all posts
7/12/07
8/17/05
Charles Loloma
The large drowsing animal and I were reconnected by our shared awe at the Loloma exhibit at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe. Charles Loloma (1921-1991) created beautiful jewelry that elegantly combines Hopi traditions and materials with compositions akin to Frank Lloyd Wright and Piet Mondrian. Akin as well to paper collages made by the large drowsing animal's mom, who shall remain nameless. I am inspired and energized....just as soon as I finish the guerilla Tonka Truck/Zen condo clean-up.
This was my second visit to the Wheelwright, and I encourage anyone headed to Santa Fe to visit. Examples of Loloma's jewelry can be seen at Blue Rain Gallery, and at eNewMexican.
This was my second visit to the Wheelwright, and I encourage anyone headed to Santa Fe to visit. Examples of Loloma's jewelry can be seen at Blue Rain Gallery, and at eNewMexican.
6/4/05
Theatre-in-the-Red
Waiting for the presentation of the schematics for the Winspear Opera House to begin, I chatted with the retired architect sitting next to me in the Horchow Auditorium of the Dallas Museum of Art. "What is your interest in the opera house design?," he asked, after explaining that he was very fond of opera "all except for the singing".
I said I was a recent opera convert, the daughter of two engineers, an art teacher, a Nebraskan, and a fan of the High Five construction project. Some of my fondest early memories are of visiting construction sites with my dad, I told this stranger. Then I explained that my goals as an art teacher include getting kids to look at the forms of buildings and bridges, to notice steps in a construction process, to get them more visually curious and aware about the world outside their car window, and to relate class projects to our city surroundings.
Proposed Winspear Opera House
Do you think George Jetson might be flying around this building on his way to work at Spacely Sprockets??
My students are interested in theaters and stages because our program includes both creative drama and art. One of our goals is to encourage kids to continue "playing" the stories at home once class or camp ends. I love creating art projects to help kids meet that goal. In some ways, that seems to be the "calling" of my life, the theme that runs through my childhood, education, parenting, hobbies, library storytime lady, and teaching art--making things for or with kids to extend their play.
On vacation in Santa Fe last August, I was entranced by Alexander Girard's collection of miniature theatres at the Museum of International Folk Art. Then I was stunned, much like a baby seal, by David Zinn's "blood and passion" set design for the Santa Fe Opera's production of "Don Giovanni".
Our first class effort at making a Theatre-in-the-Red* intrigued the students, but wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as I hoped. I needed to rethink the project before using it again. Luckily, the popular and amazing Olivia the Pig has her own red theatre now. Olivia inspired a Flying Pig Circus art project and installation a few years back. Now Ian Falconer's Olivia is giving me ideas again! Pigs on stage! Pink pigs, burgundy curtains, and every red in between. Pigs in tutus or royal robes. Pigs in Romeo bicolor tights and poofy shorts. It has to be more fun than Miss Langley's introduction to monochromatic color schemes in my seventh grade art class. It's time for monochromatic to go dramatic.
*Theatre-in-the-red has no connection with either communist propaganda/dramatic productions, or with financing difficulties of many performing arts companies.
I said I was a recent opera convert, the daughter of two engineers, an art teacher, a Nebraskan, and a fan of the High Five construction project. Some of my fondest early memories are of visiting construction sites with my dad, I told this stranger. Then I explained that my goals as an art teacher include getting kids to look at the forms of buildings and bridges, to notice steps in a construction process, to get them more visually curious and aware about the world outside their car window, and to relate class projects to our city surroundings.
Proposed Winspear Opera House
Do you think George Jetson might be flying around this building on his way to work at Spacely Sprockets??
My students are interested in theaters and stages because our program includes both creative drama and art. One of our goals is to encourage kids to continue "playing" the stories at home once class or camp ends. I love creating art projects to help kids meet that goal. In some ways, that seems to be the "calling" of my life, the theme that runs through my childhood, education, parenting, hobbies, library storytime lady, and teaching art--making things for or with kids to extend their play.
On vacation in Santa Fe last August, I was entranced by Alexander Girard's collection of miniature theatres at the Museum of International Folk Art. Then I was stunned, much like a baby seal, by David Zinn's "blood and passion" set design for the Santa Fe Opera's production of "Don Giovanni".
Our first class effort at making a Theatre-in-the-Red* intrigued the students, but wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as I hoped. I needed to rethink the project before using it again. Luckily, the popular and amazing Olivia the Pig has her own red theatre now. Olivia inspired a Flying Pig Circus art project and installation a few years back. Now Ian Falconer's Olivia is giving me ideas again! Pigs on stage! Pink pigs, burgundy curtains, and every red in between. Pigs in tutus or royal robes. Pigs in Romeo bicolor tights and poofy shorts. It has to be more fun than Miss Langley's introduction to monochromatic color schemes in my seventh grade art class. It's time for monochromatic to go dramatic.
*Theatre-in-the-red has no connection with either communist propaganda/dramatic productions, or with financing difficulties of many performing arts companies.
2/20/05
Bend those knees in unity
It's all one big world. We are all more the same than we are different.
Some of us are just older and our knees creak when we do the Keith Haring moves. This week my students will be looking at a fabulous Nigerian appliqued wall hanging, circa 1960, that I saw in the Girard collection at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe last August.
The music that pops into my mind when I look at the Nigerian wall hanging is from the 2003 animated feature film, The Triplets of Belleville! I think it's all in the elbow moves of the dancers. Paper dolls meet bendable Barbie and do the Watusi.
Some of us are just older and our knees creak when we do the Keith Haring moves. This week my students will be looking at a fabulous Nigerian appliqued wall hanging, circa 1960, that I saw in the Girard collection at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe last August. The music that pops into my mind when I look at the Nigerian wall hanging is from the 2003 animated feature film, The Triplets of Belleville! I think it's all in the elbow moves of the dancers. Paper dolls meet bendable Barbie and do the Watusi.
8/24/04
In My Room
That is my fantasy in both personal and professional spheres. My own room! How splendid. Space. Quiet. Privacy. Control, I guess. Maybe I'm tired of sharing. Maybe I don't play well with others. Maybe I have unresolved issues related to the birth of my brother in 1958, for crying out loud. Or maybe I just want to be the creative scenic director for this production.
Here are the Beach Boys' lyrics in case you need a fix:
There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to
In my room, in my room
In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears
In my room, in my room
Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday
Now it's dark and I'm alone
But I won't be afraid
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
Now, that's darker than I had in mind. I just want to create a teaching environment with plants, rocks, shells, surprises, lizards, turtles, magnifying glasses, prisms, and maybe an aquarium. I'd like to hang a birdfeeder and windchimes outside the window, and plant canna bulbs or sunflowers. I want to sprout sweet potatoes and let the vines go every which-way across the suspended ceiling. Newsprint and markers on the shelves for sketching... Maybe even twinkly lights sparkling on a garden arch... An art room should be a magical place. That is true whether you are a preschooler or a college student. Professor Butt's classroom was as much a conservatory for bromeliads as it was a classroom for watercolor students. I will take my bromeliads to work this year. [I can see the media campaign for National Take Your Bromeliad to Work Day].
I like having a puzzle table in my classroom. Puzzles help kids learn to visualize and manipulate shapes. And building toys! How can we create our own building systems for structures and mobiles this year? I am still pondering that afghan of crocheted recording tape that I saw at the Albuquerque Museum of Art.
Visiting the Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe reminded me that art is about play. The wonderful processions of miniatures from one hundred different countries aren't really so different from my students' creations of castles, troll houses, castaway islands, and jungle safari camps with tiny clothespin people. As I toured the museum I watched many young families. I have never seen kids so engaged at a museum--well, except for maybe little boys at the battle diorama at the Alamo.
Here are the Beach Boys' lyrics in case you need a fix:
There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to
In my room, in my room
In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears
In my room, in my room
Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday
Now it's dark and I'm alone
But I won't be afraid
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
Now, that's darker than I had in mind. I just want to create a teaching environment with plants, rocks, shells, surprises, lizards, turtles, magnifying glasses, prisms, and maybe an aquarium. I'd like to hang a birdfeeder and windchimes outside the window, and plant canna bulbs or sunflowers. I want to sprout sweet potatoes and let the vines go every which-way across the suspended ceiling. Newsprint and markers on the shelves for sketching... Maybe even twinkly lights sparkling on a garden arch... An art room should be a magical place. That is true whether you are a preschooler or a college student. Professor Butt's classroom was as much a conservatory for bromeliads as it was a classroom for watercolor students. I will take my bromeliads to work this year. [I can see the media campaign for National Take Your Bromeliad to Work Day].
I like having a puzzle table in my classroom. Puzzles help kids learn to visualize and manipulate shapes. And building toys! How can we create our own building systems for structures and mobiles this year? I am still pondering that afghan of crocheted recording tape that I saw at the Albuquerque Museum of Art.
Visiting the Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe reminded me that art is about play. The wonderful processions of miniatures from one hundred different countries aren't really so different from my students' creations of castles, troll houses, castaway islands, and jungle safari camps with tiny clothespin people. As I toured the museum I watched many young families. I have never seen kids so engaged at a museum--well, except for maybe little boys at the battle diorama at the Alamo.
8/19/04
Bees in Hell
What a luxury to have another day at the Girard Collection. This time I went through it backward just to absorb the objects, rather than the descriptions. There are surprises at every turn. What wit and wisdom assembled and arranged this collection! Way back in a corner I reach the angel collection. Not to be forgotten, Girard has a collection of devilish figurines from many cultures. The bees in hell are my favorites! My visions of hell regularly include annoying insects, but these bees seem to be especially annoyed about being dressed in bug costumes and pressed into underworld service. I think they were expecting bigger tips.
8/18/04
No Parking in the Flow Zone
Maybe it's just because I haven't had much sleep, but finding a parking space near the Plaza in Santa Fe seems like bartering with Ursula, the Sea Witch in the "Little Mermaid". I've lost my voice, but still, I am unperturbed. If I had my blood pressure cuff, I bet I would register in the twinkly star happy face rainbow sparkle sticker range.
Once I find a parallel parking spot, I am loathe to surrender it. Of course I don't know where I am after driving around block after block in search. Still, I find my way to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. And it is FABULOUS! FABULOUS! The exhibit is called, "Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico: A Sense of Place". Sense of place is what my trip is all about. I am drawn to the images of the black places.
What wonderful landscapes! All around me whiny tourists are pestering the guards with, "But WHERE are the flowers?????" No wonder the guards are pacing like the caged tigers at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo!
These landscapes are pared down to the essentials. Distractions have been banished. Somehow a sudden downpour seems an answer to a prayer. Santa Fe is desperate for rain, only partly because it is watering those golf courses for the rich and famous. The rain keeps many tourists in the museum gift shop. I have been breathing the paintings in and out amidst an enlarged sense of open space. Now I'm trapped in the tiny gift shop with MANY people wanting Red Poppy souvenir keychains. When the rain slows it feels good to break out into the street, even if I don't know which way to head. I bumble into a store with Flax clothes on sale.
Finding the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts seems to give me focus. The museum is also the box office for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. There are tickets still available for the Beethoven evening featuring Pinchas Zukerman. Upstairs there's a dandy group of prints and paintings about making music. Naturally, the pieces I really want reproductions to show my students aren't available in the gift shop. You will just have to imagine a Red Grooms' piece of Fats Domino playing Blueberry Hill. Please see my rant of 7/13/04 about special exhibits without postcards. AARRGH!
Once I find a parallel parking spot, I am loathe to surrender it. Of course I don't know where I am after driving around block after block in search. Still, I find my way to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. And it is FABULOUS! FABULOUS! The exhibit is called, "Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico: A Sense of Place". Sense of place is what my trip is all about. I am drawn to the images of the black places.
What wonderful landscapes! All around me whiny tourists are pestering the guards with, "But WHERE are the flowers?????" No wonder the guards are pacing like the caged tigers at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo!
These landscapes are pared down to the essentials. Distractions have been banished. Somehow a sudden downpour seems an answer to a prayer. Santa Fe is desperate for rain, only partly because it is watering those golf courses for the rich and famous. The rain keeps many tourists in the museum gift shop. I have been breathing the paintings in and out amidst an enlarged sense of open space. Now I'm trapped in the tiny gift shop with MANY people wanting Red Poppy souvenir keychains. When the rain slows it feels good to break out into the street, even if I don't know which way to head. I bumble into a store with Flax clothes on sale.
Finding the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts seems to give me focus. The museum is also the box office for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. There are tickets still available for the Beethoven evening featuring Pinchas Zukerman. Upstairs there's a dandy group of prints and paintings about making music. Naturally, the pieces I really want reproductions to show my students aren't available in the gift shop. You will just have to imagine a Red Grooms' piece of Fats Domino playing Blueberry Hill. Please see my rant of 7/13/04 about special exhibits without postcards. AARRGH!
Lost Wax
(No ear wax! This is a hoity-toity fine arts blog!)
I've been traveling with four invisible vicarious companions on this solo trip. My parents love frequent updates, and my bosses want juicy details. Enquiring minds want to know, don't ya know? I feel like the star of my own reality show!
Have you gone to the Shidoni foundry?
Yes. It turns out my mom's sister granddaughter has large kinetic wire sculptures in the Shidoni Sculpture Garden. I arrived at the Sculpture Garden pretty early for having had four hours of sleep after the opera, plus a Denny's Original Grand Slam breakfast. I wandered around, but didn't find anything that fit my misguided preconception about this second cousin's art. When I found the gallery guy and explained that I needed help finding her sculptures, Dave went into an absolute rapture about Reven. (I haven't seen her since she was three--at least thirty years ago.) I will put up a link since I was very excited about Reven Marie Swanson's sculptures. They were bright, joyful, playful kinetic wire sculptures of flying women. I felt an immediate artistic kinship stronger than any shirttail family relationship. This woman ROCKS!
My new buddy Dave also gave me info about a fabulous sculpture by Joe Barrington of a giant bass loaded into an ancient pickup truck. Since my students had just finished the papier mache shark, I thought they might like information about the giant bass! I'll try for some links here, too.
Dave made sure I took a tour through the Shidoni foundry. That's where the lost wax comes in. The foundry is working on a thirty-six foot-tall equestrian conquistador statue for the El Paso airport. I could park a rental Kia Rio in the helmet! It's time for me to plan the fall session of art classes, but I don't think my little students will be doing any bronze casting!
I've been traveling with four invisible vicarious companions on this solo trip. My parents love frequent updates, and my bosses want juicy details. Enquiring minds want to know, don't ya know? I feel like the star of my own reality show!
Have you gone to the Shidoni foundry?
Yes. It turns out my mom's sister granddaughter has large kinetic wire sculptures in the Shidoni Sculpture Garden. I arrived at the Sculpture Garden pretty early for having had four hours of sleep after the opera, plus a Denny's Original Grand Slam breakfast. I wandered around, but didn't find anything that fit my misguided preconception about this second cousin's art. When I found the gallery guy and explained that I needed help finding her sculptures, Dave went into an absolute rapture about Reven. (I haven't seen her since she was three--at least thirty years ago.) I will put up a link since I was very excited about Reven Marie Swanson's sculptures. They were bright, joyful, playful kinetic wire sculptures of flying women. I felt an immediate artistic kinship stronger than any shirttail family relationship. This woman ROCKS!
My new buddy Dave also gave me info about a fabulous sculpture by Joe Barrington of a giant bass loaded into an ancient pickup truck. Since my students had just finished the papier mache shark, I thought they might like information about the giant bass! I'll try for some links here, too.
Dave made sure I took a tour through the Shidoni foundry. That's where the lost wax comes in. The foundry is working on a thirty-six foot-tall equestrian conquistador statue for the El Paso airport. I could park a rental Kia Rio in the helmet! It's time for me to plan the fall session of art classes, but I don't think my little students will be doing any bronze casting!
8/17/04
Alexander Girard
Mecca.
My visit to the Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art was like a pilgrimage to a spiritual home. This is the most playful art exhibit on earth. I can't begin to explain its impact. It is too much to take in during one visit.
Girard was a buddy of my fantasy dinner party guests, Charles and Rae Eames. I may have to invite him next time I revise the guest list!
The only thing missing from this incredible collection of toys, miniatures, and textiles is kites. This is surprising since Girard was a designer for Braniff Airlines during its Calder plane phase. Flying toys must have been in his radar screen.
My visit to the Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art was like a pilgrimage to a spiritual home. This is the most playful art exhibit on earth. I can't begin to explain its impact. It is too much to take in during one visit.
Girard was a buddy of my fantasy dinner party guests, Charles and Rae Eames. I may have to invite him next time I revise the guest list!
The only thing missing from this incredible collection of toys, miniatures, and textiles is kites. This is surprising since Girard was a designer for Braniff Airlines during its Calder plane phase. Flying toys must have been in his radar screen.
Walking the labyrinth
This is the day I've been looking forward to for the whole summer. Today I will visit the Museum of International Folk Art, and tonight I will attend the Santa Fe Opera production of Don Giovanni.
My previous visit to Santa Fe with young boys did not allow much time in art museums. And that was a good thing for everyone but me! We have wonderful memories of Bandelier's cliff dwellings, the Los Alamos science museum, hikes in the ski area, wading around Nambe Falls, and taking other excursions. My ex generously watched the boys for three hours one afternoon so I could visit the Palace of the Governors and the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts by myself. I never knew about Museum Hill.
My life was very different then. Sometime soon I will post some links about Anxiety Disorder. The summer of 1992 was the very worst time in my life, but I never lost my interest in returning to Santa Fe.
I allowed plenty of time for getting lost, so I arrived on Museum Hill before the museums opened. My swimming buddy and I have always wanted to walk a labyrinth, so I walked the labyrinth on the museum plaza. I wasn't meditative, but just astounded by the gorgeous view each time I took a turn in the path. My composition professor used to explain that you can never go wrong with a blue/brown color scheme. The blue mountains and flowers against the adobe walls and terra cotta tiles with the turquoise sky and dark log beams seem to support his thesis! He would then tell us of the accent colors--pimento red, lime green, and cobalt blue oil pastels. A wash of cobalt violet...silver ink mixed with phthalo green wash and lighter fluid to add the sagebrush. Cadmium yellow butterflies flit around this painter's paradise.
My previous visit to Santa Fe with young boys did not allow much time in art museums. And that was a good thing for everyone but me! We have wonderful memories of Bandelier's cliff dwellings, the Los Alamos science museum, hikes in the ski area, wading around Nambe Falls, and taking other excursions. My ex generously watched the boys for three hours one afternoon so I could visit the Palace of the Governors and the Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts by myself. I never knew about Museum Hill.
My life was very different then. Sometime soon I will post some links about Anxiety Disorder. The summer of 1992 was the very worst time in my life, but I never lost my interest in returning to Santa Fe.
I allowed plenty of time for getting lost, so I arrived on Museum Hill before the museums opened. My swimming buddy and I have always wanted to walk a labyrinth, so I walked the labyrinth on the museum plaza. I wasn't meditative, but just astounded by the gorgeous view each time I took a turn in the path. My composition professor used to explain that you can never go wrong with a blue/brown color scheme. The blue mountains and flowers against the adobe walls and terra cotta tiles with the turquoise sky and dark log beams seem to support his thesis! He would then tell us of the accent colors--pimento red, lime green, and cobalt blue oil pastels. A wash of cobalt violet...silver ink mixed with phthalo green wash and lighter fluid to add the sagebrush. Cadmium yellow butterflies flit around this painter's paradise.
8/16/04
Pit Firing on Monday
Set out from my Santa Fe motel to visit the Plaza, and managed to end up on Museum Hill at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian by being thoroughly lost. Amazingly, the Wheelwright is the only museum open on Mondays, and nobody's there. The Wheelwright is displaying pottery by the women of the Zia Pueblo. When I ask the woman at the desk about how the giant storage pots were fired, she launches into a history of the museum and explanation of its Navajo construction with cribbed roof beams. A docent walks up, and next thing I know I'm on a private tour of the exhibit! The docent's name is Nancy, too. Nancy Jane, not Nancy Louise...
I like the way rainbow curves swoop around the contours of the Zia storage pots. The pots have many linear interpretations of birds and feathers. My favorite is a roadrunner pot. The docent points out pots made in the 1920's that were influenced by Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb. "Walk this way", the birds seem to say.
I like the way rainbow curves swoop around the contours of the Zia storage pots. The pots have many linear interpretations of birds and feathers. My favorite is a roadrunner pot. The docent points out pots made in the 1920's that were influenced by Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb. "Walk this way", the birds seem to say.
6/13/04
Father's Day
I've been getting a gift for my dad on the internet, but not by shopping. Howie is eighty-one now. He doesn't need stuff. He needs connections and memories, challenges and things to anticipate.
Everyday this week, Howie will receive at least one envelope in the mail. I am meeting my parents in Santa Fe in August, so I have sent the information about the O'Keeffe Museum and the MOIFA (Museum of International Folk Art) schedules and special exhibits. We'll be attending the Santa Fe Opera, so I sent all the info about the opera venue, and about "Don Giovanni". I also mailed info about Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, but I'm not sure if my parents will be able to get around on the trails to see the petroglyphs.
I'm planning to reread Willa Cather's Death Comes For the Archbishop before the trip, and to visit the Santa Fe Cathedral. My ancestors were Catholic a few generations ago. That got me to wondering more about particulars of their change to the Congregational Church. I've been researching in http://www.rootsweb.com/~neethnic/czechs/. I wrote my questions for Dad on post-it notes on the print-outs.
You may know I posted some of my dad's WWII letters and stories, and I thank you for your comments. I've collected them for him. He will appreciate knowing that many people still understand why Americans fought in the war.
I found information on-line about the young Czech Nebraskans who died in the WWI fighting and influenza epidemic. My dad had two delightful spinster aunts who lost their boyfriends to that horrible war. Just reading all the Czech names transports me back to sitting around my Grandma's dining table telling stories after a wonderful dinner of roast duck and sauerkraut...Mastalir, Liska, Synovec, Turek, Havlicek, Hvorka, Kovanda, Korinek, Novak, Folda, Kubysta, Lundak, Broz, Pospisil..
I hope this will give us lots to talk about when we get together. Besides, what would he do with a necktie?
Everyday this week, Howie will receive at least one envelope in the mail. I am meeting my parents in Santa Fe in August, so I have sent the information about the O'Keeffe Museum and the MOIFA (Museum of International Folk Art) schedules and special exhibits. We'll be attending the Santa Fe Opera, so I sent all the info about the opera venue, and about "Don Giovanni". I also mailed info about Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, but I'm not sure if my parents will be able to get around on the trails to see the petroglyphs.
I'm planning to reread Willa Cather's Death Comes For the Archbishop before the trip, and to visit the Santa Fe Cathedral. My ancestors were Catholic a few generations ago. That got me to wondering more about particulars of their change to the Congregational Church. I've been researching in http://www.rootsweb.com/~neethnic/czechs/. I wrote my questions for Dad on post-it notes on the print-outs.
You may know I posted some of my dad's WWII letters and stories, and I thank you for your comments. I've collected them for him. He will appreciate knowing that many people still understand why Americans fought in the war.
I found information on-line about the young Czech Nebraskans who died in the WWI fighting and influenza epidemic. My dad had two delightful spinster aunts who lost their boyfriends to that horrible war. Just reading all the Czech names transports me back to sitting around my Grandma's dining table telling stories after a wonderful dinner of roast duck and sauerkraut...Mastalir, Liska, Synovec, Turek, Havlicek, Hvorka, Kovanda, Korinek, Novak, Folda, Kubysta, Lundak, Broz, Pospisil..
I hope this will give us lots to talk about when we get together. Besides, what would he do with a necktie?
5/31/04
Conquistadorette
It's really going to happen! I am going to meet my parents in Santa Fe in August. We have talked about this for a long time, and we are really going to do it. They will drive there in a leisurely fashion, and I will fly there with the wonderful free ticket I received for my birthday.
Once we meet up, we will take it slow. That's the Santa Fe way, right? We will go to the O'Keeffe Museum, the International Folk Art Museum, maybe Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, and Taos. My dad wants to see some of the acequias. The engineer is still curious at eighty-one. I am hoping to go to the Santa Fe Opera, perhaps for a performance of Don Giovanni. I have been curious about the opera in Santa Fe ever since my aesthetics professor, Nelson Potter, first talked about it in 1975.
We have the whole summer to fine tune the plan. For now I need to figure out the plane ticket. What a delightful gift for all of us!
Once we meet up, we will take it slow. That's the Santa Fe way, right? We will go to the O'Keeffe Museum, the International Folk Art Museum, maybe Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, and Taos. My dad wants to see some of the acequias. The engineer is still curious at eighty-one. I am hoping to go to the Santa Fe Opera, perhaps for a performance of Don Giovanni. I have been curious about the opera in Santa Fe ever since my aesthetics professor, Nelson Potter, first talked about it in 1975.
We have the whole summer to fine tune the plan. For now I need to figure out the plane ticket. What a delightful gift for all of us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
