Tag: Claes Oldenburg

A Wintery (Art) Mix in Philadelphia

Exploring the Art in the City of Philadelphia

by Saara Maknojia

With a full day in Philadelphia ahead of us, LEAP students ventured into town this morning to explore the beautiful public art around the city. Our first stop, of course, had to begin with Philadelphia City Hall, the largest in the nation! Afterall, this eye-catching building is grounded in one of the most historical states. The building itself is noticeable from many miles away, with a statue of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. The statue, sculpted by Alexander Milne Calder (Not to be confused with contemporary abstract artist Alexander “Sandy” Calder), brings not only the state’s historical aspect to the City Hall, but also connects other notable pieces of artwork to the artist.

Ambassadors in front of City Hall (and Oldenburg Sculpture)

Just a short stroll down Logan Square, we encountered Three Discs, One Lacking by Sandy Calder, grandson of Milne. Further down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Calder legacy continues with the Swann Memorial Fountain, which was created by Alexander Stirling Calder, the father of Sandy Calder. These pieces not only highlight the artistic legacy of the Calder family but also illustrate how thoughtful city planning can weave art into the very fabric of a community. The alignment of these sculptures offered us a unique opportunity to reflect on how art connects generations and transforms public spaces.

Alexander Calder, “Three Discs, One Lacking,” Association for Public Art

As we continued exploring Logan Square, a lovely red caught the eye of many. Surely enough, we were met with yet another LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana!

“LOVE,” by Robert Indiana

By the end of the day, we’d spotted three of Indiana’s works, including the AMOR sculpture, which added a multilingual flair to the city’s celebration of brotherly love.

“Amor,” by Robert Indiana

One artist that I was unfamiliar of during this tour was Zenos Frudakis. His sculpture Freedom, however, quickly became my favorite. The theatrical movement of the statues and the intricate details within each sculpture made every piece a part of a larger narrative, expressing an individual’s desire to abandon a life of comfort in pursuit of freedom.

“Freedom,” by Zenos Frudakis

We also encountered a mural by Richard Haas, another artist familiar to LEAP students. Keeping his famous trompe l’oeil style, the piece depicted Benjamin Franklin and William Penn and spans an entire wall to capture the essence of Philadelphia’s historical and cultural heritage.

Richard Haas Mural, 2300 Chestnut

Haas even drew inspiration from the Benjamin Franklin Statue by John Boyle, located on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Philadelphia’s public art left us with a deeper appreciation for the city’s vibrant cultural identity. From the Calder family’s generational influence to the iconic works by Indiana, Frudakis, and Haas, each piece added a layer of history, creativity, and connection to our journey. By the end of the day, we realized that the city itself is a canvas, where every corner invites reflection and inspiration.

Lunch at Casa Mexico and South Philly Barbacoa

by Israel Gallegos

For our much-needed lunch break, we went to Casa Mexico and South Philly Barbacoa, a joint restaurant heading towards the southern part of Philadelphia. The restaurant’s head chef, Cristina Martinez, is a James Beard Award recipient for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region in 2022. So, we took this as a great sign to cross this off our trip list!

We ordered an array of dishes to get the full Mexican experience with a twist of Philadelphian culture. Accompanying our dishes, the group ordered horchata and jamaica, which passed Cinthia’s freshness test, and the guacamole, which was excellent.

The course started with half a kilo of barbacoa for the group, followed by chiles rellenos, a staple Mexican dish. The group also enjoyed enchiladas verdes. Personally, having tried enchiladas verdes many times, I can attest to the quality of the enchiladas at Casa Mexico.

To top off the main course, we had mole, which was my personal favorite as it tasted like home.

To end the meal, we of course had to indulge in our sweet craving and try both the tres leches cake and flan!

Somehow, we still found a bit of space in our stomachs, so we walked down the street in the freezing temperatures to get warm cups of coffee. The establishment, Rim Café, an Italian American café, was decorated as if they were collectors of timepieces depicting the true Italian American culture. Our Italian in the group, Olivia, was the judge, and she said the place reminded her of her uncle’s garage. I take that as the place doing a good job embodying a part of the culture.

Sticking to the classics, we ordered the original and chocolate cannoli (both of which were devoured in seconds).

Nevertheless, my favorite sight at Rim Café was an affogato that Saara got, it consisted of tiramisu gelato on the outside and hot espresso in the middle of it, providing a perfect mixture of hot and cold. Although I got the after-lunch dip, we kept moving to our next stop, the Barnes Foundation.

Experiencing the Philadelphia Barnes Collection

by Cinthia Villarreal

Dr. Barnes started his ambitious collection of art in 1912 and during four decades went on to collect what is now known as a highly regarded assemblage of art. With over 170 paintings of Renoir, and multiple works of Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, Modigliani, and Seurat, we were all looking forward to visiting the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

After a brief delay caused by an over-zealous security guard (take your jackets off!”). we entered the main room, and we could see the beautiful pieces decorating the four walls. Impressionism, characterized by short, broken brushstrokes and unmixed colors, is one of my favorite styles of art, so I was absolutely delighted as I saw Renoir’s name repeat itself throughout the walls.

As we moved through the exhibit, we started recognizing names from past museum visits, including Olivia’s favorite piece from Goya.

A unique feature of Barnes Foundation is that they do not use the common labels with the title and artist next to each of the pieces. Instead, they have brass plaques fixated with the artist’s name on each of the ornate frames.

To assist those who would like to understand a piece further, the Foundation allows one to scan the paintings with a phone to learn more about the composition and history of the piece.

Isreal, who’s less exposed to the art scene, found a particular liking for the European art, as well as Michelle, who’s favorite was El Greco’s. 

In all, we greatly appreciate expanding our understanding of the humanities, especially when it highlights the contrast between where we started and how much we’ve grown. The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia was a great end to our day, filled with experiencing the city and all that it has to offer!

So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You, OKC

On Saturday, the LEAPsters had to finally bid farewell to the endless flat land and lustrous skies of Oklahoma City, but not before a few last adventures. Like the tumbleweed in a dust storm, we drifted through the city and down to Dallas, in search of great art, food, and little bit of history.

Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum (Ashley)

After driving through the city and getting a feel for what 1995 would have been like in that quiet city, we reached the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum. Never had we visited an institution dedicated to a single tragedy, being able to capture and include poignant details of the Oklahoma City Bombing. The museum was structured in an interesting way. We started from the second floor and then worked our way down to the first. The facts were presented in chronological order, beginning with the events, down to the minutes, leading up to the bombing. It was this introduction that set the exposition of this heart-wrenching story.

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU

It can be difficult to relate to an event (such as domestic terrorism) after being born years removed from it. But when you see how other people were impacted by it, the tragedy becomes more relatable. As we looked through the pre-bombing news articles and artifacts, we were amazed how Timothy McVeigh was actually interviewed by a journalist two years before, while professing anti-government propaganda related to the 1993 Branch Davidian Compound attack in Waco, Texas. Apparently these views were what compelled him to attack the Murrah Federal Building two years later. Perhaps the most gripping part of the museum was when we entered the model of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board room.

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU

There we listened to a recording of the board’s minutes the day of the bombing. In the middle of the recording, the voices die, the recording crackles, and the explosion roars in the background. With the flickering of the lights, and the sounds of panicked screaming and confusion, some of us were close to tears.

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU

We explored the rest of the museum, reading about the destruction…

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU

…rescue, investigation, and miraculous rebuilding of the city.

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU

After we witnessed the destruction of the bombing through the exhibits…

ok_bombing_rebecca_anderson_web

…we stepped outside onto the memorial and found the survivor tree. The area was really a place of brilliance as it was full of beauty and somberness.

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU, Survivor Tree

There were large gates on each side of a pool with the time a minute before (9:01) and after the detonation (9:03) of the bomb.

OK Bombinb Museum and Memorial, Oklahoma City, LEAP Center, SHSU

Perhaps most gripping from the memorial was the 168 chairs engraved with names representing the people who died during the explosion, with 19 small chairs honoring the deceased children. The museum at first emits a certain mournfulness, but because of the survivor tree and the resilience it shine with its green, resurrected branches, we left with a sense of hope. This memorial deeply touched us, and was definitely one of our favorite places we visited on this trip. With this sense of vitality, we reached the end of the gate and made to get some lunch.

Iron Star Urban BBQ (Kaitlyn Tyra)

Before departing from Oklahoma City, we stopped to fill our growling stomachs at Iron Star Urban BBQ. LEAPster, Ashley Allen immediately described the restaurant as “hipster BBQ.” Rightfully so perhaps, as the atmosphere of the restaurant was very trendy. Regardless of it being hipster, it proved to have tasty food. To experience the restaurant as much as possible, we ordered bacon wrapped quail breast and jalapeño cornbread to sample. Both were surprisingly tasty! For our main entrees, we tried the pulled pork sandwich, the pimento cheese burger, and the smoked prime rib sandwich.  Although the Oklahoma BBQ was different from our traditional Texas BBQ, we enjoyed trying Okie cousins’ delicious bbq!

Our dessert, like a sweet coup-de-grace, finished our meal consisting of a peach crisp, Drunken Turtle Cheesecake, and Double Chocolate Bread Pudding.

Iron Star Urban BBQ, Peach Crisp, LEAP Center, SHSU

Everyone had their own favorites but we enjoyed sampling them all. Iron Star BBQ was a fantastic final meal for our time in Oklahoma City!

With that we piled back into the car and settled in for our drive to Dallas.

Nasher Sculpture Center (Mitchell Sanchez)

At the midpoint between Oklahoma City and Huntsville, we decided to take a breather near downtown Dallas. We took this opportunity to visit the Nasher Sculpture Center. Raymond and Pasty Nasher began the art collection dating back to the 50’s. Together this couple has built one of the finest collections of 20th century sculptures in the entire world. The students had the privilege and honor to walk among some truly amazing pieces, from the quirky Claes Oldenburg…

Nasher Sculpture Garden, Claes Oldenburg, LEAP Center, SHSU

…to a couple of Pablo Picasso’s sculptures. One of them was inside one of the three galleries on the interior of the center, where other virtuosos of art were housed.  While the second, much larger, Picasso was outside in the 1.4-acre sculpture garden.

Nasher Sculpture Garden, Picasso, LEAP Center, SHSU

The garden contains more than 90 trees, including oaks, elms and crepe myrtles. In the midst of this urban forest were pieces by Henry Moore…

Nasher Sculpture Garden, SHSU, LEAP Center, Henry Moore

…George Segal, and Barbara Hepworth, just to name a few.  A particularly striking theme to the garden was how the nature and sharp cut stone and walk ways complemented each other in a way that demonstrated the ability of artists to enhance nature’s peace and beauty. The Nasher Sculpture Center gave us a wonderful vibe of elegance and peace. Peace much needed after a very momentous weekend.

Nasher Sculpture Garden, SHSU, LEAP Center, Henry Moore

 

With a last stroll through Klyde Warren Park, among a thong of lively children and mirthful adults, we boarded our van and made the last stretch to Huntsville. With the moon behind the clouds, and an air of tranquility, we ended our trip with a restful chat of all the wonderful adventures we had during the trip. From tripping through the ice, to trying out buffalo burgers, we reminisced on the happy memories of our Texoma LEAP Trip.

OK Bombing Memorial, Survivor Tree, SHSU, LEAP Center