Category Archives: museum exhibit

May 22, 2017 · 7:35 pm

PJ Bernstein’s, Pomodoro Rossi, new Q subway, gotham Hall, Central Synagogue– NYC

We love NYC but hope to get home to Des Moines tonight on this dreary rainy day. Our flight is already delayed so we aren’t sure we will make our connection in St. Louis. Other than that, we had a great time. We were surprised to enjoy our two visits to Central Synagogue so much. It turned out to be a spectacular Sephardic temple on 55th and Lexington, run by a smart charismatic group of women rabbis and cantors who we’re warm, friendly, and sing beautifully. The lead rabbi was also Asian. Another surprise.  The party was held at Gotham Hall, an imposing former bank (I’m told) on 36th and Broadway and 6th Avenue, near the original Macy’s. It has a huge domed ceiling below which some 300 or so of us ate, danced and partied until after midnight.

Last night we had good Italian food at Pomorodo Rossi, a neighborhood place on Columbus and 71st or so, can conveniently located near my relatives apart. Good pasta with seafood and a light red sauce, grilled artichoke and an outdoor table where we had a rare and wonderful dinner with our dear friends Myra and mike who won the good friend award for driving in from Connecticut.

Today, we met my brother at The Whitney Museum, our favorite place to hang out on a rainy Monday. This time we saw the Biennial exhibit which had some challenging stuff, as expected. Lunch was lobster bisque and a shared crab cake sandwich at Lobster Place in Chelsea Market.

On the east side, we had corned beef and breakfast at PJ Bernsteins on 3rd, morning pastries on Lexington at Corrado Bakery and coffee served by Aussies at Heavenly Rest Stop at 91st and Fifth, in an alcove of a fancy church by the same name.

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July 15, 2016 · 12:57 pm

Open-Air Museum, Japan’s Ithaca, Fujiya Hotel, Naraya Cafe – Hakone

IMG_1716 (1).JPGWe found the Hakone that lived up to the hype today.  After a haphazard journey that involved a bus (the wrong one, apparently) and then a train (which turned out to be the famous narrow gauge train through the mountains), we arrived at the Hakone Open-Air Museum in a downpour. Fortunately there were several closed air (indoor) galleries and several fantastic museum shops to explore until the rain finally became mist and then fog and then a few hopeful patches of blue sky that never really panned out.

But we were able to explore the famous sculpture garden for hours. So spectacular, especially with the atmospherics from the fog and mist drifting across the forested mountains and into the valleys.  We ended up staying almost four hours there and could have stayed longer. The combination of dramatic contemporary sculpture and gorgeous gardens was stunning. Everywhere we walked, we’d find sculpture and nature complimenting each other. Female bronze nudes popping out of a sea of tall grasses.  A bright red circular sculpture in a rock garden pond with orange and white koi swimming around. A grassy hillside dotted with bold sculptures. And this being a hot springs area, there was a long narrow outdoor foot bath for strollers to soak in while admiring some sculpture.

IMG_1711 (1).JPGIndoors was a really interesting exhibit of work by a contemporary Japanese artist (Tadanori Yokoo), another interesting permanent Picasso exhibit and a way cool exploratory exhibit on sculpture that included two podiums where you could stand and move around and a sculpture on a video screen would duplicate your position. Amazing.

We left reluctantly and took the train a few stops to Miyanoshita station, which turned out to be another highlight.  Wet and hungry (we delayed lunch so we could stay at the Museum), we found an ideal spot – the Naraya Cafe, a charming place that served not only great pizza but we ate it while sitting at a table with our feet in a foot bath underneath the table.  That was a first. We sat at an outdoor wooden table on the side of a mountain, with a tarp draped above us to keep out the pouring rain, eating delicious pizza and soaking our feet.  Oh happy day! The cafe was all wood and bonsai plants and gorgeous crafts. Reminded me of a place you’d maybe find in Big Sur.image

Miyanoshita  is the home of the famous old Fujiya Hotel, where we peeked into the gorgeous wood carved dining room, wandered around the gardens and the old-fashioned swimming pool, and stocked up on some breakfast food at the hotel’s bakery. We also did a little walk on a narrow path in the woods, high above waterfalls and a ravine that reminded me of my beloved Ithaca.

imageTonight, we had a good Japanese meal at a little place near our guest house called Hanasai and ended up chatting with a mom and her two teenage kids from the Netherlands.  Also chatted with people today from Seoul and Kobe. Great day.

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March 8, 2016 · 4:41 am

An unsettling surprise at the Holocaust Museum, Indigo, shake shake, Amtrak — DC

imageWithin the first 20 minutes of my visit to the Holocaust Museum in DC today, I got quite the surprise. During an early display about book banning and burning in Germany, at the start of the Nazi era, several names were etched into the glass in front of some photos and videos and one name jumped out at me because it was my own: Rubiner. The first name was Ludwig. I was stunned. Rubiner is an unusual name and I’ve long assumed that any Rubiners are related to me. I had not heard of Ludwig.  My dad seemed to know of him but I don’t know if he is a relative. apparently he was a poet and critic who specialized in expressionism and lived in Berlin, dying in 1920′ according to a man I spoke to in the research area of the museum on the second floor. will have to do some more research. I did use the museums database to find several other Rubiners linked to the holocaust in ways not very clear and some Reibmans (my grama’s maiden name). Some were from Kraków and Poland and Berlin, three places I visited a few years ago.

imageon a more cheerful note, I visited my son at his new office in the Hart senate building, (not far from my sisters office there),and we had a good Indian meal at Indigo, (Indian to go) a very casual place where you order at a window and are served in paper trays in a small room covered with intentional graffiti. There are a few tables inside and picnic tables outside, which people were sitting at thanks to glorious and surprisingly warm temps. i also stopped briefly in the Native American museum (must try their cafe sometime, which serves food from several regions). Also caught a glimpse of the African American museum rising up near the Washington monument. Really looking forward to that museum, in part because I have heard a lot about the architect. I am now in Baltimore at the hotel Monaco after an easy  and pleasant Amtrak train ride.

image

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March 7, 2016 · 3:43 am

le coupe, Columbia heights Laotian food, wonder at the renwick gallery — DC

Columbia heights mural

Columbia heights mural

Great to be visiting Noah a newcomer in DC — plus my sister and husband who sare old hands here. first stop the charming red brick row house Noah shares with three people in Columbia heights, including my dear old pal/ college roommate Myra’s son Dan! the house reminded me so much of my grandparents red brick row house in Easton Pennsylvania, but Noah’s neighborhood has a lot more going on.

imageWe had a really good breakfast at a cheerful restaurant, Le Coupe, packed with people. Excellent lamb hash, eggs Benedict, hash browns, sautéed Brussels sprouts. Next stop: The Renwick Gallery which is part of the smithsonian and located kitty corner from the White House, for a fantastic show called Wonder (or Wonders) — site specific enormous installations by 9 different artists including Maya Lin and Tara Donovan. The show could also have been entitled “Mindblowing” — really astonishing work and great to see the place packed with all kinds of people and signs in each room that said “photography encouraged.”

imageNoah and I shared some good cheesecake at a bakery on 14th street in his neighborhood and later were joined by my sister, brother law and Noah’s roommate dan for Laotian food, also ion 14th street. Really fun day!

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December 5, 2014 · 9:06 pm

Even more reasons to go to Chicago in 2015: “the 606”, David Adjaye show at Art Institute

The 606Just heard the Art Institute of Chicago will  host the first show of work by British architect David Adjaye next September. He first came to my attention thanks to a profile last year in The New Yorker. He’s designing the new  National Museum of African American History and Culture, on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Also new next summer – “the 606” – the Chicago version of NYC’s High Line. It includes parks and trails along 2.7 miles of a former elevated train track connecting four neighborhoods (see the606.org)

And as always, some new restaurants to check out:

– Chicken Shop, which serves free-range rotisserie chicken at the new Soho House hotel.

– GT Prime (a meat place from the chef who owns GT Fish & Oyster)

 – A Mexican food brewpub from Homaro Cantu (of Moto)

Thanks to the travel Mag AFAR for these suggestons.

Cover Photo

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September 15, 2014 · 10:58 pm

Halston, Warhol, pillbox hat together again – thx to Des Moines Art Center

All kinds of fun sounding events this month in conjunction with the Des Moines Art Center’s exhibit exploring/celebrating the friendship/collaboration of Halston and Warhol! I hope to make it to some!

An exhibition preview party will be held at the Art Center on Thursday,
September 18 from 6 – 8 pm (5 – 6 member hour) to celebrate the opening
of the exhibitions. Live music by DJ 8|10 and cash bar. Admission $5;
members FREE. The Art Center restaurant Baru at the Art Center will also
be open for dinner, offering a special menu; reservations recommended.

DES MOINES, IA (August 2014) – On September 18, the Des Moines Art Center
will open an exhibition organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh: Halston
and Warhol: Silver and Suede, which runs September 18, 2014 – January 18, 2015
in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery. After premiering at The Andy Warhol Museum this
past May, the exhibition will embark on a national tour, beginning with the
Des Moines Art Center. The same evening, the Art Center will open a companion
exhibition, 15 Minutes in Des Moines: The Art Center Collects Andy Warhol, on view
in Blank One Gallery.

Silver and Suede will examine the dynamic friendship between legendary
American fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick (b. 1932, Des Moines), and artist
Andy Warhol (b. 1928, Pittsburgh) through art, fashion, photography, video, and personal memorabilia. Born within four years of each other, they had similar
beginnings to their careers, both starting out as window dressers for department
stores before relocating to New York City where they each found success in their
chosen fields.

An exhibition preview party will be held at the Art Center on Thursday,
September 18 from 6 – 8 pm (5 – 6 member hour) to celebrate the opening
of the exhibitions. Live music by DJ 8|10 and cash bar. Admission $5;
members FREE. The Art Center restaurant Baru at the Art Center will also
be open for dinner, offering a special menu; reservations recommended.
DES MOINES, IA (August 2014) – On September 18, the Des Moines Art Center
will open an exhibition organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh: Halston
and Warhol: Silver and Suede, which runs September 18, 2014 – January 18, 2015
in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery. After premiering at The Andy Warhol Museum this
past May, the exhibition will embark on a national tour, beginning with the
Des Moines Art Center. The same evening, the Art Center will open a companion
exhibition, 15 Minutes in Des Moines: The Art Center Collects Andy Warhol, on view
in Blank One Gallery.
Silver and Suede will examine the dynamic friendship between legendary
American fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick (b. 1932, Des Moines), and artist
Andy Warhol (b. 1928, Pittsburgh) through art, fashion, photography, video, and personal memorabilia. Born within four years of each other, they had similar
beginnings to their careers, both starting out as window dressers for department
stores before relocating to New York City where they each found success in their
chosen fields.
Halston became the defining American fashion designer of the 1970s
through his effortlessly chic

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May 7, 2014 · 8:10 pm

American Swedish Institute and Room and Board Outlet – Minneapolis!

We followed a Volvo into the parking lot and parked our Ford next to a Saab – which seemed like an appropriate way of arriving at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. The museum is a hybrid of an elegant over-the-top 19th century Turnblad Mansion with rococo ceilings, elaborately carved mahogany woodwork and the most remarkable assortment of tiled stoves I’ve seen, plus an equally elegant but very spare Scandinavian modern wing with pristine white walls and spotless floors and pale wood.

 

 

As expected, the exhibit we saw of exquisite papercuts  (the art of “psaligraphy”) by Danish-Norwegian artist Karen Bit Vejle were remarkable – huge, intricate, lovely, I cannot imagine how she does such lovely things with a small pair of scissors. The papercuts were exhibited in both the modern wing and scattered around the mansion, which was cool. We also were impressed with the paper cuts (see below) of St. Paul artist Cindy McKeen, who  studied at Grinnell and at Drake and whose work was reportedly influenced by her rural Iowa childhood. I found out later her work is on sale at Ingebretsen’s, the well-known Scandinavian Gift shop in  Minneapolis.

imageMORE VIEWS

The day before, we went to the Room and Board Outlet in nearby Golden Valley – and I found EXACTLY the chair I was looking for (or pretty darned close!) for $600 off the catalog price. How amazing is that? We saved an extra $100 or so on shipping. I am a longtime fan of Room and Board but never knew there was an outlet – this is the only one in the country and it’s only open on Saturday and Sunday. The place was packed and as I wandered around looking for “my chair” – I suddenly spotted it in a remote area of the cavernous warehouse, surrounded by couches similar to the I bought for full price a few years ago. But another woman spotted “my chair” too and promptly sat on it. I waited nervously for her to leave then jumped into it and held on for dear life until my husband arrived and could go fetch a salesclerk. It was the only one in the whole place!image

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February 17, 2014 · 4:53 am

World Food Prize Headquarters and Howard Buffett photo exhibit in Des Moines: worth a visit

I finally got to walk around the renovated downtown library in Des Moines that is now the headquarters for the World Food Prize and was blown away by the restoration/renovation effort. It was always an elegant 19th century building but it got pretty shabby in the mid 1990s when my children visited the library there regularly as Downtown School students. With all its stain glassed windows and murals and wood it always hinted of a previous, more elegant life. Now it’s back to its former glory and well worth a walk around. The restored WPA murals on the bottom floor are particularly interesting, tracing the history do Des Moines from prehistoric era to 1941. And the Howard Buffett photos of people from across the world facing hunger issues is mesmerizing. So visit when
You can. (There was an open house last weekend.)

THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE HALL OF LAUREATES is open to the public for tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., free of charge, on most Tuesdays and Saturdays. Please call 515-247-2222 for open house dates. Click here for more information.

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August 29, 2013 · 2:43 am

back to the newseum For civil rights and Kennedy’s

I went on a return visit (after going last year) to the Newseum to see the Civil Rights exhibit and ended up staying four hours to see that and a whole lot more. As a fan of US History from the 1960s onward, I.e. the current events roughly spanning my time on the planet, and as a sentimental former newspaper reporter, I love the newseums focus not only on recent current events but on how they were covered by the news media and how those events shaped the media. So the exhibit on now the media, for example, covered the Kennedy assassination and the civil rights movement, as well as FBI investigations into the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the Branch Davidian fiasco at Waco, the capture of the Unabomber (whose creepy Montana cabin is in the Newseum), the Oklahoma City bombing and of course 9/11, was fascinating to me.

Imagine being the photographer who captured the shot of Lee Harvey Oswald being shot and worse, the photographer who snapped a photo a split second earlier when Oswald was still alive, just missing the drama shot? Imagine being the reporters beat up by racist thugs in the 1960s south, when they were covering the brave students fighting segregation? Strange to think that almost the entire nation tuned in for JFK’s funeral and, unwittingly, for Oswald’s death live on tv.
I also enjoyed looking at the Camelot photos taken of the young Kennedy’s and their two gorgeous little kids by the photographer first hired by Joe Kennedy to help sell his son as presidential material. The Newseum also does offer fabulous views of the capital.

20130827-090908.jpg

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August 14, 2013 · 11:43 pm

War/photography at the Corcoran Gallery in DC

Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art is located in Washington, D.C.
Location: 17th St. at New York Ave., NW.

I’m going on a work trip to Washington DC later this month and if I can find some free time, I hope to get to the war photography exhibit that’s showing until Sept. 29 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Here’s more details Corcoran War Photo Exhibit

WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY brings together images by more than 200 photographers from 28 nations and covers conflicts from the past 165 years—from the Mexican-American War through present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Organized not chronologically but around themes such as “The Fight,” “Refugees,” and “Remembrance,” it shows how photography has informed our understanding of conflict over time, and around the world.

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