Crystal Bridges statuary

Shore Lunch, Dan Ostermiller, 1999

 One of the great features of the Crystal Bridges Museum is the network of trails that surrounds the buildings. When we planned our trip, we built in time to take a hike on the various trails and see what there was to see. Like the rest of the grounds, there were lots of flowers, and well-designed trails. There was also art, which is appropriate, since it is an art museum and all. I didn't get pictures of everything, but here are some of the works we saw on the hike.

These two photos of boulders take a little explanation. The boulder in the photo above is art, as shown by the number and (not visible in this photo) the word "ART" that have been attached to it. It is part of an installation called Grains of Sand by Robert Tannen, that is designed as a sort of scavenger hunt on the grounds.

The thing is, the art boulders are made of the native stone that also is found all over the grounds, like the other boulder, above, which was situated directly next to one of the ART boulders. I try to be open and appreciative to art of all kinds, but I have to admit myself a bit mystified over these boulders. They certainly made us laugh a bit, and they made us think, and I guess that is the point, what makes them art? Anyway, we had a chuckle every time we discovered one.

Stella, Andre Harvey, 2009

Stella here typifies the problem with outdoor art - you want to run over and pet her snout, and climb on her back, but the museum doesn't want her to be damaged by constant contact with grimy hands. Makes sense, but it was torture to not rub an ear. They shouldn't have made her so cute!

Group of Bears, Paul Manship, modeled 1932, cast 1999

We had to hike a bit farther than we though to see these lovely creatures - the scale on the map is not quite accurate. They were apparently meant for the Bronx Zoo, but not cast at the time. You can definitely see the Art Deco influence in their lines. I would have liked to pet them too.

Flowers at Crystal Bridges

The first thing I noticed when we got out of the car at the Crystal Bridges Museum were all the flowers. The museum itself is in a sort of gorge or valley - you park above it and walk down to it. All along the parking lot and the hillside around the building were lovely flower gardens.

I was very impressed at how vibrant and non-droopy everything was, considering how parched my own garden is by this time of year. The gardeners (and sprinkler system) there must be top-notch.

I can't remember what this purple flower is, and it was sort of hard to capture on camera because it was on long fluffy stalks and wouldn't sit still in the wind.

This pink flower is just a little out of place - its fellows were one bed over. 

There were quite a few butterflies and bees enjoying the flowers too.

The flowers were a lovely introduction to the museum and preparation for the art inside.