Taughannock Falls & Beyond

We took a break from museums in Corning and went on a lovely walk to Taughannock Falls.   Bennett wore the right shirt.

 The next day we left for Rochester and a visit to the Strong Museum of Play.  Bennett is a bit old for most of the excellent exhibits but he enjoyed the video games and pinball as did his Zadie and Mom.

 

 

We then spent a couple of days in Saranac before heading down to Albany for a lovely family Seder with our cousins.

Our finale was an excellent play True at The Capital Rep.  It tells of the city politics of Albany set in 1977 but felt too real for today.

Corning, NY

We have been to lots of museums as you know but nothing compares to enjoying the largest collections of glass art in the world.  This was our second trip to the Corning Museum of Glass and we only touched a fraction of all there is to see.  We were joined by family

These photos give a hint of the wonders we enjoyed.

The "coil of rope" was made of millions of glass beads by a group of women in Kenya.

Jeff, Cheryl and Bennett each had an opportunity to help make a blown glass object to take home.  While Jeff and Cheryl did a little air pumping

 

Bennett was able to design and create his art.  He made a night light.  All of them turned out lovely.

 

The Rockwell

Corning, NY

The Rockwell Museum (not Norman but wealthy collector Robert F.)

Now in the historic city hall, this eclectic collection represents Rockwell’s collection of American and Native American art.  Artists range from such famous ones as Remington to lesser known women of the South and Native American artists.

A number of paintings from the Hudson River School were presented.

The woman looking out at the endless prairie was exceptional.

The paintings and sculpture tell the history of the United States with attention to both the treatment of the indigenous and slave populations.

Corn and Cotton, painted in 1876, seems to represent the romanticized joining of the South and the North.

One room was set aside for an International Baccalaureate Program for artists, in this case young women, at least two of whom identified as gay. These high school students went through a two-year program that included education in how to put together a museum quality exhibit.  This girl used her sports numbers to make a collage.  Their work was amazing.      

Could these be more contemporary?

 

 

The Pierce Arrow

Yes, another museum before we left Buffalo for points east.

The city has a small but very full Pierce Arrow Museum.  The factory was in Buffalo. 
Pierce Arrow started as a bicycle building firm, graduated to motorcycles, then to “high end” cars.  

 A Pierce Arrow started at $2300.00 in 1904, a lot of money at the time.

 They were a lot more expensive in the 1920s before the company went out of business in the 1930s

 

The centerpiece of the museum is the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed service station.  The station was never actually built.  Wright designed it and insisted that he be paid for each one built.  The oil company declined and that was the end of the story.  The one in the museum was build from the original plans.  Among other problems, the fuel tanks were on top of the station and a part of the roof.  Also there was dangerous leakage. The fuel was gravity fed and there was no shutoffs on the pumps. Apparently, leaking roofs, chimneys and such were not uncommon in FLW creations.  

The collection Corvettes had a special history but one we had no knowledge of.  Herb Caplan, known as the Jewish Kamakaize raced in The Kosher Corvette in the 1970s. 

 He was SCCA production champion in 1978.   Herb and his wife Alice lived in Sacramento.  We had no knowledge of them and Anna Lee had no knowledge that a local racer was racing in her favorite car.

Buffalo, Day 2

Burchfield Penney Art Center

Looking for our next place to visit, we chose a museum (of course) and stayed twice as long as advertised.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center showcases local artist Charles E. Burchfield as well as other artists, mainly from Western New York and indigenous communities.

These plates inspired by a painting caught our eye as we enter the museum.

We enjoyed other artists like James G. Pappas who was influenced by music, primarily jazz.

 

Burchfield initially made his living designing wall paper for a company in Buffalo.

He became enraged by pollution of industry in the area and reflected his feelings in many of his art works.

 

 

 

 

The Circus Parade was one of his most famous watercolors

Blue Spool - 3 x 4 inches, life size painting really looks like a spool of thread.  The detail is amazing.

 

While viewing the art we spotted a group on the main floor.  Being curious and hoping for an art lecture, we wound up joining them but it was nothing like we expected.  Yes, a docent was explaining Spring Day in the Woods by Burchfield.  The artist spent an entire day in the woods, during a cold rain, doing a sketch after which he created this painting.  An added note to the painting was that Burchfield was known for adding more paper at the bottom of the canvas if he did not like how the bottom looked.

What we had barged in on was a group of people with Parkinson’s who are part of a grant-funded program that presents therapy sessions in the community. Along with the docent, a violinist and a physical therapist used the painting to get the participants to react to the painting both verbally and physically.

We enjoyed a tasty lunch at the museum before heading onto our next site, the Buffalo and Erie Canal Botanical Gardens.

 






We enjoyed a great dinner at Fat Bob’s Smokehouse, and had to buy some of their BBQ sauce to bring home for future use.