A Visit To The Vero Beach Museum Of Art

I went to the Vero Beach Museum of Art yesterday afternoon to check out their current exhibitions, and since the second Saturday of every month is a free day there, it was the perfect time to go - as regular blog readers know, free is my favorite price point. This museum in located in Vero Beach's Riverside Park, located along the Indian River. The last time I visited this museum was years ago, when I went there to see an exhibition of Ansel Adams photographs, which, as I recall, I very much enjoyed. This is a small museum, with just three galleries, not counting works displayed in entranceways and hallways, but a groundbreaking was recently held for a new 90,000 square foot building that will not only greatly increase exhibition space but will "interweave art and nature and blur the line between the Museum and the surrounding Riverside Park." Besides connecting indoors and out, there will also be a rooftop terrace. This is kind of what the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver did when it built its new building. As you view the art there, you pass windows that present dramatic views of Denver, and it has a rooftop terrace with a cafe and bar, also with killer views of the city. In fact, I just love that building, although as for the art there, not so much. Hopefully that won't be the case with the new Vero Beach Museum of Art.

The main thing I wanted to see at the museum was Double Portraits, a collection of 47 photographs by 34 artists with the theme of capturing the "ever-evolving American South through the concept of a double portrait." There were four categories: traditional portraiture, vernacular (snapshot) photos, photos portraying connection and care, and unconventional examples of double portraits. I liked many of these photographs, although I found the unconventional samples just plain weird. These photographs were loaned to the museum by The Do Good Fund, a Columbus, Georgia charity which has a collection of 800 photographs of the American South taken since World War II, and which it makes available to regional museums and non-profit galleries. I checked out their website, and they have a very impressive collection. You can find it at https://thedogoodfund.org/collection.

The other exhibit I wanted to see was Picasso and the Progressive Proof, which features three linocut prints by Pablo Picasso: Portrait of a Young Woman after Cranach the Younger II, Pique II, and Bacchanal with Kid Goat and Onlooker. The exhibit features the finished print and the "proofs" showing the progression of the work, which as I under it, were made as successive colors were added to the work. I liked the final version of Portrait of a Young Woman (check it out at https://www.vbmuseum.org/picasso-and-the-progressive-proof/), but I really wasn't interested in seeing the various stages of its composition. As for the other two works, I found them dark and actually pretty boring. Of course, I am no expert, and have never heard of linocut prints before yesterday, so what do I know? I would be willing to take them off the museum's hands for $20, but decided not to make the offer, as they probably would have wanted cash, which I did not have.

West Palm Beach - A Nice Downtown, But The Waterfront Needs Work

I walked around downtown West Palm Beach yesterday afternoon to see what was happening. And the answer - preparing for the U.S. Polo Association Palm Beaches Marathon, which will be taking place this Sunday morning. And no - I am not participating. Besides the fact that I have never done any running in my life, it starts at 6:00 A.M., which is just a little too early for me. Perhaps next year. After a brief look at the setup, I walked through the park located between Lake Worth and Clematis Street, which features fountains, tropical landscaping, and a public space where events such as Clematis by Night are held. Clematis Street itself, which is the heart of the downtown area, can be seen in the background of the photograph on the left, and has a variety of restaurants, bars, and shops, making for a fun place to hang out. And the nearby CityPlace neighborhood only adds to the ambiance of the area.

Flagler Drive runs along Lake Worth and separates downtown from the waterfront. On the downtown side are high rise condo buildings, a university, churches, office buildings, an amphitheater, and restaurants, including E.R. Bradley's Saloon, as seen in the photograph on the right. And whenever I drive down Flagler, I always see a crowd on the patio of Elisabetta's Ristorante, which overlooks Lake Worth, and I keep telling myself I need to check out that place one of these days.  The tropical landscaping really adds to the ambiance, but crossing the street, the area along Lake Worth really needs an upgrade.

A new city report has recommended a major redesign of the waterfront to make it "safer, more welcoming, and more connected to downtown." Their recommendations include shrinking Flagler Drive from 4 lanes to 2 to allow wider sidewalks, an expanded waterfront promenade, and replacing long stretches of blank seawall with landscaping and other amenities. And I have to say that they are right - West Palm Beach has miles of waterfront with hardly a tree in sight. More shade and more benches would be a great addition. Hopefully the city will be able to move forward with the proposal and make the waterfront a destination spot for the entire region.

Class Clown

I just finished reading Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I went 77 Years Without Growing Up, humorist Dave Barry's autobiography.  I really enjoyed reading this book. Though not one of his comic novels or collections of columns, there are many humorous segments in it, especially his interactions with readers, from fans sending him articles about things he might want to write about to his dealings with what he calls humor-impaired readers, who actually took his tongue-in-cheek columns seriously. The book starts out describing his early years, but for me, the most interesting part was how he wound up becoming such a successful humor columnist. 

Barry started out after college as a reporter for the Daily Local News in Westchester, Pennsylvania. He loved that job and was very successful at it, which inspired him to go for the big time, working for the Associated Press in Philadelphia. That job turned out to be an administrative position, and he hated it, quitting after a year to become a business writing consultant, which he did for the next 7 years. That job actually led to his eventual success as a humor columnist. He traveled quite a bit and had a lot of free time in the evenings, and spent that time writing humor columns, which he submitted to his old newspaper, the Local Daily News. Publishing and promoting those columns eventually led to a job offer to write a weekly humor column for the Miami Herald's Tropic Magazine, and the rest is history. In the book he also discusses how he wound up covering presidential campaigns, as well as his decision to retire from writing a weekly column. And by the way, I took the photograph on the right of Barry at an author signing at Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I was working as the bookkeeper, back in 2016, when Barry was a mere lad of 68. And if you are a Dave Barry fan - and who isn't - I definitely recommend picking up a copy of Class Clown at your local library today.

Christmas In Florida: A Whole Different Kind Of Animal

Today marks exactly two weeks until Christmas Day, which means it is definitely time to give serious thought to starting your holiday shopping, mailing out Christmas cards, and planning those holiday parties. However, I myself find it hard to get into the Christmas spirit down here in Florida. Oh sure, they have a lot of nice events taking place, including the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in downtown Stuart, the annual Stuart Christmas Parade, and the Martin County Christmas Boat Parade, among other events. And in downtown West Palm Beach, they have the Sandi Tree, made from 700 tons of sand, standing 35 feet tall, and "bathed in lights and music" every night through New Year's Eve. Which seems damn weird to me, but what do I know? But still, high temperatures in the 70s and lows in the 50s or 60s does just not feel Christmassy. Most importantly, there is no snow and no chance of it. Ever. Although I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to see a Christmas tree decorated with shells and topped with a makeshift star yesterday afternoon on Stuart Beach, as seen in the photograph above. All I can say is that it must take one hell of a long extension cord to light it up each night. And if those high waves get just a little bit closer, watch out.

The Blue Anchor Pub

My web browser is filled with various news stories and feature articles every day, and one of them must have featured historic bars in Florida, which is how I learned about The Blue Anchor British Pub on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, Florida. And just by coincidence, I wound up parking almost in front of it when my sister Susan and I drove down to see the Delray Beach Art Festival. On the way back from that festival, I took the photograph above of a group of bicycle riders, the women decked out in holiday attire, stopping in front of the place, no doubt considering a post-ride pint. Susan and I didn't go in, since it was still kind of early and I had only 10 minutes left on the meter, but I looked the place up on the internet when I got home. This pub opened in London in 1865, and before it was razed, the front facade and the interior were disassembled, shipped to New York, and stored there until 1996, when they were shipped to Delray Beach and became The Blue Anchor. And it turns out that Bertha Starkey, who lived with her husband above that bar back in the 1800s, was murdered by him there in a jealous rage and haunts The Blue Anchor to this day. I was thinking of going back to check the place out but then saw an article in the newspaper that said The Blue Anchor underwent a health inspection and was closed down this past Thursday for multiple violations, including 300 rodent droppings in a dry storage area. Evidently the place still remains closed. And so, I am rethinking visiting them if and when they finally reopen, although I see on their website that they have a Happy Hour featuring $5 20oz pints Monday through Friday from 11:30 to 7:00. Avoiding rodent droppings versus $5 British pints - decisions, decisions.

WPTV Chief Meteorologist Steve Weagle Retires This Friday!

Steve Weagle is retiring from his job as the chief meteorologist for WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida this Friday. He has been at that television station for 27 years, famous for his marathon coverage of hurricanes that have hit the Treasure Coast over the years, especially Hurricane Frances in 2004. A retirement celebration took place yesterday evening at Philly Down South, a tiki hut just across the parking lot from Stuart Beach, where I took the photograph of him talking with a well-wisher. By the time I left, the event was being covered live on the 5:00 P.M. WPTV newscast, the Cypress Creek Band was playing, and over 100 people were in attendance. Weagle and his wife plan to spend half the year in their native Nova Scotia and half the year down here. Summer in Florida and winter in Nova Scotia? That's when the real weather happens in those places, right? For some strange reason, I seem to pay attention when famous meteorologists retire. I watched the final broadcast of Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling on WGN Channel 9 in Chicago back in February of 2024 and fondly remember Harry Volkman, who was on 4 different Chicago television stations over his career. The first weatherman I remember was P.J Hoff, who was a skilled cartoonist and incorporated those cartoons into his weather forecasts on Chicago's WBBM from 1953 to 1968. That was back when watching the weather forecast was really fun, especially for a young kid. And by the way, if anyone out there wants to wish Steve well in his retirement, there will be a second celebration at the Old Key Lime House in Lantana, Florida tomorrow at 4:30. Be there or be square.

The 25th Annual Delray Beach Art Festival

My sister Susan and I drove down to Delray Beach from Stuart, Florida yesterday afternoon to see the 25th Annual Delray Beach Art Festival. And let me say first that downtown Delray Beach is VERY lively on Sunday afternoons. East Atlantic Avenue was packed with people walking up and down the sidewalks checking out the shops or lunching on outdoor patios. I spotted 4th Avenue, where the festival was being held, and found a parking spot a few blocks away. And I must say, we both enjoyed the festival very much. There was a lot of very good modern art, sculptures, and a fair number of photographers displaying their work. One of the sculptures we looked at was $8,500, and so I suspect a lot of the artwork was geared to the carriage trade. Which is not us. The art show extended down 4th Avenue for two blocks, and was a very pleasant place to view the art.

Looking at the advertisement for the festival, I realized that it was produced by Howard Allan Events and American Craft Endeavors, which together put on many art and craft festivals in Florida. In fact, they were the producers of the festivals we attended in Palm Beach Gardens and Juno Beach a few weeks ago. A few of the artists were the same as at those festivals (the photographer featuring Barbie and Ken action photographs immediately comes to mind), but the majority of the artists were new to us. These are all juried art shows and artists must apply and be accepted in order to participate. I imagine the size of the shows depends on where they are being held. I was surprised to learn that among the shows they produce are the Downtown Aspen Art Festival and the Beaver Creek Art Festival, which I once attended and was really impressed by.  In any case, it was definitely worth the trip down to Delray Beach, although once again, I made no art purchases, being a confirmed cheapskate. So sue me.