Talk about your whirlwind tour. Fifteen cities in four days. From Haitian voodoo altars to a 100-year old Catholic Church. From immigrants heralding newfound freedom and patriotism to inventors with out-of-this-world gadgets to architectural visionaries whose ideas shape our existence. These Memorial Weekend jaunts get better every year.
We started the tour on Thursday evening in Chicago at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and
Outsider Art. Haiti: Vodou Visionaries was on display, featuring sacred bottles, sequined flags,
musical instruments, and multimedia assemblages. In the American Masters Study Collection we saw works
by Howard Finster, Bill Traylor, A. G. Rizzoli, Henry Darger, C.A.A. Dellschau.
Next stop: The Roger Brown Study Collection. Roger Brown (1941-1997) was one of the group of influential
1960's artists known collectively as the Chicago Imagists. Housed in Brown's former home, an 1880 storefront
building, this kaleidoscopic collection of art and other materials reflects the diverse
inspirations from which Brown created his own artwork. Lisa Stone, folk art scholar and Brown Study
Collection director, hosted a wonderful cocktail buffet for us.
Friday morning found us at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Not the real one - a half size replica made of concrete,
steel & stone located in Niles, Illinois. Even the nearby Telefone booth leans.
The Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, is a nine-sided domed structure that took
40 years to complete. The intricate carvings and elaborate ornamentation express the Bahá'í belief
in the unity of religions. In 1978, the Bahá'í House of Worship was listed in the United States
National Register of Historic Places as "one of the nations' cultural resources worthy of preservation."
In Racine, Wisconsin, we experienced the first of several Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces:
the SC Johnson Wax Building. Built in 1936 when Wright was 69 years old, the worldwide corporate
headquarters building was called "the greatest contribution to business housing since the design
of the skyscraper." Wright not only designed the Great Workroom and the Research Tower, but also the office
furniture, light fixtures and parking garage. (Perhaps the most beautiful parking garage we've
ever seen.) The building is supported by unique mushroom-shaped concrete columns and walls
constructed of more than 200 different shapes and sizes of brick. Over 43 miles of
glass tubing in the ceiling and perimeter walls provide for both natural and artificial
light.
From one architecture wonder to another: the soon-to-be-completed new addition to the
Milwaukee Art Museum. Designed by noted Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, this soaring, organic new
wing features a glass-walled entry hall enclosed by a brise soleil (sunscreen) that can be opened or
closed creating a unique moving sculpture. Inside, the museum houses the Michael & Julie Hall Collection of America Folk Art, one of the finest private collections in the country.
It's still Friday and we're on to
Sheboygan, Wisconsin to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, a 34-year old visual and performing arts organization devoted to self-taught artists, contemporary art, photography, crafts and folk art preservation. (If you go, don't miss the men's room!) On exhibit during our visit were the concrete and fabric sculptures of Nek Chand of India and silver & stone jewelry by Milwaukee artist Mary Nohl.
Nearby, the Kohler Foundation has preserved the sculpture garden of James Tellen (1880-1957) who
created over 30 concrete creatures, a log cabin and a "brat" house (that's where you cook brat
sausages). The public opening is not until the end of June, so our group got a special preview
tour.
Saturday morning's first stop was one of the "jewel box" banks designed by architect Louis
Sullivan. Considered by many to be the father of modern architecture, Sullivan perfected a new form of building - the skyscraper.
The Farmers and Merchants Union Bank in Columbus, Wisconsin, is not a skyscraper, but a simple
red brick cube elaborately ornamented in pale green terra cotta. From the impressive entryway,
ornamented pillars and archways, stained glass windows, to the elaborate terra cotta faced
drinking fountain, this bank attracts architecture students who come to study the last work of a
man who forever changed the nation's architecture.
Near Baraboo, Wisconsin, we experienced an otherworldly encounter: Dr. Evermor and The Forevertron.
Dr. Evermor says he created the Forevertron "for when he's ready to highball it to heaven." This
sculpted 120-foot wide, 50-foot tall, 250-ton space blaster is designed to shoot the doctor into
forever-land inside a large copper ball. But that's not all, folks. The site is a playground for
the 40+ member Bird Band, the metal sculpted baseball teams, the moonbugs, lucky spiders, and daddy
longlegs. There's even an art car - the Epicurean, equipped with chimney, oversized bellows,
six-foot wide barbecue grill and striped canopy. Using his years of experience in industrial
demolition, and his convenient location next to Delaney's Surplus, Dr. Evermore has created an
environment that amazes and inspires.
