American Gothic

I promised you that I would find creative inspiration yesterday and I did. I made a brief stop at the Des Moines Art Center and left refreshed and with my faith in culture re-affirmed. The Art Center has a surprisingly wonderful collection of mostly modern art with a few classics thrown in for balance. It features Georgia O'Keeffe, Henri Matisse, Edward Hopper with sculpures by Claus Oldenburg and Alexander Calder.

The building itself is famous as it was designed by 3 of the 20th century's most famous architects, Eliel Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Richard Meier. It sits surrounded by a lovely park on the south and by sculptures around the front.


Every time I visit I ask myself why I don't do this more often. I always come away feeling inspired by the art and soothed by the spaces that house it. This weekend, however, I had a specific goal in mind. The Center is currently hosting an exhibition entitled "After Many Springs: Regionalism, Modernism and the Midwest" And on display is a real classic: American Gothic by Grant Wood.


While this is a painting of Iowa by an Iowa artist, it's current home is in The Art Institute of Chicago. It seems that I'm not the only Iowan who felt compelled to visit this famous painting during its exhibit run. I actually had to stand in line for over 20 minutes until it was my turn to look at it! What a change from my normal visits to the Art Center when there have only been a handful of people enjoying the art. Like most art, this painting is much better viewed in person. The detail is amazing...there are lace curtains at the arched window, lovely sprigs of flowers on the woman's dress and potted plants on the porch...all difficult to see in a photo. The other paintings and photographs in the exhibit were equally as interesting with Thomas Hart Benton, Jackson Pollock, and Dorothea Lange among the featured artists. I hope to make another visit before the exhibit moves on at the end of the month.

Murillo Flats

This building is Murillo Flats and was the last stop on the Sherman Hill Walking Tour. It was built in 1905 and was an early example of an architectural form emerging in Des Moines at the turn of the century...'flats' or as we call them now, apartments. This building was originally named "McNamara Flats" after its builder, James McNamara. He changed the name to "Murillo Flats" after Des Moines hosted a very successful art exhibit of the work of Bartolome Esteban Murillo, a Spanish painter circa 1617-1682. The building's original site was 3 blocks from where it now sits. It was moved over a 2 day period in March of this year during a very wet Iowa storm. Videographers from the History Channel filmed the move which will be shown soon on National Geographic's "Monster Moves" series. The building's current owner, Phil Kaser, plans to renovate it and rent out apartments in it for the next 5 years. After that, he told me, it all depends on the condo market; he may sell the apartments as condos or sell the whole building to another visionary.

A Fall Tradition

I moved back to Iowa in 2003, and every fall since then, I've wanted to do the Sherman Hill Walking Tour that is held the last two weekends in September. I always put it off and then miss both weekends. This year I made it happen! Sherman Hill is the historic neighborhood close to where I work that I would really like to move into. Alas, I haven't sold my country acreage...that's a whole other blog entry...but I spent yesterday afternoon enjoying the warm fall weather while I visited 9 properties on this year's tour. And in the process, I delighted in two serendipitious surprises.

The tour began here at Hoyt Sherman Place where I bought my ticket and picked up the tour map. Built in the Italinate style in 1877 by Hoyt Sherman who was a Des Moines businessman, the mansion today is home to the Des Moines Women's Club and also boasts a beautifully restored theatre as well as an art gallery. After browsing through the gallery, I noticed that the stage lights were on in the theatre. I entered the dimmed auditorium and discovered my first serendipity...the Des Moines Sweet Adelines who were rehearsing for their evening performance. I settled into a plush seat and listened as they sang through their numbers. Such sweet harmony, such exuberant energy! Then stepping out to direct...my friend, Diana Latch! I know Diana from work, and we talked once about her involvement with the Sweet Adelines. There she was directing, singing, dancing, cajoling her chorus to put more bounce in it, sing out, have fun! What a delight to see my friend in an entirely different setting than the hospital disaster and emergency planning sessions where we usually meet!

The rest of the tour beckoned, though, so leaving the music behind, I started walking the streets. The properties on the map reflected a variety of architectural styles from the late 1800s...Queen Anne, Victorian, Colonial Revival, Victorian Stick...all open to tour. Some were exquisitely restored, some were restored, but decorated in modern styles, one house was new, but built to look Victorian. Each had a fascinating story. There were also selected businesses and historic buildings on the map. My second serendipity came as I walked up 16th Street to the Wallace House Foundation. I could hear soft strains of classical piano music floating on the warm summer air. It was coming from the open windows of a 4-square brownstone next to Wallace House. I spoke to the men marking tickets on the porch. "What a great job you have this afternoon...you get to sit on this cool, shady porch, greet people and listen to that beautiful classical music!" I could see the man sitting at his grand piano through an open window. "Yes," the men replied, "and do you know who that is? That's Ed Fallon who ran for Governor last term." "Imagine that," I quipped. "A politician who can actually do something useful and creative!"

More on the rest of the afternoon later....