Memorial Art Gallery

Too Fast…

The first time I visited this museum two years ago, to check it out with my husband, we breezed through in about 30 minutes. We were impressed with the breadth of art; there’s a little bit of everything on the two small floors. Our conclusion was that it was a charming community museum – good for taking visitors to for an hour, at best.  We didn’t linger in any of the rooms, or focus on many of the particular works – it was more of a ‘drive by.’ 

Too Slow?

So when my friend Nanette later visited from Florida, I figured it would be a good place to drag her on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  There was one particular installation I wanted her to see – Devorah Sperber’s work consisting of 4596 spools of thread, which, when viewed through an acrylic ball, inverts and focuses to become Grant Wood’s American Gothic (it reminded me of a similar trick we used to view a painting at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg).

Three hours and an organ recital later (including the opportunity to work the bellows – the original Stairmaster?), I changed my assessment, having fallen in love with several of the works, particularly Alison Saar’s Maquette for “Swing Low” – a statue of Harriet Tubman, represented as the train of the Underground Railroad, complete with a cowcatcher petticoat and a skirt decorated with faces and belongings of runaway slaves.  The statue especially resonated as Nanette and I had just visited Harriet Tubman’s house in Auburn earlier that week. 

And Fritz Trautmann’s Galaxy, a hypnotic painting of spheres that uses no black paint.  (I was so captivated by this painting that I remarked about it to another friend, Luci, who bought me the jigsaw puzzle.  When I began, I cavalierly thought it would be easy, based on the distribution of colors. Not!  Doing the puzzle gave me a renewed appreciation for the painting, because sorting through the pieces, looking for a specific color, made me wonder: when does yellow become so light that it appears white? or so dark that it wanders into orange, or brown? I knew when I finished it, I’d have to glue and hang it…)

And the works by the talented Wendell Castle, a local artist, including the whimsical outdoor Unicorn Family.

And the double-sided painting by Georgia O’Keefe (it’s fascinating to ponder her unfinished abstract, and wonder why she abandoned it.  I much prefer it to the more boring finished side!).

Just Right!

On a recent Sunday, I returned alone, to visit at my own pace. Since everyone appreciates art differently, and appreciates different art, I sometimes feel pressured either to speed up (when I’m more interested in a particular painting or genre than a companion) or slow down (when I’m in a room of religious paintings or artifacts with someone who actually likes them).  I visited my favorites (they're like friends to me, now), and added a few more to the list, including Seer Bonnet XVI, by Angela Ellsworth, who used corsage pins to create a symbol of her rejection of Mormonism.  

I timed my visit so I could enjoyed the organ recital (to have a listen, click here).  The music resonated throughout the second floor, and was a lovely accompaniment to my contemplation of the Impressionists.  And I spent a few minutes outside, admiring George Rickey’s stainless steel sculpture (we had a similar sculpture at Middlebury College, outside the music building, so I always associated it with a tuning fork), and am even warming to the Creation Myth sculptures (I love that it’s the woman creating the man!) by Tom Otterness, who overcame his own “curious incident of the dog…”

I look forward to the next time I have company and being able to share my 'new friends' with my old ones!