Road Trip to Elkhart, Indiana

Today, Karen and I joined 3 friends for a road trip to Elkhart, Indiana.  Our final destination was the Midwest Museum of American Art; chosen not randomly, but because my best friend was a guest speaker.

It's a 2 1/2 hour drive, one way, for us, but I've gotta say, it was time well spent.  Of course, it helps if you have 5 women in one car--topics of conversation were many, random, and thoroughly entertaining.

I admit I didn't know what to expect--I had never been to Elkhart, and the only things I'd heard about the city were from media accounts--of the terrible economic situation of the city, but also of the revitalization taking place; it's a favorite stop of President Obama's when he comes this way on Air Force One.
The weather was perfect, and downtown Elkhart is charming--once the construction is done, it will be far easier to navigate.

At one end of a main street is a Railroad Museum, and at the other end is a river walk, with restaurants and an ice rink/water park.

As you can see, the trees were blooming, and the view from our table at lunch was beautiful.

The Museum is located in an old bank building, and they have made great use of the space!

In the old days, if you were accidentally locked in the vault overnight, you still had access to fresh air and, by pushing the teeny, tiny button in the middle, could speak to someone.....

View of the main gallery from the vault area...

But of course, we were here for the Samara Exhibit!  Samara is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in West Lafayette, Indiana.  These are the chairs from the patio at Samara.






And these are the Samara women....or not.....

This sculpture was done by a guy who designed toys for a living--several of his creations are located in his "brain".

As you can see, Karen enjoyed this sculpture too!

Perhaps she enjoyed this one more!

One gallery was striking because of the artists, and the subject matter.  The artists, pictured here....

and here....

...seem to be sad, troubled, eccentric.  I wish I had had more time to read about them, but I was intrigued because the Museum had a large collection of their clay pieces. To my untrained eye, they seemed amateurish.  For instance, every single piece has perfectly round, hollowed-out eyes--you know, the kind you made as a kid with toothpicks....

Then there was this extraordinary piece---I could tell what they were trying to imitate, but alas, I feel they failed.  What do you think, Erika?

The Museum does have a huge Norman Rockwell collection (well, I like him!), a couple of Grant Wood paintings, and some amazing Depression-era paintings.  The following were pieces I found fascinating:

This one was hard to capture--it's NOT colored glass at all.  Just an intricate pattern that causes the colors to appear to us humans.....

I loved, LOVED this sculpture--the more I looked at it, from different angles, the more I saw....

I appreciated the fact that this artist included the flies on the fruit, because....well, the second you slice fruit in the heat of the summer, you have flies!

This bronze bust is the centerpiece of the Museum, and it's a spectacular piece--hard to capture on film.

Who knew that Elkhart was the band instrument capital of the world?  Not me!  This is a fountain, just inside the front door.

I highly recommend the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, Indiana--truly a hidden gem in the Heartland.  I plan to go back soon....