Meadows Museum - Fifty Years

Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting was a landmark exhibition.  More than 140 artworks were shown - paintings, tapestries, and sculptures. These normally reside in palaces in Madrid, Seville, and Salamanca.  Titian, Goya, Rubens, Rembrandt. It's a who's who of art including from 1426, Fra Angelico's The Virgin of the Pomegranate - this piece glowed.

The current Duke of Alba (the 19th) actually came to SMU to open the show. The collection never traveled before. This is quite the coup for the Meadows Museum. As of 5 pm Sunday, January 3rd, the exhibit closedand headed back to Spain.

Kudos to director Mark Roglan for his hard work in coordinating such a splendid show. The Meadows Museum is a classy gem, and should be valued in the Dallas art world. 

Presidential Library at SMU



George W. Bush Presidential Library

Thursday August 1st, Ray and I trekked over to the SMU campus in Dallas - lovely area. There we visited the new presidential library - a pleasant building landscaped with native Texas grasses. The atrium 360 degree theater gives an impressive start to the day. The short film overhead shows America - scenery and variety of people. It's very cool and well done.

Then we headed into the galleries. I do think that more time is needed to gain perspective on Bush's presidency. However, the various displays are interesting. The 9/11 section is difficult. I have trouble watching that footage and remembering that day. I noticed I was not the only person blinking back tears.

The gallery sections are titled: A Charge to Keep, Creating Opportunity, Responding to September 11, Defending Freedom, Acting with Compassion, Leading on Issues, and a New Call to Service. Plus there is a replica of the Oval Office and displays showing Life in the White House. We stepped out in the Texas Rose Garden - sweltering heat. 

All in all, we spent about two hours in the museum. The films and artifacts capture history and I'd like to visit the Bush senior library at A&M.  Afterwards, we headed over to the Highland Park shopping center to enjoy Italian food at Patrizio's. Well worth the trek.