On the Road: Las Vegas (May 17, 2016)

Just arrived in Las Vegas after an uneventful flight—although, annoyingly, I hardly got to see out the windows. I really don't understand people who have the opportunity to look at the world from 30,000 feet and never even open their window shades. I will make sure to get a window seat on the way home.

As always, I enjoyed looking at some of the exhibitions at SFO while waiting for my flight. In contrast, the Las Vegas airport is fairly dull. While I've been to Las Vegas before, I've never entered through the airport. Its only decorations seem to be kitschy slot machines.

SFO really is a treat to visit. I was able to see the show of pottery by Marguerite Wildenhain now on. I missed it last time I visited the airport because it is behind security and I wasn't flying. Some of her very early work in Europe is on display, including formal dinner ware she designed while working for a pottery company in Germany. I had no idea she had been at the Bauhaus for several years before eventually being hounded out of Germany by the Nazis. She ended up at Pond Farm, an artists' colony in Guerneville, by way of the Netherlands and Oakland, California. Most of the work on display is from her time at Pond Farm. Well worth seeing. The photo above is an abstraction made on the bus on the way to the airport.

Places I'm Visiting: San Francisco International Airport (June 24, 2013)

San Francisco International Airport is about an hour and a half from home. I drove there on the 24th to drop off family heading for Japan. It's a fairly long haul, but I always enjoy a visit. There's always something to see. I took the time to visit both the domestic and international terminals. In an obscure underground corridor connecting the parking garage to some of the domestic baggage claim areas I came upon a display of remarkable aircraft models by Edward Chavez, who appears to have had a long career as a builder of models. According to an information panel on the wall, he served as a B-24 gunner during WWII and was later commissioned by the military reserve to build aircraft recognition models from around 1947. He later began making models for pleasure, but soon began receiving commissions from private aircraft owners and he later made models for the Piper Aircraft Company. Some of his models are in the National Air and Space Museum. Many were displayed for years at the Nut Tree Restaurant and Airfield, for which Chavez built 27 models in as many years (between 1961 and 1988).  In 1997, the SFO museums acquired most of the Nut Tree collection of models. It was a privilege to see some of them. Pictured is a Granville Model R-1 Super Sportster model (1:10 scale) made by Chavez and Robert Fogg.

Elsewhere in the terminals I found a display of airline cabin bags that included some very early ones from the 1930s, although there were examples from around the world and all periods. In the International Terminal, there was a large exhibit of Shaker furniture entitled "Inspired Design: Shaker Furniture from the Benjamin Rose Collection" (photo below) and another set of display cases showed a collection of travel souvenirs--everything from Honolulu matchbooks to miniature Eiffel Towers. One case was entirely souvenirs from World's Fairs of the 20th century. There was a small show of photographs by Russell Lee, mostly made for the Farm Security Administration in the late 1930s. Lee worked on a team of photographers documenting farm conditions during the depression. The team included Roy Stryker, Gordon Parks, Mary Post Wolcott, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Esther Bubley.

In the airport's aviation museum was a show high-lighting the Douglas DC-3 and another chronicling the history of United Airlines flight attendant uniforms, some of which I remember. There was also a collection of color photographs by Alfred T. Palmer showing women at work in WWII aircraft factories. These rotating shows are always in addition to the permanent displays that relate to Pan Am's Clipper service of the 1930s. There's always something of interest to see at San Francisco International Airport--and, looking at the SFO Museum website, I see that there was much more that I missed....

Art I'm Looking At: Exhibits at the San Francisco Airport (Jun 28, 2012)

Visiting the San Francisco Airport is always a pleasure. It's not just an airport, it's a museum. There's always something worthwhile to see. The shows are generally small, but always top notch. I was out there yesterday and enjoyed seeing a collection of "pillows" and headrests--made of unlikely materials such as wood, woven bamboo, and porcelain--entitled "Sleeping Beauties: Headrests from the Fowler Museum at UCLA;" a collection of beautifully crafted household items, many of them in silver, called "Form, Function, and Beauty: Design Variations in Metlawork from the Margo Grant Walsh Collection"(through end-December 2012); and a fabulous group of 1950s and 1960s Italian motorbikes, called "Moto Bellissima." The motorbikes are all beautifully restored to show off richly colored paint (mostly red) and a lot of dazzling chrome tubing (through the end of July).

The little Aviation Museum was closed for an event, but a collection of remarkably fine aircraft models was on display, visible from outside (all the work of one man, Jim Lind). The models in the exhibit are a small fraction of his collection of some 1,600 models in 1:72 scale--which makes a Boeing 747 about a yard long. The show focuses on aircraft that flew transoceanic routes and features a number of nicely rendered flying boats (through the end of July). See the SFO Museum website for details. Always something to see....

Art I'm Looking At: The Allure of the Decoy

Going to the San Francisco Airport is almost always a pleasure. I can't remember a time I've visited the place when there wasn't an interesting exhibit or two going on in the International Terminal departure area. I was at the airport yesterday and very much enjoyed seeing a show of some very fine duck decoys. They ranged from crude facsimiles made from milk cartons to finely carved wooden sculptures painted beautifully to look like specific duck and goose species--I counted 18 distinct species. The best of what's on view rises to the level of sculptural art. Well worth a visit if you have business at the airport. The show, entitled "The Allure of the Decoy" will continue through November. Highly Recommended. In the photo above are two American Wigeon decoys (background) and two Canvasback decoys.