Off the Interstate - Headed South in Pennsylvania

...continuing with our fall 2024 road trip through several states.  Leaving Mansfield Pennsylvania after our spending our second night in the town, Laurie and I headed south on US Hwy 15.  The highway follows the Susquehanna River for many miles on its way to Chesapeake Bay.  At Harrisburg Pennsylvania, we merged onto Interstate Highway I-81 south.  Tired of traffic and the boredom of most Interstate Highways, we exited at Shippensburg Pennsylvania.  Our alternative route was US Hwy 11 south, (known in the South as Lee Highway).  It runs parallel to I-81 for many miles.  

This is the Redott-Stewart House at 52 King Street/US Hwy 11 in Shippensburg.  This large stone home, also known as the Shippen House, was built ca. 1784 by the Redott family...or was it?  Other sources state that the oldest section of the house was built ca. 1750 by Edward Shippen III. In the early 1800s, it was purchased by Dr. Alexander Stewart.  Today, it is the home of the Shippensburg Historical Society and Museum.  

In addition to the early history of Shippensburg and the surrounding area, the Society possesses one of the largest collections of memorabilia from the Depression Era's Works Progress Administration.  The collection dates from 1935 to 1941.  To learn more about the Historical Society, go to https://www.shippensburghistoricalsociety.org/about.

In July of 1730, twelve Scotch-Irish families arrived in the area and built cabins along nearby Burd Run (creek).  The settlement received its name from from Edward Shippen, who had obtained the patent to the land from William Penn's heirs.  In 1750, Shippensburg was named as the first county seat for Cumberland County.  Of interest is the fact that one of Shippen's daughters married Benedict Arnold...a traitor to the American Revolution.

                            

Our next stop along the way was at the campus of Wilson College in Chambersburg Pennsylvania.  The small and attractive building at the right of this photo is called "Harmony Cottage".  It was built in 1897 to serve as a professor's home.  The college's organist lived here during that time period and into the early 1900s.  It was briefly converted into a dormitory in 1926.  In 1929, the cottage was 'pivoted' to face the road in order to make room for that larger structure.  It's Warfield Hall and it was completed in 1930.  As regards the cottage, it now serves as the college's Office of Marketing and Communications.

Wilson College itself, with it's 300-acre campus, is a Historic District that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Wilson College was established by the Presbyterian Church back in 1869.  It was a women's college, one of the first to accept only female students, until it became fully coeducational in 2014.  It was originally named Wilson Female College.  In 1870, the college's promotional material stated that it was a place for women "to be leaders, not followers, in society".

This is the Joshua W. Sharpe House.  This handsome Queen Anne style home was built in 1887 and it was purchased by Wilson College in 1942.  As part of the College, is has served as faculty and student apartments, a faculty club, classroom, meeting space as well as for WWII relief work and related studies.  From 1998 - 2000 it served the Wilson College's Women with Children Program.  Subsequently, it was remodeled and it now serves as the home of the college's President.

In 1982, Wilson began offering a continuing studies program (now known as the Adult Degree Program) to meet the needs of adults seeking post-secondary education. In 1996, the college was one of the first in the nation to offer on-campus residential housing for single mothers living with children.  Co-educational - men as of 2014.  Wilson College currently has about 1,620 students.  You can learn more at https//:www.wilson.edu/.

This large home with the covered auto/carriage portico and that amazing porch is located close to the Sharpe House as described above.  I suspect that this home is used by the College, faculty or alumnus but I wasn't able to find anything about it.  I just liked it!

Moving further south on US Hwy 11, as we neared the Maryland State Line, we stopped at Greencastle Pennsylvania.  The "Greencastle High Line" railway depot was built by the Cumberland Valley Railroad in 1909.  It served passenger trains running between Hagerstown Maryland and Harrisburg Pennsylvania, but declining usage with advent of increased travel via automobiles after WWII, passenger service was halted.  The postcard shown above is from 1952.  To learn more about the Cumberland Valley Railroad, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Valley_Railroad.

The High Line Train Station was named for it's elevated rails.  Many decades after the end of passenger service, the old depot still serves the community by promoting youth leadership.  As a matter of fact, the depot is now managed by the Greencastle Area Youth Foundation.  The Youth Foundation is a non-profit whose goals are to maintain the historical integrity of the Station, preserving its and the railroad's heritage, while providing a meeting place for area youth organizations...and at the same time, promoting local arts.  

The Greencastle Area Youth Foundation has made significant repairs to the building while establishing several displays designed to preserve the area's railroad history.  Web cams have been installed over the tracks so railfans can watch passing trains online and displays have been mounted for visiting railfans to safely monitor ongoing rail traffic.  Learn more at https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Greencastle-Area-Youth-Foundation.

One last stop in Pennsylvania before lunch... The B-Street Restaurant and Pub is located in the old McLaughlin Hotel in downtown Greencastle Pennsylvania.  The hotel was completed and opened for business in 1905.  The site has had a continuously operating restaurant since the late 1700s.  I was unable to determine what the upper floors of the old hotel are being used for now.  To learn more about the B-Street Restaurant and Pub, you can go to https//:bstreet104.com/.

No...we didn't have lunch at the B-Street Restaurant and Pub.  We'd determined that a local 'diner-style' restaurant was close by so we stopped for our lunch time repast at Home Style Family Restaurant which is located at 26 North Antrim Way in Greencastle Pennsylvania.  it was after the lunch hour so it wasn't busy when we arrived.  

We kept lunch simple... Laurie ordered a Patty Melt (burger, cheese and sauteed onion on grilled rye bread), accompanied by some potato chips.  She was happy with her choice.

I wasn't very adventuresome either but my sandwich was a little different than I expected.  I ordered the pork tenderloin sandwich...and where we come from that means a hunk of pork, breaded and fried on a bun.  My sandwich was indeed pork tenderloin but it was either grilled or fried...no breading.  Despite the surprise version of a pork tenderloin sandwich, it was very nice, not overcooked and still juicy.  Without those potato chips, it might have been a healthy meal.

The Home Style Family Restaurant in Greencastle Pennsylvania is open from 6 AM until 8 PM 6 days a week and from 7 AM until 2 PM on Sunday.  Note: 787 Google reviews give this restaurant a rating of 4.6 out of 5.0 possible points.  Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/homestylefamilyrestaurant/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them... Next, non-stop through a bit of  Maryland and on into Virginia!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Our Last Evening in Pennsylvania

...continuing with our fall 2024 road trip.  After leaving Towanda Pennsylvania, it was time to head back to our Hampton Inn at Mansfield Pennsylvania.  It was also getting to be time for dinner so we had our eyes open for any likely dining opportunities.  After following US Hwy 6 west for 20 or so miles, we spotted a likely establishment.

This is the Iron Skillet in Troy Pennsylvania.  More specifically, it's Tina's Iron Skillet Restaurant.  Tina had worked for the previous owners for 8 years before they asked her to take over from them.  Then the restaurant burned down in 2010...but after a bit, Tina agreed.  So, over 12 years later, the Iron Skillet is still going strong.

The inside of the Iron Skillet has a warm country feeling to it with a plethora of country style decor along the walls including a collection of iron skillets.  In addition, there is that big fireplace on the back wall of the photo...all decorated for fall season.

The Iron Skillet's prices are hard to beat too.  $10.50 for a 10 oz cheeseburger with a side or chicken and biscuits with two sides...$8.00 or $11.00 depending on the quantity of chicken ordered.  Good luck duplicating these prices in any big city!  

Tina's family helps her with the restaurant.   At last report, her son, Mike, was one of the cooks and her daughter Mindy was a waitress.  The grandchildren also help out.  Tina has always enjoyed cooking because it makes her feel good when customers are happy and enjoy her food.

Laurie and I ordered almost the same meal...fried, (or was it broasted?), chicken.  It came with 2 sides, one of them obviously being a large baked potato.  We love fried or broasted chicken and it had been quite a while since we enjoyed really good chicken...and this was really good!  I don't have a receipt but I can assure you that our meals were a bargain!

Apparently desserts are a favorite at The Iron Skillet as Tina loves to bake them.  As you can see on the menu board shown above, there was a wide variety of pies on the menu plus cake, shortcake, apple crisp, and bread pudding.  FYI, I will admit to have never seeing Hickory Nut Pie on a menu anywhere else.  It is popular enough that Tina has actually shipped a couple of them to customers in Colorado.  Her chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting is actually an award winner.

So, despite all that chicken and those large baked potatoes we had consumed, we decided that we'd have to try at least one dessert...and split it.  We managed to agree on a slice of the apple crumb pie.  It was very good indeed!  

The Iron Skillet has a daily special every day that they're open.  Friday is a fish fry with Tina's special mac and cheese.  Saturdays are prime rib with two sides.  

Tina's Iron Skillet Restaurant is located along US Hwy 6 at 2605 Sylvania Road in Troy Pennsylvania.  The Iron Skilled is closed on Monday and Tuesday and it is only open on Sunday from 7 AM until 3 PM.  Most nights they close at 7 PM.  Phone: 570-297-4848.  Tina's Iron Skillet is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/p/Tinas-IRON-Skillet-Restaurant-100063759544776/.

Fortunately, it was only 16 miles further west to our hotel in Mansfield after our rather large dinner.  Any longer and I would have needed a nap!  Lots of reds in the fall foliage along the way...  

FYI, US Hwy 6 is a transcontinental Federal highway that stretches from Bishop California to Provincetown Massachusetts.  It was completed in 1936.

Next up...we head south into Virginia for the last portion of our road trip.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by to see what we had for dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Historic Structures - Corning New York and Towanda Pennsylvania

Following our tour of The Rockwell Museum in Corning, we drove around some nearby streets and took a few photos of interesting buildings before heading southeast back toward Pennsylvania.   

The first photo is on a postcard dated 1911.  This 2 1/2 story brick building used to be the home of the Corning City Club.  It was built in 1897 in a style that combined Colonial Revival and Classical Revival elements.  Following a fire in 1926 that heavily damaged the building it was decided that it should be made into a memorial to Corning natives who lost their lives in World War I.  The Corning City Club moved to a local hotel.  At the same time, the town's library, which was located on the upper floor of the City Hall building required more space.  So the two needs were combined.  The building opened to the public on Memorial Day in 1930.

The library remained here until 1975 when it was moved to the new civic center plaza.  Today this striking structure has been once again transformed...this time into apartments.

The First Presbyterian Church, located at 1 East First Street, was built using local stone in 1867 after the Civil War.  It is the oldest church building in use in Corning.  Its congregation was organized way back in 1811.  This church was built diagonally across the street from the previous church and it cost $36,000.  The church bell came from the old church, having been cast in West Troy New York in 1845.  It still serves this 'new' church, having chimed for 190 years in 2025.

This very eye-catching home's style is referred to as a 'cottage'...or the Rural Gothic Style.  This facade, which is on First Street features some Gothic Revival stylings.  Located at 155 Cedar Street, it was built for the Drake family shortly after the Civil War.  After it was damaged by arson in the 1990s, it was extensively renovated and incorporated into the 171 Cedar Arts Center Campus.  The north end of the first floor now houses the Center's Houghton Art Gallery.  To learn more about the Cedar Arts Center, go to https://171cedararts.org/.

This Corning neighborhood is home to the Southside Historic District as registered with the National Register of Historic Places.  The district includes 624 contributing buildings and the area is predominantly residential.  The area developed after 1835 and includes a mix of Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian architecture.

This is Christ Episcopal Church.  The 400-seat church is early English Gothic in style...representative of many early Episcopal Churches.  The structure was completed in 1895 after an earlier structure (1853) was burned down in 1889.  The tower bell was cast in Troy New York in 1871.  It was salvaged from the fire at the church that burned down...so at 154 years old it's young compared to the 190 year old bell at the Presbyterian Church.  

Adding to the beauty of Christ Episcopal Church are almost 85 stained glass windows that are installed in the sanctuary.  Most of the older ones were produced by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company or the J. & R. Lamb Studios.

Shown above, the "Resurrection window" on the south wall was installed by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company in July of 1895.  It depicts the four gospel versions of the Resurrection in the magnificent colors of Tiffany glass.

There are several other historic churches in Corning but I only took photos of the ones that were along our route in this neighborhood.  This is the First United Methodist Church at 144 Cedar Street.  This impressive and massive Richardson Romanesque church building was completed in 1894 after two years of construction.  Note that striking rose window...a sextet...at the center of the facade.  This is the third building to house the congregation...which was founded in 1839.  The church was designed to be able to accommodate/seat 1,000 parishioners.  With it's massive foundation, red brick and terra cotta walls, the multitude of windows and columns, combined with the green roof, this church is grabs one's attention from a distance.

To view several photos of the interior of all three churches that I photographed, you can go to https://corningarchitecture.com/corning-architecture-blog/inside-corning-s-churches-a-brief-overview-of-u-s-church-architecture.

This large structure at 10 West First Street in Corning was built in 1903 after a design by John Foster Warner.  Interestingly, at least to me, is the fact that Warner's father had designed the Corning City Hall...now the Rockwell Museum.  The above pictured structure served as the Steuben County Courthouse...and later the Division of Motor Vehicles offices.  But in 2023, the county completely vacated the property and sold it to a developer who intends to transform it into an apartment building as a part of the of the "Restore New York Program" housing efforts.

Leaving Corning, we headed east via NY Hwy 17, turning south on US Hwy 220 at the Pennsylvania State Line.  Nice roads and not much traffic on a beautiful day!

Our next stop was in Towanda Pennsylvania.  Towanda is the county seat for Bradford County, hence the courthouse shown in the above photo.  This 4-story, cruciform shaped building with its 50 foot diameter octagonal dome, displays both Classical Revival and Renaissance Revival design influences.  The tall monument at the right of the photo was erected in 1901, (another source said 1905), in memory of the soldiers and sailors of Bradford County who defended their country in the War of the Rebellion/Civil War, 1861 to 1865.  The courthouse underwent significant repairs through 2018.

Towanda is located on the Susquehanna River.  Towanda means "burial ground" in the Algonquian language.  The town was settled in 1784 and it became the county seat in 1812.  It was once known for its industry, including flour milling, silk mills, a foundry and machine shop, dye works, manufacturers of 'talking machines', cut glass, toys and furniture.  In 1900 the city had 4,663 residents but today the estimated number of citizens only totals about 2,910.

This depot was built by the Susquehanna and New York Railroad in 1922.  This depot was built with steel lath covered with stucco.  Today it is the office of T (Trowbridge) and Company, a wealth management/investment firm.  Previous occupants have included an art studio, a tax preparation office and a travel agency.  

Back in the day when it was operational as a depot, it had three rooms: ticket office, freight room and a passenger waiting room.  The building was "city steam heated and electric lighted".  In addition, the Postal Telegraph Cable Company also had an office here.

This old freight depot is right across the street, (to the left behind the vehicles and along the tracks), from the former Susquehanna and New York depot.  Rail traffic was critical to the development and growth of Towanda.  The first train arrived in town in September of 1869 and in the 1870s about 6 passenger, 4 freight and 9 coal trains arrived and departed from Towanda each way every day.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad build this freight depot in 1884 as its headquarters.  Subsequently it was used as a station by several rail lines, including Barclay, Lehigh Valley, State Line and Sullivan and the Susquehanna and New York railroads.  The north side of the building housed the station agent, train dispatcher and the Western Union operator.  The freight room as in the rear of the building.

The last railroad to use this trackage was the Towanda Monroeton Shippers Lifeline, a short line railroad that operated on about 6 miles of trackage.  It existed almost exclusively to serve the Wayne Feed Facility in Monroeton.  Today the old depot is home to a chiropractor's office and the Bradford County Tourism Promotion Agency.  The trackage is currently owned by the Reading and Blue Mountain Northern Railroad.

We took the top photo of this old diner in Towanda back in the first week of October.  It was closed and looked neglected.  Note the leaded glass windows.  The Red Rose diner was built by Tierney Dining Cars in 1927.  Tierney Dining Cars' origins can be traced back to 1895 when the company's founder began building truck-based cars modeled after railroad dining cars.  The business evolved and it resulted in the manufacturing of prefabricated diners.  

The Red Rose Diner was brought to Towanda in 2003, and it had 3 owners/operators over the years, but by the time we saw the diner, it had been vacant since 2017.  The good news is that new owners have reopened the diner effective December 2, 2024!  Check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RedRose1927/.

Originally Hale's Opera House, and now the Keystone Theatre, Elias Hale first opened the theater's doors for its first public performance in September of 1887.  The Hale's owned the theatre until 1908.  In 1908, the new owners renamed it the Keystone Opera House.  When the next owner purchased the building, and the proliferation of motion pictures, he renamed it the Keystone Theatre.  The theatre has served Towanda with movies, live performances and community events for 137 years!

Today the theater is owned and operated by the Bradford County Regional Arts Council.  It still offers a wide variety of entertainment including live performances and commercial movies.  You can learn more by going to https://www.bradfordcountymovies.com/keystone-theatre.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by and following along on our road trip!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Art Museum with Focus

...returning to our October 2024 road trip, I'd left off with our visit to The Rockwell Museum in Corning New York.  As I'd mentioned previously, the Rockwell family, had contributed their extensive art collection and that was the foundation of today's artistic accumulation.  While the Rockwell family had focused on art related to the western United States, the collection is much broader than that.  However, you will note that I was drawn to the western theme as well as a few 'quirky' works of art.

At first glance, this may not strike the viewer as a work that is tied to the western USA or American Indians.  Constructed by Marie Watt, (1967 - ), it is titled "Blanket Stories: Western Door, Salt Sacks and Three Sisters".  To construct this artistic statement, a regional call for blankets went out and families across western New York State provided the necessary items.  

Watt works primarily with blankets as a material in her installations and collaborative works.  "These blankets serve as markers of collective memory and each one represents an individual story."  Marie has a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Yale University.  She is a member of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nation and her father's family were ranchers in Wyoming.  For more about the artist, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Watt.

This painting by Stephen Towns (1980 - ) is titled "Hair Lessons".  Towns uses labor as a theme, highlighting the role that African Americans have played in the economy.  His works explores their resilience, resistance and endurance.  To learn more, you can go to to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Towns.  Additional works by Towns are included later in this blog post.

This is a lithograph on paper that was created by Thomas Hart Benton. (1889 - 1975) Benton was an artist, muralist and printmaker.  Part of the Regionalist art movement, his works depicted everyday people in everyday settings.  This 10" by 14" limited edition lithograph with a certificate of authenticity can be purchased on-line for $4,400.00. 

Benton was born in Neosho Missouri.  His father was a 4-term US Congressman, and he named his son after his own great-uncle, Thomas Hart Benton, a former US Senator from Missouri.  Despite his father's wishes that his son go into politics, with his mother's support and financial backing, Benton studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and later he continued his education in Paris.  To learn more, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hart_Benton_(painter).

This painting by Olaf Wieghorst (1899 - 1988) is titled "Appaloosa".  Wieghorst is known for his portrayals of the American West.  He had an affinity for the cowboys, Native American Indians and the settlers who helped shape America's western landscape.  Olaf came to the US as a Danish teenager serving as a cabin boy on a steamship.  After living in New York for a bit, he joined the US Army, serving with the US 5th Cavalry along the US/Mexican border.  When he returned to New York he joined the Police Department's mounted division.  After some success with his artwork, he married a girl from Brooklyn and they moved to El Cajon California where they lived for the rest of their lives.  

Olaf was known as a portrait artist...but it was due to his portraits of horses.  Among others, he painted Gene Autry's Champion,, Tom Morgan's stallion and Roy Rogers' Trigger.  By the end of his long career, Olaf had sold thousands of paintings.  He became the highest paid living artist of his time.  He even appeared in 2 movies with John Wayne and he had paintings hung in the White House.

To learn more about Olaf Wieghorst just go to the website of the Olaf Wieghorst Museum.  It's located in El Cajon California.  His last home was also moved to the museum grounds.  Check it out at https://wieghorstmuseum.org/.

This painting is titled "The Gunslinger".  It is oil paint on board and it was completed by Frederic Sackrider Remington ca. 1889.  Remington is one of the premier American artist who depicted the American West in the late 1800s.  Remington was a painter, illustrator, sculptor and writer whose works focused on the cowboys, American Indians and the US Cavalry.

Early in life he struggled to find his way in life.  He wasn't a serious student but he evolved as an artist and began making a little money through his artistic efforts.  In 1866 Harper's Weekly sent Remington to Arizona to illustrate the US Army's campaign against the Apache Chief, Geronimo.  Another significant opportunity was his commission to create 83 illustrations for a book by Theodore Roosevelt.  Remington was prolific and he is highly regarded today.  Many of his paintings and sculptures have sold for hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.

To learn much more about Frederic Remington, a good place to start is with Wikipedia where many other sources are provided.  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Remington.

This painting is titled "Sun River War Party".  It was painted by Charles Marion Russell, aka C.M. Russell in 1903.  "Kid" Russell created more than 2,000 paintings plus bronze sculptures featuring cowboys, Native Americans and landscapes set in the western United States and Alberta Canada.  He was known as "the cowboy artist" as well as a storyteller and author.  Russell became an advocate for Native Americans in the west and was instrumental in the creation of the Rocky Boy Reservation for the landless Chippewa Nation covering 171 square miles in northern Montana.

Russell's career took off when he was working as a cowboy on a ranch.  The foreman got a letter from the owner asking how the cattle had weathered the winter.  As a response, the foreman sent him a small watercolor painting Russell had completed, showing a gaunt steer being watched by wolves under a gray winter sky.  The ranch owner showed the watercolor around and even displayed it in a storefront window in Helena Montana.  After that, commissions for new works began flowing in for Russell.

The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls Montana features more than 2,000 of Russell's artworks, personal objects and artifacts.  Russell produced roughly 4,000 works of art including oil and watercolor paintings, drawings and sculptures in wax, clay, plaster and bronze.  To learn more about the museum, go to https://cmrussell.org/.  For more information about Russell, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Marion_Russell.

Not all artworks are paintings or sculptures.  Some items that show a true artistic flair, were actually utilitarian or even served as deadly weapons.  The item at the top of this showcase is a ca. 1820 Pipe Tomahawk.  It features a European manufactured steel head...pipe and hatchet...attached to a carved pipestem.  They were given to Native Americans as gifts of friendship or to mark treaty signings.

The second item is a Ball-Headed War Club.  Created from hickory in the mid-1800s, these clubs were used as deadly weapons for close-in fighting by Eastern Woodlands Native American cultures.  Even after the introduction of firearms to Native Americans, many still carried these clubs.  

The central object in this showcase is a Native American's beaded jacket from roughly 1880.  Contact with Europeans led to changes in trade for Native Americans as well as life in general.  Trade goods including iron tools, cloth/textiles, firearms and beads, served as change agents to previously observed ways of life.  This particular men's jacket was made using leather, cotton, wool, glass beads and brass buttons.  

Below the jacket a Native American fringed woven sash is displayed along with 2 beaded purses.  The cane at the left has a carved hand where one would grip it.  The cane on the right is an effigy cane or walking stick.  The carved finial at the top of these canes can represent a person, animal of object.  Effigy canes were considered to symbolize age and wisdom.

This is a Native American Cradleboard or "Ga-on-seh" (Mohawk), made ca. 1865.  Eastern American Woodland Cultures (Haudenosaunee) infants were swaddled in rigid cradleboards made of wood although other Native American tribes used other materials for the same purpose.  This beautifully decorated cradleboard shows off flowers, birds and ornamental vegetation...definitely a labor of love.

To learn much more about cradleboards, including their construction and use around the world, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradleboard.

This stunning sculpture is entitled "The Last Dance" and it was cast in bronze in 2012.  The artist is Michael Naranjo (b 1944) (Tewa Tribe/Santa Clara Pueblo).  Michael is blind, having lost his sight while serving with the US Military in Viet Nam.  He sculpts by touch and feel, creating forms and textures that are meant to be seen and felt.  Unlike almost all other museum displays, this sculpture is clearly signed "Please Touch".

Michael Naranjo's works are on permanent display at The Vatican and at the White House in addition to many museums.  Learn more about his work at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Naranjo.  To learn more about the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, just go to to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_Pueblo,_New_Mexico.

Given the ornate designs and the symmetry of the ceramic pottery shown above, there is no doubt about the skill of their creators.  All of them are Acoma Pueblo items.  The first one is a bowl from ca 1920, the second one is an olla, ca 1890, and the third is another bowl ca. 1925.  

FYI, an olla is a ceramic jar, often unglazed, that is used for cooking stews or soups, for the storage of water or dry foods and even for other purposes, (if unglazed), such as irrigation of crops.  Ollas have short wide necks and wider bellies.

Laurie and I would highly recommend a visit to the Acoma Pueblo.  It's been occupied for about 2,000 years and a small number of Native Americans still live there today.  There is no running water or electricity although a road has been carved up one side of the mesa to allow supplies, tribal members...and tourists...easy access.  It is a glimpse back in time... We do have a small glazed bowl that we purchased during our visit.  Learn more at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoma_Pueblo and at the Pueblo's website,  https://www.puebloofacoma.org/.

This painting by Ernest Leonard Blumenschein (1874 - 1960) is titled "Jury for Trial of a Sheepherder for Murder".  Completed in 1936, the painting "illustrates the tensions between traditional Hispanic customs and the newly introduced American Legal System in New Mexico".  Viewers are in the position to see what the accused would have seen.

Blumenschein was a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists.  He's especially noted for his paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico and the American Southwest.  The style of painting of the Taos artists decisively influenced the perceptions that the wider world had of the American Southwest, and specifically of the Pueblo and Navajo Indian peoples.

Art takes many forms.  This photo was taken in 1981 and it's medium is color inkjet on paper.  It's titled "Fisherman Brooks Cambell makes Liniment - Cedar Key".  FYI, Cedar Key is a very much off the beaten track island on the upper west coast of Florida...aka "The Lost Coast".

This color inkjet on paper photograph was also taken in 1981.  It shows "Sister Tommie Kaison, 108 years old, and Susanna Harteld, 110 years old, at family farm where they were born in the Florida panhandle, Two Egg, Jackson County.

This photograph used the same medium or process as the previous two... Also from 1981, this is author and playwright "Tennessee Williams, Key West".

The photographer who created these inkjet on paper photos is Nathan Benn (b 1950).  Benn worked as a contract photographer for National Geographic from 1972 through 1991, with 300 of his photos being published by the magazine.  The film used by Benn was Kodachrome.  Photo buffs know that this color film was much appreciated for capturing rich colors and complex lighting.  In 1991, he put down his camera, becoming co-founder and President of Picture Network International, the earliest Internet digital asset management and online stock photo licensing platform.

In 1991, Benn became the co-founder and President of Picture Network International (PNI), the earliest Internet digital asset management and online stock photo licensing platform.  In 1998, Eastman Kodak purchased PNI...and later it was sold again, this time to Getty Images and Bill Gates.

This work is quite new.  Created in 2024, it is titled "Motown in Motion".  It was constructed using both natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass beads plus metal and resin buttons.

This work is by the same artist as was "Motown in Motion".  In this instance, the work is titled "The Match at Paradise Park".  It was painted using acrylics and metal leaf on a panel.  

The artist who created both works, as well as the ladies in the beauty shop shown previously is Stephen Towns. (b 1980) Born in Lincolnville South Carolina, Towns was the youngest of 11 children.  He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of South Carolina.  

Towns' artistic works are on display in many museums.  Among them are the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Missouri, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and, the National Portrait Gallery.

We took many other photos at the Rockwell Museum in Corning New York.  We definitely enjoyed our visit!  To learn more about this museum, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_Museum, and the museum's website at https://rockwellmuseum.org/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave