My friend Liz will be flying back with me to NY (she lives there part-time). We drove east to stay near the airport for our early morning flight. Along the way we made several stops. First was in Hammond to see the home of Charles Smith.
I’d learned about Smith when I visited the @AbitaMysteryHouse last week. Charles Smith is an African American Vietnam Vet. When he returned, with PTSD, he had a difficult time re-entering society. He began to create art as a way to deal with his demons and tell the story of how Black GIs and vets were treated.
He recently had a show in a gallery in NYC, which the NY Times described as “socially penetrating, racially acute, wildly idiosyncratic work.” In the photos I saw his home and work were intriguing, especially ones taken long ago when the work was fresh looking.
I found a vague address, which we entered into GPS. Liz asked how we would find his house. My response, based on other home-made art environments I’ve visited was, “I guarantee when we see it we’ll know it.” I was correct, we couldn’t possibly have missed his home, set in the middle of an ordinary neighborhood.
His yard is now surrounded by fencing to keep people from going onto the property. But even from the edges, it is possible to see a great deal. It no longer looks as though he lives there, and the sculptures are somewhat worse for the wear. Still, it was an amazing place to see. He’s got quite a story to tell.
From there we drove a few miles to Ponchatoula to see what was described as the “giant strawberry.” It was less than exciting. But as we drove through town, we spotted some intriguing looking antique shops, parked, and walked around. It’s a lovely little town.
Liz had seen my photos of the Abita Mystery House, and she was interested in seeing it. I didn’t mind going there again and it was on our way to the airport.
Before we went to the museum, we stopped at @https://abitacafe.com/ for lunch. Their menu was filled with Southern specialties; deciding what to eat was tough—I would have happily eaten most items on the menu. But, I tried to be good and had a salad, filled with candied pecans, chicken, cranberries, blueberries, and gorgonzola. It was delicious.
Then off to the Mystery House. Liz was taken by the creativity, ingenuity and humor of the museum’s creator, John Preble. After walking through the museum, we got into a long conversation with John a friend who was visiting, Norma Jean. We talked for a long time.