Category Archives: Museums

Revisiting Charm City

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It’s surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time. ~ Barbara Kingsolver

Things have really changed in Baltimore from the days of my childhood in the 1950s and 1960s.

This past weekend I spent time visiting tourist sites in and around the Harbor Place and in other sections of Baltimore where monuments and museums I remember from my childhood, still stand. Now dubbed “CharmCity,” Baltimore has made the most of attracting tourists from all over the world to their port.

As my sister and I walked the city this weekend, so many fulfilling memories came flooding back. I was reminded of the fact that writers Edgar Allen Poe, H.L. Mencken, musician James “Eubie Blake,” and singer Billy Holiday called Baltimore their home. And of course, Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled in this city filled with art, culture and one of the  top medical institutions in the country, Johns Hopkins.

Today, join me on my tour of the BaltimoreHarbor. It is always fun to return to this city and see the various phases of development that have come to sections of the city since my growing up in the suburbs of Towson, Maryland.

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 Pyramid Structure in Distance is the Aquarium http://www.aqua.org/

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Maryland Science Center http://www.mdsci.org/

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 Spirit of Baltimorehttp://www.spiritcruisesbaltimore.com/

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Frozen Custard, piled high, on the cone always brings fulfillment!

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Historic Ship – USS Constitution moored in the Baltimore Harbor http://bit.ly/13WUHQA

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Above Image:Barnes & Noble in the Power Plant – awesome store, multi-storied

Below: Interior of Barnes & Noble – books and more

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Performing Arts Center on the Harbor

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 Portable Beer cart – Taps are musical instruments

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Street Performer on a Unicycle

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Beach Volleyball in the Center of the City, Amid the High rise office buildings

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Of course- a trip to “Bawlmer”  isn’t complete without mention of the Marylander’s beloved “Oreos” (Orioles baseball team)

or “goin’  downy o-shun” (going down the ocean), Ocean City, of course. Marylanders favorite vacation spot.

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Do return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow, as I bike over to a place of personal fulfillment that I loved to go as a teen on rainy afternoons – The Walter’s Art Gallery. The architecture of the building is as spectacular as the permanent collections of art. The light filled spaces illuminate the art exquisitely. We will also see the Peabody Institute, Maryland Humanities Council, Mt. Vernon Place and other iconic historic landmarks.

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Fulfilling Tour of Newport, RI

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“Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit.” ~ Frank Borman

My travelogue of Newport, Rhode Island continues today. I had the opportunity to tour the Marble House, one of the mansions. High up on the Cliff Walk, overlooking  Rhode Island sound and the Atlantic Ocean, it was home to the Vanderbilts who made their fortune as venture capitalists in the NY Central Railroad and steamships. Their investments and other wealthy families foresight in our country’s future, brought more prosperity through expanding commerce.

The opulent stone palace, now a National Historic Landmark, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt and was constructed during the years 1888-1892. Once complete, it was a 39th birthday present to William K Vanderbilt’s wife, Alva. How do you wrap a present like that? In gold, of course, inside, rather than out. She loved to entertain and saw the Marble House as “her temple to the Arts in America.”

Husband and wife, had separate private reading rooms filled with books, on opposite sides of the mid-level landing of the enormous, two story marble stair case. It is where they went to get away, relax from all their social entertaining. They also built a Chinese teahouse on the property with a magnificent view where guests could go for peace and solitude away from the hustle and bustle of the Marble House activities.

Alva and William K Vanderbilt had three children. Their son, William K, Jr. was a pioneer in auto racing. Their son, Harold pursued his passion of yachting and sailed in the America’s Cup three times. Their daughter Consuelo became the 9th Duchess of Marlborough.

Photos are not allowed to be taken inside the mansion. To read more about the Marble House and to see a photo of the gold room in the Marble House, please visit this link. http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/marble-house.

It was a fulfilling weekend in New England, exploring art, history and architecture.

Return on Monday to www.AllThingsFulfilling.com where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

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Another “summer cottage” along Belleview Road

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Above:  Marble House, the Vanderbilt’s Summer Cottage by the Sea.

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Chinese Teahouse on the property of Marble House

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The Backside of Marble House – facing the sea

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Above: Me with the Babcocks, my niece Kara & Her husband Joe – two architects!IMAG0450

Above: Gates of Salve Regina Univ in Newport, RI – it was graduation day!

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Above & Below Images: Stopped by the International Tennis Hall of Fame – it was neat!

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Newport Harbor

Goodbye, Newport! Can’t believe we saw all these sites in Newport in one day. Well worth the stop!

Signed,  Grateful, that I returned to this area once again. Loved every minute!

Paving the Way for Commerce Westward

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“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” ~Warren Buffett

A stroll along The Cliff Walk and Bellevue Avenue was a beautiful place to be last Saturday. Sunny skies and flowering trees added to the charm of Newport, RI, a city filled with mansions from The Guilded Age.

Many of the homes were built with embellishments found in European castles and cathedrals. The structures, fit for kings and royalty, are now museums because they are so expensive to maintain, and they are open to the public for touring. The mansions were once “seaside cottages” for wealthy families who came to Newport, RI, their summer playground. Life by the sea for the Vanderbilt’s, Astor’s, Webb’s and Dupont’s was more glitzy than it is today for most ocean resort dwellers. The families came with a full staff of servants, and house help who helped orchestrate the entertainment of other notables of great wealth and social standing. These prominent society people can be thanked for paving the way for prosperity in the United States. Through their investment in the railroads and steamships, commerce spread westward across America. They were the same individuals who were great patrons of the arts, and invested in magnificent paintings and other art installations, such as sculpture, in their mansions.

Enjoy your tour of Newport, through my photos:

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 Photo above & below: At the start of Cliff Walk in Newport, RI

with my twin sister

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The Breakers, Newport, RI

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Another summer cottage by the sea on Cliff Walk

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Graduation Day at Salve Regina University, Newport, RI http://www.salve.edu/

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Tree on Campus of Salve Regina University – Rooted in two different places!

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Another of the Mansions along Cliff Walk

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Dogwoods, Azaleas, and other flowering trees were in bloom

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Sue, Jan and my niece, Kara in the middle

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. I  will show you a few more of the sites in Newport, RI from my travels. My trip to Rhode Island was not my first, but I found plenty of fulfilling things I had never seen before. Come back  to see the mansion we toured.

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Providential Visit

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All that I know of tomorrow is that Providence will rise before the sun ~  Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

It’s a city rising, moved by philanthropists, architects, artists, bankers, shopkeepers and others who have engaged in The Providence Portrait Project http://providenceportraitproject.com/  to revitalize Providence, R.I. a city full of history, art, architecture. I enjoyed a day in this city last week when I went to visit my niece who is an architect at Union Studio Architects, and is currently involved in the design of a new library in Tiverton, Rhode Island. http://www.unionstudioarch.com/ .

I encountered so many wonderful sites in Providence that had to do with architecture, history, libraries, books, art, design and education that I will share what I saw through images, rather than words. Enjoy the pictures!

My next stop will be in a city of mansions where wealthy bankers, investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs lived in the early days of our country. Many of them invested in the railroad which allowed for westward expansion of commerce and thus, more prosperity for citizens of our country. Many of the castle-like mansions have become museums, open to the public for touring.

Do return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow.

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Above two images – my niece Kara explaining about the Providence Portrait Project http://bit.ly/14tLl1w.

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 Image above: Symposium Books, Providence, RI  www.symposiumbooks.com

IMAG0360Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

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Image above & below: Athenaeum Library http://www.providenceathenaeum.org/

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Twin Sisters (yeah, I know, it’s hard to believe) together at the List Art Center

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Walter Feldman Book Arts Studio http://brown.edu/academics/visual-art/facilities

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At the Gates of Brown University, Providence, RI  http://www.brown.edu/

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Image above: John Hay Library http://library.brown.edu/about/hay/

Three Images Below: Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology

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 Above: Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts http://bit.ly/16MpQN5

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Above Image: The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab in Providence, RI http://naturelab.risd.edu/

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Photo above & below: Strolling the streets of Providence looking at church architecture and steeples.

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A beauty, isn’t it?

Image below: Grace Episcopal Church, Providence, RI

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I found providence,  grace and many more fulfilling things in Rhode Island! Thank you Kara, for being a tour guide and showing the sites.

Please return to www.AllThingsFulfilling.com tomorrow.

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Armchair Travel to Europe

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armchair travelpg“If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.” ~ John F Kennedy

Europe is an old civilization compared to the United States of America. Tourists from all over the world flock to museums in Rome, Paris, Venice, London and other cities as part of their European vacations. The Louvre has approximately seven to eight million visitors every year. People enjoy taking in a wide variety of art reflected in paintings and other artifacts – from Celtic art to the Renaissance and Baroque eras, as well as Neoclassical, Romantic and the Impressionistic period. A chance to see  architectural elements many hundreds of years old, are reason enough to visit European cities – turrets, towers, flying buttresses, steeples, spires, vaulted ceilings and gargoyles, embellish the buildings.

If you are a connoisseur of European culture, there is a new blog that you will enjoy called Castles and Coffeehouses: Exploring European Art and History. http://castlesandcoffeehouses.com/. Blog writer C S Carley shares all sorts of interesting information geared around the humanities. And of course, she can’t mention European art and history without including just a little bit of how religion fits into the overall picture. It played such a major role in the world’s development during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Travel along with C S Carley as she shares her knowledge of places abroad and finds all kinds of fulfilling things to explore and write about.

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, where sharing independent thoughts, words and views is all part of the business. This blog is brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

The Color of Life

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To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist. ~Schumann

Have you ever noticed how some people like to look at things through rose colored glasses and others through dark shades?

Our perspectives on life are often a reflection of our experiences, or a response to our day to day existence. As we open ourselves up to new ways of being, we add color to our journeys and our attitudes.

I received some interesting feedback from the annual blog report of All Things Fulfilling the other day.  Glassworks Inspired by Nature was the second most popular blog I have ever written in 1,013 posts. If you missed it, here is a link. http://bit.ly/12WopI6.

Why was this blog so significant? I think there could be a number of reasons why people found that blog post fulfilling:

    • They liked reading about Louis Comfort Tiffany’s art
    • The book, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, was interesting to learn about Click here for info & ordering
  • People wanted to know something more about stained glass and it’s history. http://bit.ly/Wj0YlQ
  • The life of an artist who saw life through a full spectrum of colors and through the love of his craft , is inspiring.

You can look through a kaleidoscope of colors in your own life by exposing yourself to an interesting mix of people, food, culture, faith and art. Or you can also enter into places of worship to look at stained glass windows, which will show you a full spectrum of colors in a different, equally fulfilling way.

tiffany-windows_05These are my reflections for today. We all have our own independent thoughts, words and views on life. Thanks for visiting this site; I’m grateful for an audience.

Note: The image is a Tiffany Studios creation of beauty.

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“An Artful Read” from Algonquin

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“A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind.” ~ Eugene Ionesco

Did you see in the news yesterday that 75 year old mobster Robert Gentile of Connecticut was to appear in court on a prescription drug and arms case? Federal prosecutors say this man many have some important knowledge about the biggest art heist in history. Gentile’s lawyers say “he knows nothing about the art and has never stepped inside an art gallery before.” http://fxn.ws/XIr2MT.

Twenty-two years ago, the Isabella Stewart GardnerMuseum was robbed of a half billion dollars worth of art of the masters – paintings of Rembrandt, Manet, Vermeer and Degas. Despite the $5 million dollar reward that has been offered, there have been no leads in this theft until now.

This real life museum theft is the subject of a fictional book that is on my Christmas list. The Art Forgers, published by Algonquin Books, an imprint of Workmen Publishing.  B.A. Shapiro’s thriller is about deception, the authenticity of art and finding answers which may lie, according to the author within the brush strokes.Click for info & ordering

Shapiro’s book is #1 on my MUST READ list for the New Year. It is also a New York Times Best Seller and #1 IndieNext Pick list. Available in audio and e-book format, this author is experienced in bringing together a good story. She has written five other novels, four screenplays and a non-fiction book. For more information on B.A. Shapiro, please visit this link. http://bashapirobooks.com/bio .

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From Dust to Dreams

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“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Did you see “From Dust to Dreams” on PBS on Friday night? What an outstanding program; made for a fulfilling and fun evening. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have been at the opening evening of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. http://www.thesmithcenter.com   A stunning arena!

The 2,050 seats in the auditorium were filled to capacity reminding us as they pointed out in the show that “if you build it, people will come.” Like other top performing arts centers in the country, this creative space will stay booked and busy. It is in the city of Las Vegas, long known for its outstanding entertainment.

The show could not have been better orchestrated. Stars like Martina McBride, John Fogerty, Willy Nelson, Jennifer Hudson, Carole King, violinist Joshua Bell and many others ushered in the opening season and nearly brought down the house of this much heralded new venue that opened on March 10, 2012.

For me, however, the crème de la crème, were the artists trained in musical theatre; they sing so succinctly and clearly. Musical theatre is my favorite form of art, bar none. The range of tunes, from some of the most notable musicals in history, really carried the night. The audience heard songs from West Side Story, Ragtime,Man of LaMancha, Rent, Life of the Party, Sweet Charity and The King and I.  Some of my favorites.

The cost to build this facility was $470 million dollars and construction took 33 months to complete it. The finale was so appropriate to the evening. “Take Care of this House,” sung by Jennifer Hudson was performed with panache.

If you missed this show, there is a DVD of “From Dust to Dreams” available to the public, thanks to PBS. It is well worth buying and it would bring personal fulfillment as a Christmas present to the fan of performing arts in your family. Here is the link.From Dust to Dreams.

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A Venerable Photojournalist of the 1960s

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My photography is committed to the discovery of the basic spirit of human beings in their natural environment and to unrehearsed moments of human expression.” ~ Cherel Ito

A few weeks ago, I was in an art gallery in Telluride, Colorado and came across an art book of a photojournalist. The book could be described as a “volume,” it was quite large in size. “That’s some book,” I thought, purely because of its dimensions. Naturally, I wanted to peak between the covers.

I couldn’t believe the similarity between this photojournalist’s work, and that of another. To my way of thinking, Steve McCurry‘s images are so stunning similar to that of Cherel Ito’s  that it made me wonder whether he studied Ito’s work intensely before he became a photojournalist. Ito’s work is revered by students of film, art, photography and photojournalism. Her images from the 1960s and 1970s so uniquely tell a story, that her work is featured in the permanent collections at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. http://www.nmwa.org/

There are two differences I saw between the compositions of these two creative people. Ito used only black and white film, which makes her work more valuable and interesting from the perspective of the historical development of photography and filmmaking.

Also, when you read her journal entries, you realize she was an outstanding writer as well as a talented photographer. She had the ability to powerfully communicate so much, in so few words; an all encompassing artist.

If you are not familiar with Cherel Ito’s work, her images and her journal writings have also been preserved for future generations of students of photojournalism in the book “Through the Lens of Her Camera.” Her work is an important study in human nature as well as different cultures around the world.

To learn more about photographer Cherel Ito’s book, please visit this link  www.cherelitobook.com.

Return on Monday, and there will be more independent thoughts, words and views from

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Gem Stone Village Discovered

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“I’m also looking for gems that the average reader might have missed.” ~ Terry Windling

“My, oh, my, isn’t it gorgeous?” I said to my husband and son, as we drove into Ouray, Colorado on Saturday. “Didn’t I tell you, Mom?” my son said “that’s why I said you have to come see it.”

Ouray, nestled between high, high peaks in the San Juan Mountains is called “Switzerland of America©.” The “alpine-like” village is a gem. Outstanding ice climbing and summer rock climbing and the healing hot springs are just a few reasons that this little town is so busy with tourist activity.

On Saturday morning the center of town was the starting place for the Imogene Pass half marathon. Fifteen hundred runners faced a challenging course that climbed from altitudes of 7,700 elevation to 13,000, over an unpaved mountain pass from Ouray to Telluride.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the relief and pride I felt as my saw my son cross the finish line after running seventeen grueling miles. It takes guts and grit to tackle it. He did well for himself, finishing 14th in his age group. But, he said many of his competitors were “seniors who looked older than the mountains and really put him and the younger people to shame.” I noticed that as I watched.

Ouray has so much going for it! Well cared for Victorian buildings, art galleries and quaint little shops, the Ouray Hot Springs, and charming bed and breakfasts, historic hotels.

It was second Saturday Art Walk, and we made the rounds. We stopped into Buckskin Booksellers. They have a large and outstanding collection of books of regional interest on Colorado, Western history and of geological subjects such as mineralogy, mining, fossils, rock hounding and the like.

I also noticed some outstanding art books scattered in different retail establishments throughout town. You could not help but notice them because some were like tomes – oversized, beautifully crafted, filled with magnificent images. I spied John Fielder’s Ranches of Colorado http://www.johnfielder.com and books on the Art of Howard Terpning. 

Many notable movies were filmed in Ouray County. My son Marc’s interest in visiting Ouray was more than just to run in a footrace. As a filmmaker, he was interested in seeing the settings of these movies:

Our visit to Ouray was a perfect stop along the way of a fun and fulfilling weekend. I’d like to return some day to further explore this area. It is located near where four states – Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah come together. There is a lot more to see such as Twin Peak Falls, and more to do than I ever realized.  For more information, visit this website http://www.ouraycolorado.com/.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.