IT’S LOCAL: A MUSEUM DAY IN CHARLOTTE, N.C.

A “museum day” in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The offer came via email from The Ackland Museum, of which I am a member, while we were in France. I emailed them to yes, please, reserve a place for me.

The itinerary was: first stop at The Mint Museum, then walk to lunch at Mimosa Grill, then walk across the street to The Bechtler Museum, and finally, by bus, to a private house to see the stunning contemporary art collection in their house designed by their architecture daughter specifically for the collection. Quite a day!

I’ve only been to Charlotte once and that was to a different part of town: you can read about that trip HERE.

First stop: The Mint Museum Uptown which is “the oldest art museum in North Carolina.” More specifically, we went to see the exhibit “Women of Abstract Expressionism.” What an absolutely fabulous, ground-breaking, visually overwhelming show. It is, of course, focussed solely on women painters in America from 1945-1960. Most of them I knew something about, had seen their work, and had studied them in Art History courses. But a few were new to me: Jay DeFeo and Perle Fine were new discoveries for me. We heard Jon Stuhlman, Senior Curator of American, Modern, & Contemporary Art lead us through the work of each artist. And it was fascinating…

Loving the graphics for this exhibit!

This is, and will continue to be, a very important show (as the critics have said.) It finally gives women an equal place in this very important time of modern art in this country. Did you use Janson’s “History of Art: The Western Tradition,” in your art history class? Well, prior to the 1980 edition, there was no mention of a woman as independent artist: that was just one of the many facts we learned. So, yes, this is groundbreaking stuff.

This exhibit will be in Charlotte, at the Mint, through February 2017. It then travels to Palm Springs February- May and will debut there during the

Palm Springs Museum’s Modernism Week, February 16-26, 2017.

This would be a great event to attend, wouldn’t it?

Next stop on our day tour was lunch at Mimosa Grill.
While the food was excellent, the noise level precluded me from really hearing from my very interesting (so they seemed..) neighbors and fellow travelers. It was distracting, to say the least. But, as I say, excellent food!

On to
The Bechtler Museum which was, until very recently, a private collection. We are the lucky recipients of it’s opening the doors to the public.
This exhibit:
All That Sparkles: 20th Century Artist’s Jewelry
“celebrates the craftsmanship and creativity of artists who used the medium to explore texture and color.”

We were very fortunate to have Jennifer Edwards, Curator, walk us through this fascinating and unusual exhibit. I highly recommend a visit to The Bechtler!

Our last visit was to a private home in Charlotte and its absolutely spectacular modern art collection. The actual house was designed and built by their architect daughter to house the collection. Amazing doesn’t even BEGIN to describe this house. Add to all this that the weather was picture perfect: it was a day to remember.

I definitely want to return and see more of the exhibit at the Mint.. and also to see
Fired Up: Women in Glass 

Please, let us know if you plan to attend any of these exhibits and we could get together. I will definitely be going over there before the closings in February. For me, it’s a 2+ hr. drive. You can fly or arrive by train! Lots and lots of great hotels and restaurants in Charlotte.

Special thanks to the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill and all those involved in making this a great day!