Kentucky

Location: Berea & Paducah

When: early February
Miles traveled: <1003.7
Price of gas: 2.89 to 3.05
Interest: arts
High point: Petting a Kangaroo!!! 

Low point: Buying too many art/craft items.
One thing learned: Sometimes the act of choosing is more important than what is chosen.

Kentucky Stonehenge

    Aloha!  Perhaps it is Spring, because there are a lot of dead skunks on the roads and birds singing in the morning!  The two main places I visited in Kentucky were Ark Encounter, an hour north of Berea, and The National Quilt Museum in Paducah.  I also visited Kentucky Stonehenge (amazing at the time, but thinking about it now = not super interesting), and "Jamming on the Porch" Folk Music Circle (enjoyable and very welcoming musicians).

    Ark Encounter is a life sized biblical Noah's Ark.  Which turns out to be 510' long x 85' wide x 51' height.  About half the length of Titanic.  Inside, three floors depict how it could have been possible to house over 2,796 animals, what life on earth might have looked like before and after the flood, and scientific arguments for biblical events that modern people might not believe happened, like a world wide flood and the Tower of Babel.  The people who built Ark Encounter deeply researched and thought out every aspect of life on the Ark.  Things like animal cages and waste removal, air circulation and hull construction, and how long it would take to build the Ark with technology of that age, are all things I've never stopped to wonder about, but they have.  It is easy to spend all day walking around and reading all of the exhibitions.  The best part, though, was the mini zoo they have behind the Ark.  It was there I got to touch a kangaroo and feel it's rabbit soft fur.  Kangaroos spend most of their time "hunched over".  They don't stand/sit on their hind legs unless they are on alert and looking around for danger.  Their tails are strong enough to support their full body weight and are used like a fifth limb when walking.  Their hind legs move together, not alternating like humans or cats.  Wallabys were also present.  They are smaller, darker and their tails are used like a walking stick rather than another limb.  I did not get a chance to touch a wallaby, but I did watch one hop around!

 

 

 

Ark hull

 

 

 More photos at bottom.

 

 

 

 

    As a person who has lightly dabbled in quilting, The National Quilt Museum was wonderful to walk through.  A surprisingly large number of quilts used applique, clear thread for quilting, and specially dyed or painted fabric.  For example, "Summer Fun" by Marina Landi and Fabia Diniz (based on a photograph by Solomon Tetteh), uses clear thread to add curvature to the shapes without distracting from the many fabric colors.  They also used fabric with custom coloring.  The rim of the bucket is one piece of fabric with multiple blues.  The bucket has multiple pieces of fabric, but every color is not a different piece of fabric.  While this quilt might be amazing in it's execution, I don't like it, and that's ok.

"Summer Fun" quilt

     Hyperrealism can be amazing and borrowing techniques from one art medium to another medium is something I have done as well, but turning a photograph into a three dimensional art form (quilt) and then having it reduced to a two dimensional visual art form on a museum wall with no other purpose (that I know of), I find that distasteful.  Though in general I'm not happy with traditional museums because everything in them is reduced to visuals only.  But hey, boiled down, my statement is a question of art; What is the purpose/intention of art?,  What is art and why does it matter? and What is the best way to share art with others?   [Side note: Sorry Mancuso, I've forgotten the big three questions.  You'll have to remind me.]

 

 

    It was neat to see a variety of quilts at The National Quilt Museum, and to walk through Ark Encounter.  Kentucky was also the 40th state I've visited!  Valentine's Day is coming, and after a quick stop with family, I'll be in Missouri, state #41.

Feeding large animals

 

A quilt series by James Reese depicting cats exploring the universe with extraterrestrials.

 

 

"Beatles Quilt" by Pat Holly & Sue Nickles

Photo on left is "Vibrato" by Becky Glasby.  This was my favorite quilt.  According to the artist statement, the quilting gives the impression of sound vibrations moving through space.