Art, old friendships, and a touch of nostalgia made for a full day. My college friend Gary, his wife Marcia, and, for many years work, have brought me to Minneapolis again and again. One of the clients I worked with was the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA). That’s where we started the day. I was hoping that some of my … Read More
Madison to Minneapolis
Today was a driving day, a LOT of driving. Had we gone directly, it would have been 270 miles. But we opted for backroads, increasing both the distance and the appeal. Rather than recount every small town we passed through, I’ll simply say the scenery was bucolic. Farms looked well-kept and prosperous, some fields freshly plowed, others left fallow and … Read More
From Sheboygan to Madison, WI
A clap of thunder and rain slamming against the window woke me from a deep sleep last night, an omen for the day ahead. By morning, the rain had eased, but the sky remained slate gray and threatening. We hadn’t gone far before the rain returned. What should have been bucolic farm scenes unfolded instead as soggy fields behind a … Read More
Sheboygan, WI
Tonight, as I write this, I am exhausted. It was a VERY full, and very wonderful, day. We started by driving to the outskirts of the city to the James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden. It is one of the artist-built environments that has been preserved by the Kohler Foundation. We started by driving to the outskirts of the city to … Read More
Milwaukee, WI
This morning, I flew to Milwaukee, the start of a Midwest trip on the trail of outsider art and friends and family. I met up with my friend Judy at the airport and within minutes of collecting a rental car, we were on our way to the Milwaukee Art Museum. It’s a place I have not visited in decades but … Read More
Terlingua to El Paso, Texas
Tomorrow Liz flies home to Louisiana and I return to NYC. That meant driving from Big Bend to El Paso, about three hundred miles. We had all day, so it shouldn’t have been onerous. But overnight, everything changed. The temperature dropped from over one hundred degrees to mid-fifties in the morning and the temperature never climbed above sixty. And the … Read More
Big Bend National Park, Texas
For decades, Big Bend National Park lived in my imagination, one of those alluring but remote places that always felt just out of reach. It is situated in a vast corner of west Texas where distances stretch endlessly. Getting here requires intention. And patience. And a willingness to go far beyond “on the way.” Now, exploring it, I wonder why … Read More
Study Butte and Terlingua, Texas
I suspect that for nearly everyone reading this, these two town names are completely unfamiliar. I’d certainly never heard of them before planning this trip to West Texas. Both sit just outside Big Bend National Park, small outposts on the edge of a vast landscape. But let’s start at the beginning. We left Fort Davis after what can only be … Read More
Alpine and Fort Davis, Texas and the McDonald Observatory
The Museum of the Big Bend is small, unlike its subject. It was a great orientation, offering a clear, engaging introduction to the region’s geology and human history, from prehistoric times to today. For such an isolated area the interactions among native Americans, the Spanish, and Americans has been very active. For those of us who are a wee bit … Read More
Marathon, Texas
Before leaving Marfa this morning, we stopped at the courthouse. Several people had told us the interior was a step back in time, and they were right. The original wood has been lovingly restored, and the architecture harkens back to an earlier West. Standing in the courtroom, I found myself thinking of Inherit the Wind with Spencer Tracy. I could … Read More