The Way Things Go - The Art and Archaeology Museum

Allyson and Blondie

Cathy Callaway of the Education Department at MAA held a family event Saturday afternoon, September 25, inspired by the art film about kinetic sculpture, The Way Things Go. A number of families, including fathers as well as mothers, and children from the very young to pre-teens, came. We assembled in Room 106 of Pickard Hall in an informal atmosphere. Since Blondie, the miniature horse arrived in the parking lot, everyone went out to meet her and Allyson, her handler from Stephens College.  (Click on any picture to enlarge it.)





Tentative hands reach out to pet Blondie.



 
 
 
 
 

Some clients weren't at all sure this was appropriate behavior.

 

Some clients were willing to give it a try.

MAA has a new gallery exhibition on Equine Art that focuses on the human fascination with horses. 
 
Once back inside Pickard Hall, we watch The Way Things Go. This approximately half hour film keeps your attention as you see one
happening leading to another with a cause/effort relationship.  The unwinding of the tie of a trash bag begins the action (similar to falling dominoes) and moves through a rolling tire, exploding fireworks, rivers of soapsuds and clouds of foaming dry ice.  This all take place in what appears to be a warehouse, and should never be tried at home.  One comment I heard overheard was something like, "I wonder how many times they had to film this to get this effect."  The film can also be observed on You Tube.



Birds fly from this mobile.

 


Choices take a lot of concentration.

 Making mobiles was the next activity.  Allisa, an  MU art student had cut out little Picasso figures and new moons and she and Cathy demonstrated how they tied  objects to a wire coat hanger to make the mobile. We had many versions of the mobile.   

Whee!  Look at mine! It matches my dress.



I can see you, too.



Family members work together.

An artist must focus on his work.

This is a serious job.

One can work anywhere - even on the 'stage.'

Even the youngest artist makes her own selections.





Really, this was easy.

Finished!



Even Dad's can do it! (We are an equal opportunity operation.)

 Everyone seemed to go home happy.  Then it was time to clean up.  Cathy and Allisa did most of it.  I hung around for a while. It was nothing but pleasure for me.

A Day in the Life...Arrow Rock

The Museum of Art and Archaeology organized a tour for docents to Arrow Rock (population 50) named one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destination’s by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The famous 19th Century Missouri painter, George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), lived in Arrow Rock, and we are celebrating his 200th birthday next year.

We met at a parking lot on the west side of town. We car-pooled, and although I had volunteered to drive that turned out not to be necessary. Arrow Rock is about 45 miles west of Columbia on Highway 70 and 41.   It is a nice drive through green hills and woods.



The restaurant.  I am sitting at a table on the right (off camera)-
except when I took this picture.

Once there, around noon, we ate at a charming local restaurant that opens to serve mainly tour groups. 

Remi shows a book to Arthur (off camera)
Remember you can click on any picturre to enlarge it.

 
The proprietor, served the group with a choice of chicken salad and croissant sandwich or quiche accompanied by a lovely green salad, grapes and cantaloupe. Several desserts were offered, but I stopped listening after I heard peach cobbler with ice cream; that’s what everyone at our table took, except Arthur who absented himself from the table. I wondered if he was on a diet. But aren't we all.


Canopied bed with antique hand sewn quilt



From the restaurant we drove to the parking lot by the Visitor Center. There we saw a half hour movie on the history of Arrow Rock that before the Civil War was a town of up to 19,000 residents (25 % were slaves). Very crowded, loud (river town) and muddy. Another half hour or more was spent listening to our tour guide answer questions. We looked at the19th Century museum exhibits…

Side-saddle:  notice the vertical post that the lady was expected to hook her right leg over. (click to enlarge)

Many of the residents came from Virginia and the Southeast, and tried to bring as much of that ‘civilization’ with them as possile. Beside slaves, they brought a preference for Federalist architecture and some items of luxury.



Decorative arrangement - tavern



A solid block of tea.  Tea could be shaved off as needed, or broken into small blocks and sold.

We visited the Huston Tavern where we saw coffee containers that held coffee from Java, Rio and other places around the world. Tea from China came in solid blocks.


George Caleb Bingham’s family came from Virginia to Franklin, Missouri when he was very young. (Franklin was flooded so many times that the residents moved to higher ground, now called New Franklin.) Later the family moved to Arrow Rock, where his mother, now a widow, opened an academy for girls.

Academy for girls

One of his most famous paintings is Fur Traders Descending the Missouri at the Metropolitan. His bread and butter was portrait painting, but he also painted frontier life, The Jolly Flatboatmen and Order No. 11 showing the eviction of residents from Western Missouri after the Quantrill raid of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863.



Docents in front of the Bighanm house.

 We toured Bingham’s Federalist style house. The upper wooden story, as well as the wood frame kitchen wing was taken off in the 1930’s when the WPA was restoring it on the mistaken assumption that it wasn’t original.

Antique spinning and winding wheels in the Bingham house.

Much of the town was destroyed by two fires in the last two centuries, and other buildings were torn down in a successful attempt to make the town park like. An old church was remodeled to house the nationally known Lyceum Theater. This building has since been expanded to provide more seating.



The movie Tom Sawyer ( 1975) was filmed in Arrow Rock.
If you want to check out some paintings by Bingham, google George Caleb Bingham paintings.

Creative Bedmaking

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog praising men, in particular my husband. One of the things I mentioned was that my husband, Youssef, makes our bed. I admit that very occasionally the bed doesn’t get made before evening, occasionally not before noon. But usually he is quick to make it; sometimes he is so quick that the bed is made before I can remind him that it’s time to change the sheets.  Never mind, one less thing to do that day.

One of my friends wrote me that men didn’t understand the need for pillows, decorative pillows and lots of them. I agreed that Youssef makes the bed, but I usually come around later and arrange the decorative pillows the way I think they should look.

Lately, however, Youssef has gotten creative. He pulls the sheet up to the top corners of the bed, but folds the bedspread back so that it covers only the lower half. I think he feels this looks inviting, summery and cool. He sets two pillows each at the top of the bed and covers them with the sham pillows on either side. We have three large decorative pillows, but he only puts two pillows (one green, one burgundy) between the shams. I find the third large green decorative pillow on the cedar chest. The two smaller green decorative pillows are arranged at the foot of the bed.
Nothing wrong with being creative, I suppose!