first day at a new job!

Last weekend was my first day working as a gallery docent for LMCC's Art Center on Governor's Island. The exhibit that's up is called Michael Richards - Winged...you should read about him on LMCC's website! He was an insightful emerging artist who was only 38 when he died and it's only now, 15 years later, that a large collection of his work is being shown.

Anyway, here are the photos from day one!















On the ferry ride over to the island (the shortest ferry ride ever - it's about 7 minutes) it started raining, and as soon as we landed it started pouring. So...there weren't many guests that day, on an island billed as an outdoor activity destination.







It was an interesting first day...I definitely became more aware of the concept of audience engagement with the artwork. It's probably something that museums and galleries think about a lot - but it was all new to me, so I was just standing there thinking about how quickly some people came in and out and how little attention they seemed to pay to any of it. I guess finding ways to connect the audience more with what they're seeing is a primary goal of any place showing art. It's not something I've ever really thought about before from that point of view...although I will say that I much prefer going to museums alone and being able to sit on a bench in one room for as long as I want to just experience what's in front of me instead of feeling like I need to take it all in for about 30 seconds before moving on to the next piece. I had some nice conversations with a few people who were really moved by the show, some interested in the artist, some who had worked in the twin towers (which is where he died - 09/11/01), some from New York and some from elsewhere. In my down time (which was kind of plentiful because of the rain!), I read interviews with the artist and learned more about the philosophy behind his artwork. I feel like I learned a lot about all kinds of stuff on day one and I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer!

Maine Visit

Our recent lack of updates can be blamed on #1: we just moved in! (a month and a half ago...) and #2: photostream on the iPad (it's so easy!). But I'm determined to actually post on here, since the photostream is hardly an archival method of recording all the fun stuff we do! In starting over, I decided to begin with the present – so here's the first post of pictures from our visit to Maine this past weekend.

On Friday, we went down to the Old Port, a cool area of Portland with cobblestone streets and old buildings and views of the water. The two of us and Matt's parents all went on a boat tour of Portland's lighthouses and it was really fun (and educational!). Like the Lolly the Trolly tour we did in Cleveland!









Our tour started out in Casco Bay, where Portland sits. It was a really busy waterway, with all kinds of boats out. Since there are so many small islands off the coast of Maine, lots of "every day" things happen on the water instead of in the streets. Like delivering mail, and commuting to work or school! In the last picture, you can see how we went right by an osprey nest with an osprey sitting right on top! If I had a zoom lens I'd have gotten a closer picture...in real life, we were just about level in height with the huge bird, who just watched us as we passed by.









After passing by a few lighthouses that we visited on land back in December, we briefly went out into the Atlantic. It was definitely much bumpier than in the bay! Luckily, there were no problems with seasickness and we all just enjoyed the views. The little desolate lighthouse above is built on a tiny rocky island that sticks out into the ocean and has waves crashing up to its top all winter long! Apparently, when it actually had lighthouse keepers that worked it (it's automatic now), they sometimes got trapped inside because of the terrible weather and couldn't leave for weeks.











On the way back around the other side of the bay, we passed by some weird military watchtowers, forts built around the Civil War, a rock shaped like a face with a legend behind it, and a cute seal that hopped around when our boat passed. We also went by lots of islands - some private islands that you can't visit without an invitation, some that are just abandoned buildings, some that used to be tourist destinations in the Victorian Era. Before we knew it, we were back on shore – and not a moment too soon, since a light drizzle quickly turned to a downpour which would have dampened our trip slightly (excuse the puns...). I'll post more photos from Maine soon!

Olympic Trip : Day Four - Port Angeles to Victoria

On the fourth day of our trip, we set out bright and early from the pier just down the road from our hotel! See the big boat up above, right at the end of the road? That's the ferry that goes between Port Angeles and Victoria, BC. It's only 1hr 20m or so - we didn't realize that you'd be able to see Vancouver Island from Washington (the land on the horizon). It's much closer than it seemed! There was hardly anyone else on board the ferry on the trip over - I guess Sunday morning isn't the busiest time for travel?

We went to Victoria without much of a plan at all - we just wanted to wander around and see the city. Luckily, it seems to be the perfect sized city for wandering - we walked all over and got to see a good portion of it in the few hours that we were there. First, we went to Chinatown - we learned it's the second oldest Chinatown in North America, after San Francisco!

We were there too early for most of the restaurants to be open, so we just strolled under the cherry trees for a while (ours finished blooming weeks ago, but up north they're just hitting peak!). Then, we walked along the harbor area (or rather harbour area, since it's Canadian!).

In the harbour (!), there are all kinds of whale watching tour boats, sea plane excursions, etc. It seemed to be a pretty busy place, even for an early Sunday morning. When our ferry docked, a 10k was just wrapping up along the main street in town, so we thought we'd avoid the rest of it by checking out the Royal British Columbia Museum - a huge natural history museum.

First, we stopped in the natural history galleries - the exhibits were so much more modern than any I've ever seen! It's like most natural history museums had dioramas designed in the 1950s and have never updated them. They're all dark and really fake looking, which is kind of fun in a nostalgic mid-century way, but maybe not the best way to connect with people. These were totally different, they made you feel like you were actually in the environment they portrayed. Very cool! After learning about the plants and animals of British Columbia, we went to the human history galleries to learn about the First Nations.

We loved this part of the museum - art from all kinds of people who lived in the area before Europeans (the First Nations). It was a really well put-together exhibit, and we felt like we learned a lot. The artistry and craftsmanship of everything really resonated with us. I'd love to go back again, since this section was so big that we definitely didn't get to see everything!

We walked through a few city parks (Beacon Hill park is huge!), saw a bunch of nesting herons, walked past lots of Victorian houses, had tea in a cute teahouse, and then realized it was time to leave!

Unlike the trip to BC, the ferry on the way back was completely full - I guess Sunday afternoon is a good time to travel. There were a million high school kids returning from a rowing competition...so we decided to sit up in the sunshine above deck and it was really nice! We arrived back at our hotel and I took this photo to show you what the view from our window looked like - - 

...and that's what $80/night gets you in Port Angeles!