Monday, April 1, 2024

Art in Andes (and Elsewhere) #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to my "A" entry in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

My theme this year is  Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.

One of the pleasures of travel, even travel an hour or two outside your home area, is finding the unexpected.

For example, who would expect to find art in the bathroom of a library in rural Andes, New York?  But that's exactly what I found last summer.  This mural was created by artist Diane Lockspeiser of Long Island.  She worked on the mural in May and early June of last year.

One of the beautiful details of this mural.  I blogged more about the mural here.

So, how did I make my way to Andes?

Years back, the grandfather and uncle of my then best friend lived in the Catskills mountains outside of a hamlet in Delaware County, New York.  My friend and her siblings and mother would spend summers up there, escaping New York City for the rural life. Her father would join them on weekends.

 In the early 70's, I was invited twice to visit the family for a week up in Delaware County.  I was back a handful of times to that house in the years since (after her parents moved up there), but never to other nearby villages I had remembered from those visits when I was younger.  The last time I was at the house was after the funeral of my friend's father in the early 2000's.

One of these hamlets (it was a village when I visited, but they dissolved the village in 2002) is Andes, population approximately 1,000.  Andes is located in a setting of  hills, winding roads, and farmland and was the center of the Anti-Rent War of 1839-1845.  Some called that uprising the Second American Revolution. 

Much of Andes' downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.  I don't know if the library building is that old but the library itself celebrated its 100th birthday last year. Some renovation work was done in 2020 during its pandemic closure.

 

Art pops up in other unexpected places, such as this signage in Ahwaga Park, in Owego, New York.

Or, in poet Robert Frost's former home in South Shaftsbury, Vermont.  Notice who signed the painting.

Or, finding art near ruins of an old historic mill next to an operating motel in Arkansas.  (Would you like to learn more about the Johnson's Water Mill?  If so I'll include that in an A to Z post).

I can't promise that each post will feature the unexpected, but I hope you will join me for more of my journeys through my photos.

14 comments:

  1. Nice start. I have some minor surgery tomorrow and will be home recuperating for the month so I will do my travels on your blog.

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  2. ...this is a part of the state that I know little about.

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  3. Art you smart to start with Art History and the Unexpected. Great tie in with the Andes, too. Finding Art in libraries has become a way to educate and keep Art alive. Our public library has a whole basement dedicated to the Arts. It's a learning center for all kinds of crafts, technology, visual Arts and more. Robert Frost is my favorite poet of that era...love that he signed the art works.
    BTW, have you noticed the AtoZ Master List Link is on the blink? Guess I'll start with the Facebook comment list to start visiting.
    Excellent start my friend!!! Here's my signature link. Hope it works...your my first to try...I'll check back.
    WhereBluebonnetsGrow

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    1. I think you were intending the signature WhereBluebonnetsGrow to be a live link to your blog - it isn't. I used to know how to do that. I'm working today (commenting on my lunch) so I don't have time to try to remember. If I click on your name it brings me to Blogger profile with four blogs listed.

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  4. Amazing murals! I really enjoy finding these but in a bathroom is quite the unexpected place to discover it. Best of luck to you in this year's A2Z challenge!

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  5. It's fun to find art in unexpected places.

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  6. Very nice A! Also nice to have that in a bathroom. Most patrons will see it eventually!

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  7. Hi Alana - lovely art work - it'll be interesting to read your entries - enjoy ... cheers Hilary

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  8. An excellent start to the Challenge!

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  9. What a beautiful mural! I love that Pileated Woodpecker. Visiting via the A to Z challenge.

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  10. Fascinated by the Andes story. Some of my ancestors lived in Delaware County. The artwork is gorgeous!

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