Travels in the 2nd half

New York City is home to literally hundreds of museums. They each highlight a different aspect of art or history. Some art museums occasionally offer special exhibits on design, but there are two museums that are dedicated to the design of objects and commercial art, and I had the chance to visit them recently. Something I saw walking through Central Park I saw this also. Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum In 1896, Sarah Cooper Hewitt, Eleanor Garnier Hewitt and Amy Hewitt Green asked the Cooper Union, in New York City, to open a museum dedicated to the Arts of Decoration. They were able to do this, as they were grand-daughters of Peter Cooper, who founded the school. This museum resided on the 4th floor of the Foundation Building until it was closed in 1963, with the school citing financial issues. Over the next few years, a campaign developed to convince the Smithsonian Institute to take over the collection. In 1967, the Smithsonian agreed, and in 1970, the c...

Newport, Rhode Island, is a town of old money. It sits on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay. If you visit, there is a lot to see, and I would suggest that its Cliff Walk should be at the top of the list. The town of Newport was founded in 1639. It became the largest city in Rhode Island colony, and was home to a diverse population, including the first, and today oldest, synagogue in the United States. The town became a center for whaling and trading ships, which included playing a large role in the slave trade. In the middle of the 19th century, rich families started to spend the summer in Newport, building large “cottages” along the coastline. And it is a magnificent coastline. Many of the mansions sit along cliffs that overlook Narragansett Bay, and The Cliff Walk is a great way to see both these mansions and the views. Cliff Walk is a 3.5 mile path that, as its name implies, passes along the cliffs of Newport. It offers breath-taking views along the water. I sta...

  Fotografiska NYC New York City is home to many museums, but only two focus exclusively on photography. One has been around for forty five years, the other for just a few weeks. In 1974, the International Center for Photography was founded as a school and exhibition space in midtown Manhattan. For 45 years they have been the number one photography center in New York. They have offered exhibitions covering a wide range of photography, and classes for all levels of students. In December of 2019, Fotografiska , a new photography museum, opened in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of the city. It is the New York outpost of a set of museums founded by brothers Jan and Per Broman. The sons of a Swedish photographer, in 2010 they opened their first gallery in Stockholm. They built a tremendous reputation, and have started to expand their presence around the world. In June of 2019, they opened in Tallinn. Then in December they opened in New York City at a totally refurbished 19th centur...