Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Leap Year

This year is Leap Year and today is the day.  So, how do I portray "Leap Year?"

Easy.  I go up to a bunch of super heroes and say "Jump!"

At the 5K race before the Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade in Fort Myers.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

What did the groundhog see?

Even though February is the shortest month in the calendar, I always thought it was the longest month psychologically.  It is the part of the winter when most New Englanders are getting pretty tired of winter, even mild winters like this one.

So, here is a reminder that winter is going to end.  Sunbather by Duane Hanson, 1971, in the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Check Out

This large painting hangs over the "Check Out" counter at the New Britain Public Library.  It was painted by Sanford Low and Walter Korder.

Low was the first director of the New Britain Museum of American Art.  He was a Hawaiian who was sent to a Connecticut prep school, which he hated.  He ran away and enrolled in the Museum School in Boston, where his passion for art emerged, as did his knack for cultivating relationships with rich folks.  He married the daughter of a rich New Britain family and moved there to build his art career.  This mural was painted in the 1930s, Low's first decade in New Britain.

A decade later he became the NBMAA's director.  When he began, the collection had 24 paintings.  By the time he died in 1964 after 25 years as director, the museum had more than 1500 works of art.

This is linked to Monday Mural.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Puerto Rican Families

 

This sculpture was dedicated in 2009, to honor immigrant Puerto Rican families' contributions to America.  It was crafted by the Puerto Rican sculptor, José Buscaglia-Guillermety.  

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Betances School

The Betances School is just east of Main Street in the Charter Oak neighborhood of Hartford.  It was named for the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Library Skylight

This shot looks up in the atrium of the Hartford Public Library, which we visited recently here and here and here.

Like reflections?  Click here.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Furs




What do you think about fur coats?  Love them or hate them?  West Hartford Center.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

George Washington

Today is George Washington's birthday.  This bas relief is in an out-of-the-way spot near a side door of the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.  It marks the location where General Washington met in 1780 with his French counterpart, comte de Rochambeau, to discuss strategy for fighting the British army.  They had a reception at the home of Jeremiah Wadsworth on Main Street in Hartford, which is now the site of the Wadsworth Atheneum.


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Fan


When I was getting ready to take photos of this sculpture at the Wadsworth Atheneum, a welder working on the roof started walking up the stairs.  He turned back and said, "That is my favorite statue, too."  I couldn't let his enthusiasm pass without putting him in the picture.  He looks happier than they do.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Movies Made in Connecticut

OK.  We're not Hollywood.  I get that.

From the "Made in Connecticut" exhibition in the Old State House.