A friend invited Titus and me to join her in a visit to the Blanton Museum of Art on the campus of University of Texas. I like art museums, so I readily agreed. We planned our trip for Thursday, the museum’s free admission day.

The Birth of Cool is the current feature exhibit. The exhibit is a multi-media display of architecture, furniture, art, literature, music and film from California in the mid 20th century. If you like interior design from this period and want inspiration, check out the exhibit. It was…well…cool.

Since we both were accompanied by our antsy preschool-age sons, and the museum is a look-no-touch sort of destination, we made a speedy round of the European art and modern art in the permanent collection at the museum. Then we called it a day.

Thanks for the fun outing Lisa!

Since arriving in Austin the Mexic-Arte Museum has been calling my name.

I see it when we venture downtown and navigate our way through the one-way streets. It cheerily sits on the southeast corner of Congress and 5th. I like the terra cotta orange and white striped building and the modern black and white block letters of the sign. The windows of the gallery shop beckon with bright pottery and silver jewelry.

Today I had a million things I SHOULD do – catch up on laundry, pay bills, vacuum the ever-growing film of Francie’s hair on my living room floor, wash the dishes in the kitchen sink, unpack the remaining 20 boxes from our recent move, and cook dinner for my family. NO really…we ate chips and salsa for dinner last night. We did have red AND green salsa so that’s something. But I don’t think I can pull off that trick two nights in a row. (THANKS KENNY!!! YOU ARE GREAT!!!)

I had an invite for an event I COULD attend. I’m on the evite list for two local playgroups and both were going to the “singing biologist” at the the Cedar Park Library. (Singing biologist??? WHAT is THAT????!!!)

But no. I decided I WOULD take Titus to the Mexic-Arte Museum. (Hey Kenny! If you’d like our son to be something other than a chef or artist when he grows up, I suggest YOU plan the next outing.) Why be a domestic diva when I could live?

So after a quick stop at the church to pick up our camera from Kenny, we were on our way. Then another quick stop at the Red Barn Nursery for pics (see future post) and Chuy’s for pics (see another future post) and Rudy’s BBQ for breakfast tacos.

I must say breakfast tacos are my favorite Texas food. I particularly like the egg and potato variety. Potatoes pan-fried with some mixture of usual Tex-Mex spice suspects – cumin, chili pepper and cilantro- mixed with scrambled eggs in a thick flour tortilla. Top with salsa and YUMMO! And Rudy’s offers BIG plastic take-home cups I can fill with my addictive drink of choice – Diet Dr Pepper. Can anyone please tell me where to find tortillas like that? These ain’t yo’ mama’s grocery store Mission brand variety.

Bellies full, we were really on our way.

Once downtown I began to have an anxious feeling in my stomache. I would have to parallel park. Ugh. I learned to drive in Mobile, Alabama. We don’t parallel park there, so I never really learned that skill. And let’s just say depth perception is not really my thing. One time I was out with my California friend well-versed in the art of parallel parking. I actually got OUT of the car and let her park it! Danielle, where were you today?

Titus and I survived the parking job. The car is fine too. I found two spaces open together, so I had a little room. And my spot was ONLY one block from the museum.

After a cheery exchange with the ticket attendant (Titus is kind of a lady charmer with his big blue eyes, long lashes and blonde curls), Titus and I entered the galleries.

What do you know about Mexican Art? What do you know about Latin American Art? South American Art? I didn’t know much. Here are the three things I knew prior to the museum today:

1. I worked for the property owners of the very funky modern Solana office complex in Westlake, Texas one summer while I was home from college. Ricardo Legorreta, a prominent Mexican architect, designed the complex. To see some pics of cool modern architecture check out the projects link on his website here: http://www.legorretalegorreta.com/lego_new/english/index.php.
2. Diego Rivera has an impressive mural of Mexican History in the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City.
3. World-famous artist Carlos Paez Vilaro lives in the Pablo Alonso hotel in Uruguay. A contemporary of Picasso, his paintings are bright and modern.

That is my entire knowledge of the art of one and a half whole continents of the world. Actually, I must be completely truthful. I only vaguely knew those people and locations existed. I did not even remember the particulars – like their names! To write this post I had to do a bit of Google research. Kind of sad, huh?

So I was excited to go to the Mexic-Arte Museum to learn a little more. The museum charges a $5 admission for adults. It has 3 small galleries and a movie I opted not to watch with Titus.

The current exhibit was on the revived interest in Mexico during the 20th century in pre-Spanish colonial period art. So rather than the wall-sized canvases of bold modern art I was expecting, I was greeted by many clay masks, pottery pieces and wood carved furniture reminiscent of Aztec and Mayan art. Interesting.

I’m not really sure this is what is always on display. I think it is a seasonal exhibit.

After about 30-45 minutes, Titus was done. I skimmed most of the exhibit, so we headed out. On our way out, the friendly lady in the museum shop introduced us to artists just arriving from Oaxaca, Mexico. I wanted to take their picture with their brightly painted animal carvings selling in the gallery store, but I was too shy to ask.

That’s when I remembered. I was so distracted by my parallel parking experience I forgot to pay the meter with quarters I actually remembered to grab from the kitchen change jar on my way out of the house.

Yep.

I’ll be paying the city of Austin for my lovely day of art.

Final note: Here’s some random trivia for you the next time you’re getting whomped at Trivial Pursuits. (No wait! That’s me who gets whomped.) Why does Mexico have an eagle holding a snake and sitting on a cactus on it’s flag? Did you even know that’s what’s in the middle of the flag? When they were founding what is now Mexico City, the Aztecs had a dream of an eagle sitting on a cactus holding a snake. They felt it was a sign of where to build the city. If I read the history correctly today at the museum, Cuauhtemoc was the last emporer of the Aztecs. He fell to the Spanish. Guess what his name means? Fallen Eagle.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Do you have a favorite art museum? Tell me about it.

Fundraisers are fun.

I mean the people, not the dreaded events of selling the fill-in-the-blank-item for your favorite cause.

Fundraisers are resourceful. They practically raise their own salaries and operating budgets, all the time aware of the fact donors give to causes to further the mission of the organization, not to pad employees’ pockets. Often they work for pennies-on-the-dollar of what their business counterparts might earn for the same level of education and experience. After years of navigating the high voltage interpersonal relationships of nonprofit boards, successful fundraisers have congenial strong leadership skills that are enviable.

Yet that is the beauty of this crowd.  Don’t waste time turning green with envy. Simply ask what lessons they’ve learned over the years and most will openly share the secrets to their success.  Why? Because they love the field. They love the cause. And they love opensource communication to bring about betterment for all involved.

Most of all, fundraisers are fun. They always know the great things to do in town, because they go to every cool event in town to NETWORK. They know which parties are when, and they know who throws the best parties. They know which art galleries have a new opening, which restaurants have the best tapas and which festivals are worth a sunburn.

So I listen when my fundraising friends make recommendations.

A few years ago a fundraising friend told me about Dale Chihuly. Heard of him? He is an artist known for his breathtaking large-scale glass sculptures.

My fundraising friend came through for me.  In January I saw my first Dale Chihuly work in person. I’m a die-hard converted fan.

In November my husband and I began what we like to call “life in transition”. That’s sort of a palatable way of saying we were downsized out of our jobs, but transition sounds better to us. (Kind of like the new marketing campaign to sell dried plums.  Delicious huh? Yep, they’re just plain-old prunes.  Perhaps Shakespeare was on to something.  A rose under another name maybe doesn’t really smell as sweet.)

So my husband was interviewing for a job in Las Vegas in January.  Really, he may as well been signing us up with NASA to start a new community on the moon. We spent a whirlwind weekend in Las Vegas while he interviewed.

Our gracious host, who by the way is an Alabama boy and a diehard Auburn fan (yes, he was thrilled to hear that the War Eagles give me warm fuzzy feelings of home), took us on a tour of the strip one night. 

When we entered the Bellagio I squealed in delight.  Had we been nearer to the slots I think passers-by would have thought I hit the jackpot.  Nope.  I simply spied my first Chihuly on the ceiling of the lobby.

“Is that a Dale Chihuly?” I shrieked as I practically ran toward the piece, much like a kid in a candy aisle of Walmart.

The group with me looked at me as though I was speaking Greek.

“You know, the artist!” I exclaimed.

A few minutes later, a little research confirmed, indeed, the ceiling was a Dale Chihuly installation. Over 2,000 brilliantly-colored blown glass pieces merge together to form what looks like a whimsical field of flowers on the ceiling. It was awesome! I stood and stared upward, mouth open in appreciation, for what seemed like an eternity.

Well, we’re not moving to the moon or Las Vegas, but I continue on with fullest respect for my fundraising friends. They’ve taught me to keep looking up in life.