Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts

Friday, July 19, 2019

That Time Andy Warhol Came to Birmingham

Andy Warhol was one of the best known and most controversial artists of the 20th century. His influence on both the art world and popular culture has been extensive; we can thank him for the Velvet Underground if nothing else. 

In 1979 Warhol was commissioned to paint four portraits of city residents Charles Ireland and his wife Caroline. He worked from Polaroids taken some months earlier. In March of that year Warhol came to the Birmingham Museum of Art for the presentation of Charles Ireland's portrait seen below.

That event took place on March 9. The BMA's web site has this further note about the visit: 

The artist was treated to a barbecue lunch during his interview for The Birmingham News. Eating his sandwich, Warhol quietly remarked, “It’s very good…No, we can’t get good barbecue in New York.”

Some further comments are below.




Source: BhamWiki.com 


Ireland joined the family business, the Birmingham Slag Company, in 1939. By 1951 he was president and steered the firm's merger with a New Jersey company to form Vulcan Materials. Ireland was named chairman of the board and remained in that position until his retirement in 1983. He died in 1987 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery. 






Warhol and the portrait at the BMA on 9 March 1979

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History





Warhol at the BMA 9 March 1979

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History






Warhol with Caroline and Charles Ireland 9 March 1979

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History







Wednesday, September 5, 2018

A Quick Visit to the Helena Museum

On a recent Saturday morning I finally made a long-planned visit to the museum in Helena's Old Town section just up the hill from Buck Creek. The museum was crowded with people who had come to reminisce and learn about the quarter-mile Helena Drag Strip that operated in the 1950's and 1960's. An exhibit about the strip opened at the museum in February 2016.   

The facility is formally known as the Kenneth R. Penhale City of Helena Museum.  Penhale is a Helena native and has served as President of the Shelby County Historical Society. He is the co-author of a 1998 pictorial book on the city's history. 

You can see a number of other photos on their Facebook page, although that seems to have been dormant since 2015. In addition to the drag strip exhibit, the museum has lots of photos and memorabilia related to WWII veterans from the area and  local mining and other businesses, and more.

The museum, which is open Saturdays and by appointment, opened in 2011


























Thursday, October 15, 2015

A Quick Visit to Mobile, Alabama (2)

Back in July we visited Mobile for a family gathering. We stayed at the Battle House Hotel and ventured up and down Dauphin Street when we had a chance and despite the heat. I covered some of what we saw in an earlier post. Here are some more of the sites along one of the city's iconic streets.





Cathedral Square is a city park across the street from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which was built between 1850 and 1884. The Square was once a Catholic Cemetery but most graves were moved in 1819.






Located across another street from Cathedral Square is the Bishop Portier House. Mobile's first Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Portier lived here from 1834 until 1859.


 
These two institutions are across the street from Cathedral Square. I found the juxtaposition interesting. More information can be found at the Mobile Arts Council web site and a 2009 article about the Police Museum
 

 
We could not resist getting something salty and something sweet from this business in operation since 1947.


 
 
I'm always ready to visit local bookstores, and several of us made it to Bienville Books just across from the Square on Dauphin Street. Book lovers can spend some serious browsing time in this two-story haven. I especially enjoyed the local history section.
 

 
 



 
 
We were all excited to come across this classic American icon from the film A Christmas Story in the barber shop across the street from the Battle House.


 
 
More than 25 sites now make up the Alabama Oyster Trail. Painted by local artists, the statues are meant to highlight restoration efforts in Mobile Bay.  


 
 
Beautiful Bienville Square is near the hotel. The entire block is now the park, but it started out as a plot of land deeded by the U.S. government to the city if used as a park. Over the years the city purchased the remaining land in the block and owned it all by 1849. At one time the Spanish Hospital stood in this block. The Square is named for the city's founder.



Even the squirrels seemed to be feeling the heat that day


 

This building near the hotel is another example of the wonderful architecture being restored in that part of Mobile.
 





 
 
Opened in January 1927, the Saenger Theatre was the 61st facility in a chain throughout the South started by two brothers in New Orleans. The theater was built to resemble opera houses in Europe. Like so many theaters built in that era, the Saenger had many uses over the years and faced imminent destruction in 1970. Luckily the Saenger survived to entertain another day.