“Twister Again” by Alice Aycock

I’m late with my post because yesterday was a busy day out in the community. First was book club, where we discussed Chapter 2 of Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola-Estes. Chapter 2 is deconstructing the Bluebeard Myth and how it applies to women being exploited by others but also how they sabotage themselves with the “bluebeard complex” that resides within them.

After book club, a friend of mine that I met back when I was volunteering at the cat shelter in Grand Rapids after I retired in 2018 took a drive to the art museum. She and I have met up multiple times for fun things since then. We headed in “cold,” with cold defined as not knowing what exhibits were going on. We did go through the permanent collection galleries and also through an exhibit entitled, “Crossroads: Intersections of Black Family Culture,” described on the MMA website as:

an interdisciplinary exhibition that explores the cultural significance of Black family dynamics in the Americas. In response to forced separations and disrupted biological ties, Black communities developed unique family structures centered on communal relationships, extended networks, and collective responsibility. This emphasis on mutual support, interconnectedness, and shared responsibility serves as both a survival strategy and a form of resistance against systemic devaluation.

Organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art in partnership with co-curators Sydney G. James, Scheherazade Washington-Parrish, and Juana Williams, this exhibition is comprised of the artworks of 19 artists from the Detroit area, who were invited to make artworks speaking to the Black family and their communities. The show will include painting, mixed media, photography, and textile based artworks.

I remember one of the last times I went to the MMA they had a gallery for Bennett Prize that was all female artists and thinking now how wonderful is this. Some of the paintings I took pics of yesterday I forgot to get the info on them so I had to hunt them down. The next painting search led me to a press release dated 6/10/22 that included the painting:

The Muskegon Museum of Art will soon be home to one of the only museums in the world to have a permanent space dedicated solely to the work of women artists, thanks to gifts totaling $12 million from two of the country’s leading art collectors.

More than 150 works of art – painted by women in the figurative realist style – have been given to the Muskegon Museum of Art by art collectors and champions of gender equality, Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt.

One painting stood out for me of many standouts, “Sofia 1” by Roberta Coni.

This next one is not part of the Bennett-Schmidt donated artwork, but I thought it was lovely:

By the time we got through all of those, we agreed to visit the two exhibits in the lower level on another visit. One is on Art Deco and one is on beginnings of comic books. We’ve already decided to go back at the end of March after next month’s book club meeting.

After we left the museum we went to a little hamburger joint and I had my first lobster burger. Oh my goodness was it good, even if I feel a bit guilty for eating it.

Hope everyone has been enjoying their Friday.