Wordless Wednesday: weeds and waves

Public art

One of the highlights of my Mall-exploring in DC was strolling through the National Gallery's Sculpture Garden, a lovely park-like space between the Gallery and the Museum of Natural History.

one of my favorite pieces in the Sculpture Garden

And I've been extra-sensitive to the glories of public art lately.  On my very own campus back home, a veritable garden of new sculptures has been sprouting. It seems that an artistic Marianist Brother has recently passed away and his collection of works is being sprinkled all around the campus.

All more or less abstract, most of the pieces are really delightful, and I took a little stroll the other day to snap some of them for you. Now, being a rather old institution, of course we have some rather traditional statues on display...

...albeit occasionally with less-than-traditional decorations (click to enlarge so you can see Mary's headdress here).

And then there are some pieces that are only semi-avant-garde:

this delightful St. Francis has quickly become a campus favorite

But most are playfully abstract...

...even if some of their materials are easily recognizable as real objects...

This burnished silver beauty reminded me of the tree that so entranced me in Washington:

So let me return to the official Sculpture Garden to show you a few more shots of that tree (I really couldn't stop taking photos of it!)

the impressive building in the background is the National Archives

close-up of some of those amazing branches

The tree probably wouldn't have looked as impressive without the sun's reflections, but, as you can see, I was very lucky in the weather for my sculpture stroll. Here are a couple more DC pieces:

this could be a monster movie poster, no?

and this could be a conspiracy clue!

I've always thought that public art is a very good way to spend tax (and tuition) dollars. Don't you think it makes otherwise ho-hum spaces so much more exciting and fun?!

At the Mall

Normally, I don't head to the mall for recreation. Shopping as a leisure-time activity rates, for me, somewhere near root canals on the desirability scale.

But I make an exception when the Mall in question is of the National variety.

National Gallery of Art and blossoms

Nothing beats strolling around this wonderful space that's part park, part museum smorgasbord, and part urban playground. On my visit to DC last weekend I spent Saturday museum-ing, but enjoyed my time outside between museums almost as much as seeing the exhibits inside.

fountain in the sculpture garden

The Mall is right in the middle of everything tourist-worthy, and its logical layout (accompanied by frequent map signage) makes it easy to stay oriented. 

However, as I've learned from hard experience, the maps make it look like a much smaller space than it really is. On one visit I thought, "Oh, I'll just stroll from the Washington Monument down to the Lincoln Memorial, then it's just a short walk across the bridge to Arlington." Hah! I almost didn't make it, and my legs and feet ached for days! But I was much more appreciative of the size of crowds that have filled the space (like here in 1963) after hiking the length of it.

Tip for visitors: it takes a lot more shoe leather than you think to cover even one end of the Mall. Here's a shot I took from inside the Museum of Natural History, showing two domes: the National Gallery dome and the Capitol, that look a lot closer together than they actually are:

Speaking of the Capitol, in an editorial aside, wouldn't you think if you went to work in such a gorgeous building every day, you'd been inspired to do a better job?

But back to sightseeing (DC is a much more enjoyable place to visit if you just ignore the politics that goes on inside those lovely buildings).

Most of the museums on the Mall are part of the Smithsonian system, whose original buildings are still the most picturesque:

There are all kinds of sights around the mall, in addition to the fabulous architecture...

petrified wood outside of the Museum of Natural History

advertisement for the MNH's biggest draws

And the "sculptures" above aren't even in the National Gallery's Sculpture Garden. I took a lot of pictures there, and will show some to you next time.

Wordless Wednesday: enthusin' 'bout infusin'

Out and about in DC

I really like getting to visit our nation's capital frequently, which means I can get at least somewhat familiar with (parts of) it. In addition to the museums, landmarks, and other sightseeing magnets, it's just a fun city to visit, walk around in, ride the metro in, and eat in!

My recent visit was at a particularly nice time of year. In spite of the fact that the cherry blossoms were done, there were lots of other gorgeous flowering plants on display, Like these, which I glimpsed near Judiciary Square, on my walk to purchase a senior metro pass (which will be very nice to have on subsequent visits!).

Of course everyone knows about the imposing government buildings. But there are also a lot of pretty churches in the city, too. 

Also lots of interesting residential buildings, too, like this one, near my hotel...

This neighborhood goes by the catchy name "NoMa," which means "north of Massachusetts" (the avenue, not the state!). 

It was a very nice area, with plenty of amenities, like a handy upscale grocery right next door to the hotel. It's a Harris-Teeter, and it has a somewhat surprising claim to fame ...

I mentioned eating earlier. Boy, do I eat well in DC! I didn't sample the street food advertised here, but I was intrigued enough by the reference to a Texas region that I had to take a picture:

But I did have some great meals on this visit, as I'm used to. One of the more memorable was a crab quesadilla (chosen in lieu of the usual obligatory crabcakes) at Kramerbooks. (Yes, it's a bookstore, but also a great restaurant!)

Kramerbooks is near the DuPont Circle metro, a charming neighborhood that I hadn't visited before. Next time, I want to go there again and spend some time taking a look around, which we didn't have time for. But as we headed back to the train, this lovely scene was on display...

Neat buildings, lovely clouds, great food and good friends...yes, all of DC is a great place to visit. Of course, the main attractions remain near the Mall, where I'll take you in my next post.

Hanging out in a landmark

Longtime readers of this blog will know that I periodically have the pleasure of visiting our nation’s capital on the University’s dime. I was supposed to attend a meeting there last fall, but children [ie, Congress] behaving badly put the kibosh on my, and many other folks’, plans.

The conference was rescheduled for late April instead. Cherry blossoms were all pretty much down (which, actually, is a good thing, since I understand hotel prices go through the roof when the blossoms are at peak, and those prices are high enough as it is!) …

…but it was still a great time of year for a visit. There was rain the first two days I was there, but then things cleared off gloriously. I stayed an extra day or two for sightseeing and family visiting, and will talk about these activities later. Today I want to highlight the venue of the conference.

Normally we have these shindigs in an area hotel, but this year we saved taxpayers beaucoup bucks (you’re welcome!) by meeting in the Government Printing Office’s own shop.

It’s a fabulous old building just a few blocks from the capitol (with NPR up the street a ways, and C-Span down the other side!). You can read more about the agency’s history here, but the main takeaway is that it’s been printing government documents in this location, for citizen edification and information, for more than 150 years. And it was a treat to meet there and soak up some of this history, as my profession works to adapt to a fast-changing information environment without losing our core values. (For instance, they want to change the name of the agency; see more about that here.)

As in any older building, the architectural details, even in spaces as prosaic as meeting rooms, were a joy to notice...

neat decor, and a good place to work!

glancing up from note-taking, I see this beauty

classy additions to nice views of the city

Our main meeting room was called Harding Hall, quite possibly the best, if not the only, dignified location named for this president who doesn't usually make the 10 best lists...

Here's a photo of the space all dolled up for a more festive occasion, a dance in 1941...

Isn't that cool!? There's a whole collection of these old-timey photos showing the human side of GPO's history, and they make good use of them in the halls we traversed going back and forth to various meeting venues. If you want to see more, here's a link to them.

I wasn't a speaker at this conference, but I did do a poster for that session, and it led to my having a picture taken with no less than the head of GPO herself, the Public Printer of the United States! Some of her charisma must have rubbed off on me, because I hardly ever photograph this well! That's my poster, on using QR codes in the stacks to link to online government information, in the background:

The meeting, as usual, was hard work but rewarding. And the subsequent sightseeing was, although also hard work (!) a nice change of pace. I took some interesting pictures out and about in DC, as well as thoroughly documenting a couple of museum visits. Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday: where the magic happens