The land was slated for a sub-division and digging began in 1974. Things ground to a halt when some unusual bones were unearthed. The landowner started to investigate and found the bones were mammoths! Thankfully the sub-division was scraped. He sold the land to a university for the price he paid for it and the rest is history. The Mammoth Site was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980 and it was the last stop on our Hot Springs tour. The day was heating up when we arrived and I wasn't looking forward to being at a dig site. To my surprise and relief, the whole site was enclosed in a building. Keeping everything in a climate controlled environment made the bones of the mammoth and the tourists happy!
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54 degrees and pitch darkness on a hot July afternoon? Nowhere else but 209 feet underground in Wind Cave National Park. Located in Hot Springs South Dakota, the cave is a sacred site for the Lakota Indians and is the central part of the Lakota Emergence story. Our guide was a young African American woman from the South. She was an excellent, knowledgeable guide that went out of her way to engage the children on the tour. There was a sweet young family with two girls. Every time the youngest one saw a small side tunnel as we walked along the path she would say, “look its a baby cave.” Which only served to conjured up visions of a baby's bloody knees as it crawled over the sharp edges of the Boxwork. I had to shake that image out of my head so I could enjoy the rest of the tour. Wind Cave is a fairly dry cave. It doesn't have a lot of the stalactites and stalagmites I have seen on other cave tours. Instead the cave has 95% of the world's known Boxwork. Rare and beautiful, no one, let alone a baby, would be allowed to crawl around in it! Now lets consider cave popcorn. Its really cave sweat (more interesting, equally disturbing images come to mind). It forms when calcite rich water beads up and over time crystallizes on the surface of the cave wall. Frostwork is another beautiful formation made from aragonite. When crystallized, the mineral forms delicate branches of needles or frost-like structures. When we got to the deepest part of the tour, there was a big open area where we gathered for a moment of complete darkness. The guide turned off the lights and asked everyone to remain in place. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. Then she lit a lantern to show us what it was like for the early cave explorers and tourists. We were walking on concrete paths laid by the Civil Conservation Core with electric lights all along the way. Turn-of-the century, women explorers, had to find their footing on undeveloped paths, led by lantern light, in ankle length skirts! I was grateful for pants, sneakers and an elevator ride back up to the surface. When the epic rain storm let up at Mount Rushmore we headed back to our car only to find out I had left my car window open and my seat was soaking. I opened Woodstock to get a small tarp out and some towels and saw that we got some moisture in the trailer too! Sleeping in a damp trailer isn't fun so I was hoping the sun would come out at the next campsite and we could dry things out. So with tarp and towels, I got seated in the car and we were off to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The head is done after 30 years of blasting and chiseling on Thunderhead Mountain. Started in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Kiolkowski on private land in Cuter county South Dakota, It depicts Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, commissioned the memorial because he wanted the world to know that American Indians have great heroes too. One of Kiolkowski's smartest moves was to marry Ruth Ross. She arrived at the Crazy Horse Memorial as a volunteer in 1948. What she ended up with was much more! Ziolkowski and Ross married on November 23, 1950. He was 42 years old and she was 24. They had ten children who were born in the small cabin where the family lived. Together Ruth and her husband compiled three books of material containing measurements and plans for the statue. From the family cabin she handled the finances, bookkeeping, press inquiries, staffed their visitors center and acquired the equipment and materials needed to carve the sculpture. Oh yes, she did all this while Korczak was blasting away at the mountain and she was watching their ten children. What a woman! I meet some folks yesterday that went to the memorial thirty years ago when it all started. I couldn't tell them Crazy Horse was finished but I could report that the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has funded and built the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Cultural Center. Kiolkowski, whose personal motto was, "Never forget your dreams." Ruth's was, "Dreams do come true." They would both be proud to know that the dream is still alive and well. I first saw Dick Termes' work in the summer of 2012. A local middle school art teacher, Dori Klopfer, wrote a grant to bring Dick to Cheyenne for a workshop with her ninth graders, along with a public workshop and show at the Laramie County Library. While planning our summer trip to Spearfish SD, I discovered that Dick's gallery and studio were close by. It was on our must visit list. So, with our 1974 wooden teardrop trailer in tow, we pulled into the gallery driveway. Now I need to say a little bit about our trailer. It was called Woodstock (I am using the past tense for a reason to be explained in an upcoming post) It was built by a genuine hippie from Casper Wyoming. While Woodstock was totally rocking the vibes of Termes' hand built, wooden, geodesic dome gallery and studio, we parked and began climbing the stairs to the gallery. The minute we stepped into the gallery, the assistant flipped a switch which brought to life 60 spherical globes, rotating at precisely one revolution per minute. The Termespheres are about optical illusion and 6 point perspective. Dick's technique involves way too much math for my liking but they are none the less very cool. He calls them, "An inside out view of the total physical world around you on the outside surface of a hanging and rotating sphere." We spent time looking at all the spheres including the first one he ever made. It is always interesting to me to see how an artist develops his ideas and abilities over time. We purchased a reproduction of one of his pieces which you can cut out and form into a sphere (Dave's job not mine) and headed back to the car. We think Woodstock wanted to stay longer but we needed to head down the road for more adventures in the Black Hills of South Dakota and beyond. Can you guess who these men were? Here's s quote from Gutzon to help you out; "The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt." Gutzon Borglum Four powerhouse presidents were carved on the face of Mt. Rushmore between 1927 and 1941 by Danish-American scupltor, Gutzon Borglum and his assistant son, Lincoln Borglum. I did a little research on the sculptor and found his personal story as interesting as the main attraction. Here's just a sampling; born in 1867 into a polygamist Mormon family (the two wives were sisters), took art lessons, married his teacher, Elizabeth Putman who was 19 years his senior, traveled Europe, divorced after 10 years, studied in Paris, befriended sculptor Auguste Rodin, returned to the US to begin creating "American" art, carved a colossal head of Lincoln which Lincoln's son Robert saw and proclaimed, " I never thought I would see father again", created Robert E. Lee's head on Stone Mountain, got mad, got fired, and finally started working on his most well known public art piece, Mt. Rushmore. Wow! You know what I always say! "Why be normal when you can be interesting". Meanwhile back at the main attraction, Dave and I both entertained the tourist again as we painted and drew the monument. Dave had visited over 3o years earlier so when he got home he dug out an old sketchbook and compared drawings. It was interesting to see how his skills had matured. This was my first visit to Mt Rushmore and although the park was teaming with people from all over the world and we ran into an epic rainstorm complete with tornado warnings, I finally got to see one of our countries famous patriotic sites. Mt Rushmore was named after NYC lawyer, Charles Rushmore, who upon seeing the granite outcropping in 1884 called it a, "majestic pile". That "pile now draws in almost 3 million visitors a year and we were there! "That's where we are going, replied the Dad in response to his son's question. "Are we going to climb it?" No was the answer because the "thing" was Devil's Tower. After eight years in Wyoming, Dave and I finally got up to the Northeast corner of the state on our way to an art show in Spearfish SD. The National Park System is celebrating its 100th birthday so the park was teaming with tourists. I shoved in my earbuds and turned up the tunes in an attempt to dampen the sounds of motorcyclists and people commenting on our artwork. My goal was to finish one painting of the "Thing" and then move on to less crowded parts of the park. An hour later we packed up our supplies and started driving out of the park. On the way out we saw a white, circular sculpture standing alone in a field. Did we investigate? Of course! The Circle of Sacred Smoke was created by internationally known Japanese sculptor, Junkyu Muto as the third in a series of seven "peace sculptures" planned for significant sites around the world. The first was erected at the Vatican in 2000 and the other in 2005 at Bodh Gaya India ( where Buddha was enlightened ). The sculptor recognized Devils Tower as a sacred place and the Circle of Smoke was installed in 2008. The 12 foot tall sculpture is made of Carrara marble and the black granite base comes from the Crazy Horse memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The sculpture is meant to represent a puff of smoke from a sacred pipe. If you position yourself just right, you can capture the "Thing" in the puff of stone smoke. How cool is that!
Located on the United States Patent and Trademark Office campus in Alexandria, VA., the National Inventors Hall of Fame is a small but very interesting museum. There are 500+ inductees but as we discovered, there isn't anyone representing Wyoming! Hum....there must be someone from my home state holding an interesting patent, we'll have to work on nominating someone! Regardless, there were so many interesting and inspiring stories of people like African America physicist George Alcorn who invented the x-ray imaging spectrometer. His father was an auto mechanic who sacrificed so George could get an education. His son certainly honored that sacrifice! Here's a quote from Alcorn, " I'm determined, I'll work, I'll put the time into it. Going to work is not work its an adventure. I'd much rather have adventures."
Who cares about the arts....what can they do to improve a city's economy? Alexandria's Torpedo factory helps to answers that question; "Work began on the building in May of 1974, with artist volunteers and City personnel working together to remove the debris of 55 years. Bulldozers and fire hoses were initially needed and 40 truckloads of debris were eventually removed. Studio walls were built, electricity and plumbing expanded. The entire exterior was repainted. By July, artists had converted the huge space into a complex of bright and clean studios. On September 15, 1974, the Torpedo Factory Art Center opened to the public." Vision, commitment, elbow grease, civic support and the vitality of the arts, brought economic prosperity to a dilapidated piece of waterfront property. 82 artist's studios bring in over 500,000 visitors a year. Wow! The economic prosperity target gets a direct hit! The Torpedo Factory has been on my, "I want to see this," list for years. Once again the art lovers, Nancy, Dave and I, spent the whole day wander through studios, visiting with artists and taking in the Target Gallery's multi media show called, Please Touch. 20 national and international artists were chosen for this interactive show. Kurt Treeby, an artist from my hometown of Buffalo NY, made architectural tissue boxes out of plastic canvas. "Plastic canvas is a cheap crafting material often used for kitschy objects and it's most often associated with the creation of tissue box covers. These covers often take the shape of quaint country homes or cottages far removed from the modern architecture of the city. Like the tissue that gets discarded once it is used, all of the buildings recreated here have suffered the same fate." I took a picture and a tissue as I contemplated the three pieces Kurt had in the show. When I returned home, I emailed the artist and explained the project. Here is what Kurt said about his personal fabric, "I thought about your question, and I think if I were to design a fabric that represented me, it would have an architectural appearance- a brick pattern or a shingle pattern, something associated with a building." The Torpedo Factory, a direct hit for LEAP 366 !
Mother nature wasn't in a celebratory mood as suppertime rolled around. We sloshed down the food truck lane looking for the perfect DC supper snack. I ended up with some East Indian street food and Dave had an all American hot dog with sauerkraut, chips and pop. We ate in a covered stairwell with two other families looking to dodge the drizzle. We hung around for a bit more but in the end decided it was just too wet to sit on the mall lawn and watch the fireworks. So we beat the crowd and took the subway back to VA. We got to my sister's house just in time to see the news and interviews from people who toughed it out. The fog, humidity and clouds obscured much of the fireworks display so although we were disappointed not to have been on the mall for the fireworks, dry feet and a warm bed after a long day in the city were awfully nice. Good night and Happy Birthday America !
Baltimore, only an hour and a half away from my sister Nancy's house in Stafford VA. Only a hop, skip and a jump by Wyoming standards! We took two cars so Dave, Nancy and I (the art appreciators ) could go to the AVAM while the other carload, my brother Kurt, his wife Nancy and my sister's husband Chris, could go to the B&O Train Museum. Besides not being able to fit into one car, its just best not to subject some people to hours of art! "Welcome Cherished Guests, Life-Long Learners, Connoisseurs of Wonder, Kids Little and Big! You have arrived at your Mothership, a luminous and spirited museum unlike any other, home to full spectrum wonder and ideas fueled by courageous acts of intuition and imagination" Great introduction to a truly unique museum! There were so many interesting artists but except for a couple of exhibits, the museum has a strict NO PHOTOS policy. So I did a lot of drawings, read the excellent bios and took pictures where I could. The three of us spent the whole day soaking in the museum's three exhibit halls. While we were there, a catering company was setting up for a wedding, (great venue space). We peeked inside the hall and saw a beautiful canopy set up for a Jewish wedding. Meanwhile there were two African American men having their engagement pictures taken by a professional photographer. All in this in one day at the AVAM! If you like the offbeat I recommend this museum. The whole gang reconvened for a picnic supper under the giant, golden hand on the side of one of the museum's buildings. Dave and I decided to stay in the city later while the rest of the family drove back to Virginia. We climbed the hill next to the museum and found ourselves in a lovely little city park were families and couples were enjoying a sunset view of the Baltimore skyline. As we walked we began to realize that there were fireflies all around the park. It had been a long time since the "night of the fireflies" in the backyard of our house in Medina NY when Ian and Abby were little. Since then we have seen very few of these delightful nightlights. It was a magical finish to a perfect day.
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LEAP 366
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