Day at the Museum

I was feeling cooped up this weekend, so Boo and I made plans to go to the Mint Museum of Craft and Design for a nice Saturday afternoon outing. The weather was drizzly and cold, but we were in great spirits. The nice thing about living in a big city, is that there are always things to do and sometimes they are free! Today was one of those "free" days at the museum. Boo and I had pretty much the run of the place, not many people out and about. They had some interesting Russian Art exhibits that were very peculiar. One sculpture looked very Lady Gaga'esque. It was a mannequin dressed up in colorful patches of clothes topped off with a bird cage over his head. It was called "Soundsuit" by Nick Cave and honestly, it was kinda creepy. They had some interesting metal jewelry exhibits, some large colored glass exhibits, like a huge acorn, and some really beautiful wood furniture sculptures. The wood was from Australia and striping in it was amazing. Boo wanted so bad to touch this round desk called "Ebony desk" by Jere Osgood, and he got as close as you can without touching it. I think security saw us on camera, cause a split second later they whirled into the room and started talking to us about the desk. Oops.... hahaa! One exhibit that kind of made me feel uncomfortable was an exhibit about Andy Griffin. The artist made these little sculptures into unsettling poses. I snuck a picture so you can see, in this snapshot, the artist explains that Barney Fife is holding Andy Griffin, who is shot in the heart with his arms sticking out to look like he was being crucified. Another one showed Floyd the barber and I think handyman Emmit sitting on a bench, holding hands signifying gay marriage. Another one had Gomer and Goober Pyle, one in a wheelchair with no legs implying war was evil. And the last had Aunt B sitting in a chair with a bunch of empty prescription bottles laying in her lap and Opie standing above her with a shot gun. It was really disturbing, but I guess some art is supposed to be. We were surprised to find that we actually liked the last exhibit. It was about American Quilts. To get up that close to one really makes you appreciate how intricate some of those designs were and just how many pieces of tiny cloth it took to piece together a quilt!

After the museum, we decided to take a brisk stroll around to check out the Christmas decorations around the city. We made it up to the huge tree in the middle of town and even caught the "Bear Symphony" show for a few minutes. It's a show that has a bunch of mechanical moving bears singing and playing instruments. Kind of reminded me of SHOW BIZ pizza band. A bunch of bears playing guitars and singing. hahah! Anyways, all the little kids watching it were mesmerized. It was cute. We decided to call it a day and head back to the car, cause it was getting even more cold and rainy. At least we got some culture and were out for a bit. Now we're off to get ready for a Christmas party. Hope you all have a great holiday and til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!