| Museums |
| American Jazz Museum |
| They say that jazz was born
in New Orleans, but it grew up in Kansas City. The American Jazz
Museum, at 1616 E. 18th Street, is located at the heart of the old jazz
district. KC native Charlie Parker first met John Coltrain right
here on the corner of 18th Street and Vine. This was the
Pendergast era, when Kansas City was under the rule of mob boss Tom
Pendergast. Liquor laws were completely unenforced and big-name
musicians like Count Basie, Claude Williams and Big Joe Turner would
jam all night in jazz district clubs such as The Chocolate Bar, The
Amos 'N' Andy, The Old Kentucky Bar-B-Que, and the Paseo Ballroom. And, after you've visited the museum, you only to have to walk six short blocks to be, as the guy in the song sings: "standin' on the corner/ 12th Street and Vine/ with my Kansas City baby and a/ bottle of Kansas City wine." -- Kansas City by Wilbert Harrison. American Jazz Museum. |
| Laumeier Sculpture Park |
| Sculpture is my very favorite
type of art, and the Laumeier Sculpture Park is almost enough to make
me want to live in St. Louis. The park began when Mrs. Matilda
Laumeier made a bequest to the city, in her husband's memory, of her
72-acre estate. Since then the park has grown to 105-acres.
Laumeier Park collects, commissions and exhibits monumental
contemporary art. The complex also includes a reference library, a children's sculpture garden, an annual summer art camp for children, an annual juried art fair and an outdoor music amphitheater that has hosted such musicians as B.B. King, James Brown, and the St. Louis Orchestra. Accredited by the American Museum Association, Laumeier Sculpture Park is one of only a handful of open air museums in the word and hosts 300,000 visitors each year. Laumeier Sculpture Park. 12580 Rott Road, St. Louis, MO 63127 USA |
| Museum of Art and Archaeology |
| During my senior year as an
Art History/Archaeology major at the University of Missouri - Columbia,
one of my fellow Archaeology majors and I took a class called Iron Age
Archaeology that was taught through the anthropology department.
The material was fascinating, but for some reason neither of us
could figure the instructor seemed to take an instant dislike to both
of us. It was our Greek history professor who explained:
"Anthropologists always hate archaeologists. We get the
statues, the frescoes, the coins and pottery and architecture.
They get bones and coprolites." The Museum of Art and Archaeology, 1 Pickard Hall, University of Missouri - Columbia, has a wonderful collection of everything that makes anthropologists jealous. The best part of the collection is Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern art and artifacts, but there are items here from every part of the world and spanning history from ancient to modern times. The oldest part of the collection is a cast gallery containing more than a hundred plaster casts, mostly of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. Dr. John Pickard, the early Archaeology professor after whom the building is named, acquired the casts while travelling in Europe in 1895 and 1902. At one time, collecting casts of important works of art was popular. Many universities amassed large cast collections to use in teaching and for artists' models. In the middle of the twentieth century the practice fell out of vogue and when their popularity resurged in the 1980s only a few collections survived. My favorite cast, I think, is the Nike of Samothrace. Laocoon gave me the creeps. My friend Chris always wanted to "accidentally" bump into Apollo and watch him shatter, but you'll be happy to know she never did. Museum of Art and Archaeology. |
| Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art |
| The Nelson-Atkins Museum of
Art opened in 1933 as the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and
Atkins Museum of Fine Arts. Now, according to their website,
they're celebrating their 75th anniversary. This worries me, but
I suppose that's why they're the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and not the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Math. In any case, they're a simply fabulous museum. They've got, just, everything. There's a new Egyptian room, a life-sized Buddhist temple, Greek and Roman and Byzantine collections, contemporary art. Everything. Admission is free and they're open daily with numerous options for tours and a clear list of museum guidelines on their website. It does cost $5 to park in the parking garage next door, but if they think 2010 - 1933 = 75, maybe you can pay with a $20 and convince them your change should be $17.50. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. 4525 Oak Street, Kansas City, Missouri. |
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