On one of those Fridays, I had the occasion to have a leisurely lunch with my pal Javier, where we both commiserated over our busy schedules of multiple jobs, our lucky escapes from library employment, our fund raising trials, and family funeral escapades. Lunch was really an excuse to meet so I could turn over a large stack of piano sheet music to one of his schools -- so the next generation of little keyboard players can suffer through Chopin and Czerny. After having been stored in my parents' attic for about 15-20 years, where I spent one cold Thanksgiving-break afternoon culling five boxes down to one, and then one hysterical afternoon in my apartment weeding through that box plus my stash, the music I gave Javier really represented hours, if not months, of practicing, swearing, and sweating. I haven't closed the lid on my piano dreams completely. I've held on to a few librettos, autographed volumes, chamber music favorites, a mess of "Wolfie Momo" (aka Mozart), and all of my scale and exercise books in case, one day I decide that it's time to play again.
After saying goodbye to Javier and a good deal of my "youth," I caught a train over to the "foreign land" of the East Side to meet up with my friend Michelle at the Guggenheim.
(Empire State Building wayyyyyyy downtown!) Michelle and I met in 1995 at Caramoor, when she was a summer intern for the 50th Anniversary. She came back to the institution a few years later, to work with me in fund raising, before leaving for sunnier climes in Miami. One of my Buffy buddies, she's been patient with my long silences over the years. Despite infrequent communications, Michelle's one of those friends that forgives, and with whom you can pick up a conversation like you just spoke the day before.
(View from the cafe) [Somehow Michelle and I both missed the "do not take pictures" and "no cell phones" signs posted everywhere, until Michelle got scolded by a docent. Sorry! She was just following my example. Now you know, no photos in the museum. These were taken surreptitiously and with no flash. That explains the quality!]
I have to say, I always thought the Guggenheim was much larger -- like the size of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was surprised to see it tucked into the corner of Fifth, smaller than many of the mansions that surrounds it. The Guggenheim is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, and while I was there, they were having a retrospective of Frank Lloyd Wright and his designs. On display were blueprints, renderings, and models of proposed designs for the museum, as well as some of his later works. FYI, did you know that one of the designs for the Guggenheim had it as a fuchsia building? or electric blue? or with the spiral going the other way? Weird.
Much of the work on display was very surreal, and very advanced for its time. Some of it's even too advanced for now. I felt like some of the models were displays for sci-fi shows, like the set designs and art departments had studied this designs to rip off for Stargate Atlantis and the Ancients. (Yes, I'm a geek.) Like this un-built beauty:
This visitor is sketching a model of a FLW-designed synagogue.
Michelle and I strolled up and around the spirals ...
Views from the top: looking down
looking up
Checking messages
Along the spirals there are little annexes and galleries off to the side. Like most arts organizations these days, the Guggenheim has an arts in education program. One of the galleries had works by local school children on display, which were very impressive. Of course I gravitated toward the yarn/thread works...
As we came off another loop, we wandered into the gallery holding the Impressionistic works. After the futuristic FLW designs, the Picassos, Manets, Cezannes, and Matisses were a surprise. The works seem more approachable in the Guggenheim than the Met. You can get closer to the paintings, just don't get too close and cross the line on the floor (which you miss at first), or the security guards will step up and lurk menacingly.
After a quick trip through the Museum, we wandered back over to Lexington in search of a quiet place to grab a bite and really spend time catching up. We found a lovely little neighborhood trattoria, where we could talk face to face and have a very early bird dinner of della casa insalate (romaine/endive/radicchio salad) and mozzarella corrozza (fried mozzarella sandwiches) and Diet Coke.I was to meet up with Michelle and her in Brooklyn the next day, but sadly, a migraine made that impossible. Now that we've reconnected again, I promised Michelle I'd be better with the communicating. So, keep on reading and commenting Michelle -- I have to come down and visit you in Miami again!
Sadly, my plans to spend much of my last Friday off at MoMA were derailed by work deadlines. Unfortunately not everyone gets summer Fridays off and grant report deadlines have to be met, projects for auditors need completing, and e-mails need to be sent. I spent much of the day in the office doing work and on the phone, but I did manage to squeeze in a few blog posts for the future as well, before heading off to dinner with another dear friend, Poopeh. Our schedules are insane, so we were both just as happy to hunker down in Grand Central and watch humanity pass by in a whir while we tried to cram a few months of news into just a few short hours.
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