michigan--land of riches, part 2

Yeah, yeah, I already made a post about the Michigan--Land of Riches exhibit. Well, here's another one, but it will be the last one, because the exhibit (housed in and showcasing the old Grand Rapids Public Museum) has closed. We went to the closing night party to give it one last look.

It was a lovely evening, and far more successful than Thursday night's outing to the new "1970s punk rock" bar, which serves bottled beer in paper bags. Yep.

I wore a thrifted vintage skirt, vintage sweater, Target belt, and shoes by Report.

Andy looked very sharp in his "new" vintage plaid shirt.

I was not able to verify this, but I want to believe that the big chunk of architecture here in front of the beaver is a piece of my dearly departed Schnitzelbank, (gone now because god knows what Grand Rapids needs is another stinking parking lot). I have no memory of such an architectural detail at the Schnitz--my brain is stuck in a memory haze of their amazing sauerbraten and spaetzel, and their special dark beer--but I took a photo, wanting to believe it was a chunk of the Schnitz.

The DJ, spinning over the museum entrance.

Ghostly fabric representation of the life-size whale that used to be suspended over the museum's main hall.

We met up with our friends Roberta and Mark; it was their first time seeing the exhibit.

I'm so glad we got to view it again. I really hope they'll be able to keep the space open somehow. I think it would be great for concerts, art exhibits, bazaars. It's nice to see something old in this city be revived, rather than bulldozed for a parking lot or TGI Fridays.

xo

K

michigan--land of riches

Yesterday afternoon Andy and I went to the amazing Michigan--Land of Riches exhibition at the former location of the Grand Rapids Public Museum. I fell in love with the Deco exterior of the museum when I moved here, but since it had closed in 1994, I had never been inside. When the museum shut down, the exhibits were already in a state of decay. But now artist and curator Paul Amenta, along with students from Kendall College of Art and Design and other local schools, have re-opened and re-energized the old museum.

Many of the exhibits were left as they were, with paint peeling and display lettering missing. They have a ghostly, poignant quality.

I could have spent all day looking at the stacks and stacks of taxidermied animals. In fact, I might have to go back again to do just that.

Artists added to the extant displays, or created their own "exhibits," that were often hilariously funny, and sometimes made thoughtful statements.

A lot of what we saw was just whimsical, enchanting, fun.

I particularly liked the way the artists made interesting use of the old spaces in the museum, creating rooms and vignettes full of atmosphere.

The experience for me--someone totally new to the museum--was strange and wonderful enough. There's a whole other level of nostalgia for Andy and other Grand Rapids natives who grew up visiting the museum many times as children. Andy was alternately tickled and a little freaked out by the experience. (We both found the heavy emphasis the museum seemed to have had on women's anatomy and baby-making a wee bit odd.)

If you're in Grand Rapids or nearby, I highly recommend you visit the exhibition. It's like nothing I've ever seen before, and it's only going to run through mid-May. After that, what will happen to the old Public Museum is up in the air, but I really hope a way will be found to keep the space open to the public somehow.

Oh, and of course I wore vintage to the museum! This 1960s floral print dress.

Afterwards, Andy and I enjoyed our first Outdoor Beer of the season on the Meanwhile's back patio beer garden.

Cheers!

xo

K