The Steamboat Arabia Museum

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In Kansas City in the Farmers
Market area, there is a museum devoted to a steam ship that sank on the Missouri
River back in the 1850s when the Louisiana
Territory was opened for
settlers. My early relative, Dr. Augustus Thorspecken was part of that movement
West.

The Arabia was a steam ship
that was packed full of supplies for the general stores that needed to be
outfitted on the river. When a tree falls in the river, the trunk would sink
and flow down river a bit creating a deadly spear just under the water. The Arabia struck one of these trees and quickly sank. Passengers
rushed to the end of the boat above water. The one life boat was taken by the
crew who quickly paddled away fearing that the water boilers might explode when
they hit the cold water. When the boilers didn’t explode they sheepishly
paddled back and started saving passengers.

The track of the Missouri river
would change each year based of the flooding and flow of silt. A family became
obsessed about finding the wreck which might not actually be in the water
itself. They searched the surrounding land and in a corn field their electro-manometer
found metal as they walked up a row of corn. Each time they hit metal they put
down a flag and soon they had the outline of the steamer.

They got permission to excavate the site and pumped out the
water as they dug below the water level.  Old reports showed that the Arabia
had been found once before and the treasure hunters gave up after only finding
a box of boots. The treasure most people hoped for were the many gallons of bourbon
that was being transported in wooden barrels. The booze was never recovered but
inside the ship was like finding the 1850s equivalent of a Wal-Mart. Every day
of the excavation was like Christmas. They found china ware, utensils, clothing,
hardware, and every conceivable daily necessity for life on the frontier. There were
plenty of beads which were intended as trade items with the Indians.

A mule was tied up on the bow of the steamer. An account of
the day said that the owner tried to save the mule but it was so stubborn that
it would not move towards safety. When the ship was found that mule was found
to be still tied to a column of the boat. The more than 100 year old lie was unearthed.

At first the excavators thought they would sell off items to
profit from their find, but then they realized they had to keep the collection
all together as a museum. Only a fraction of the items have been preserved and
they are still conserving items to this day. The family owned a refrigeration
business and that is where everything is stored until it can be preserved. In
an incubator several dozen shoes were being treated and other items were in
storage containers pumped full of nitrogen.

I simply sketched the steamer boats paddle wheel which had
been restored. Original pistons and cylinders powered the wheel. Wandering the
museum I got a good feel for what life on the Midwest
frontier might have been like. This ship that sank and was preserved in the anaerobic
slime has become a true time capsule of what life was like in the 1850s.

T-Rex outside Union Station Kansas City

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I decided to take a trip to visit the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City. I took the free trolley to its southern terminus at Union Station. Outside the station was a T-Rex sculpture. Tourists would stop to take selfies with the dinosaur. The Kansas City Science Center was inside the station and dinosaurs were on display. Look at the muscular legs on that dinosaur. Visible in the background of the sketch is the tower of the World War I Museum.

There was another exhibit of small gauge railroad displays which filled a large back room in the station with quirky and odd towns with railroad trains circulating the circumference. Some displays were of idealized small towns but others had dinosaurs wandering the streets and or mermaids and penguins in the waterways. One village was made entirely of Legos. It was an odd assortment of worlds.

From the station there was still a several mile trip to the museum. I decided to try and rent an electric scooter. These scooters are scattered throughout downtown Kansas City. You rent it and then just leave it wherever when you are done with it. To rent it you scan the URL code with your phone. I found three scooters across the street from the station. It took half an hour to get all the info into my phone. The scooter was like a skate board with handlebars. It was fun to use to start reaching 15 miles per hour. There was a bit of a learning curve, to figure out how to balance on it. After about a mile, I was up to speed.

Then I started scooting up a hill. Now in Florida there are no hills, so I wasn’t surprised that the scooter started to struggle going up the hill. I had to start pushing off with my foot to get to the top of the hill. Why was I paying for an electric scooter that didn’t have enough power to get up a hill? I came to the conclusion that the scooter battery had died. I left it parked at the top of the hill and started walking the rest of the way to the museum.

The remaining walk turned out to be much longer than I suspected. I walked through the full length of several long parks and through a ritzy neighborhood. I was exhausted by the time I got to the museum. Then I hiked every hall of the museum to see all the art. By the end of the day I had a severe case of museum burn. There were several Vincent Van Gogh paintings, and quite a few Thomas Hart Benton paintings. It was an impressive collection.

I decided I could not walk all the way back downtown, so I used Uber for the very first time. It was nice to finally relax in the back seat seeing all the neighborhoods I had just explored on foot. Pam and I used the scooters again another night to explore all the murals that are scattered around Kansas City. Pam showed me how to check the battery level before we rented the scooters and they lasted the duration as we explored up and down the alleys.

Union Station Kansas City Missouri

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Pam Schwartz and I took a trip to Kansas City recently. She was invited to speak at an The American Association for State and Local History Conference. While she attended the conference and worked in the hotel room on Orange County History museum business, I explored on my own.

Kansas City has a free trolley system and the end of the line is Union Station.

Across the street from Union Station is the National WWI Museum and Memorial. In 1919 two and a half million dollars was raised from a community based fundraising drive to honor the men and women who served and died in the war. The center piece of the monument is a 217 foot high tower surrounded by four guardian spirits (Courage, Honor, Patriotism, and sacrifice.

Inside a memorial hall, a large mural covers a wall that has life sized portraits of some of the war’s most infamous generals and leaders. The mural titled, The Pantheon de la Guerre is just a section of a huge mural that was painted in the round that used to be several football fields in width. This mural was forgotten over time and sold for scrap where a local artist discovered it and insisted it needed to be preserved.

You enter the museum over a glass bridge that crosses over a field of blood red poppies. The poppy field references a poem called Flanders Fields about the poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers after the war. The museum itself houses an amazing array of World War I memorabilia.

Trenches are part of the display and as one woman stuck her head in a hole to peak inside to see manikin soldiers huddled inside, a soldier started whispering in her ear which completely freaked her out. The east gallery covers the years from 1914 to 1917 and the West Gallery covers the years from 1917 to 1919. Display cases stacked full of items were rather difficult to decipher but on a whole it was an impressive collection.

Lake Eola Fountain Nocturne

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My downtown studio was just a blocks walk from Lake Eola. On some nights I would walk to the lake to paint. Being so dark, it was liberating to just make a mess of the page, spearing paint and ignoring the tight rope of line.

A man clearly had too many bears at World of Beers. At first he seemed to want to discourage my sitting in public creating in the dark, but his mood shifted and I believe he began to respect my commitment to the mess on the page.

The entire walk around the lake is spotted with speakers that play music giving the impression of a mall of theme park. Orlando’s fountain icon is carefully controlled and choreographed. My painting was quite the opposite.

Mennello Museum

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The second Sunday of each month is Free Family Day at the Mennello Museum of American Art, (900 East Princeton Street, Orlando, FL 32803). This was a rare day when it was cool enough to sketch outside. A wedding rehearsal was set up lakeside and people slowly gathered to run through the ceremony.

The
Marilyn L. Mennello Sculpture Garden had on display sculptures by Alice Aycock called Waltzing Matilda and Twin Vortexes. These were originally part of series of seven sculptures
in Aycock’s significant outdoor exhibition on Park Avenue in Manhattan
entitled Park Avenue Paper Chase. Aycock, is one
of America’s most recognized and respected sculptors of her generation.

Grounds for Exhibition features
year-long large-scale sculpture exhibitions by nationally renowned
American artists who otherwise would not be shared with Orlando
audiences. It is possible to see the sculptures any time if you are running or riding the Orlando Urban Trail which runs from Meade Gardens to the north down through Lock Haven park, Lake Formosa and down to Magnolia Avenue. An extension is planned to bring the running and biking trail downtown.

Museum Founder Michael Mennello presented over 20 examples of early 20th
Century painting and seminal works from his American Impressionist
Collection to the museum on May 1, 2018.  These painting are is
valued at more than $8.75 million as appraised by Debra Force Fine Art,
LLC, New York. The masterpieces include work by renowned ashcan school artists: John Sloan, Robert Henri, George Lukes, and George Bellows. The ashcan school was named after a sketch done by George Bellows of two bums inspecting a morsel of food they had just lifted from a garbage can. The movement didn’t only show life in the gutters, but also featured the pleasures of art and culture that was booming at the time. The ashcan school of art includes some of my favorite artists who documented everyday life of people from all walks of life.

The next Free Family Fun Day at the Mennello is October 14, 2018 from Noon to 2:30pm. I definitely want to see these new paintings in person.

Joysticks Arcade Lounge and Retro Bar in Downtown Orlando

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ODD 26 (Orlando Drink and Draw) was held at Joysticks Arcade Lounge and Retro Bar (69 E Pine St, Orlando, Florida 32801). Orlando Drink and Draw ventures to a new bar or restaurant each month to sample beers and sketch. There is no model fee and no instruction. This is just a chance to get out, meet fellow artists and draw. I’m hoping to sketch in Central Florida’s best and most unique dive bars, so suggestions are always welcome.

Joysticks is a gaming bar with retro video arcade machines as well as a full bar. I like the references to Little Shop of Horrors, Star Wars, Jaws, Ghost Busters and there is a Game of Thrones sword throne that is great for photo opportunities. Retro arcade games are scattered throughout and there are themes nooks for friends to gather. The place is a visual fest for the eyes and working digitally allowed me to push the extreme colored lighting in the sketch. Four or five artists stopped out and we sat at the round tables to sketch this unique space. Joysticks is the self proclaimed most popular arcade bar in Orlando, Florida. They have a wide selection of specialize drinks, craft beers, and retro
arcade games.

The joy of ODD is that I always get to meet several new artists and flip through their sketchbooks. Most people feel the eyes are a window to the soul, but for artists it is their sketchbooks.

Weekend Top 6 Picks for October 6 and 7, 2018

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Saturday October 6, 2018

8am to 1pm Free. Parramore Farmers Market. The east side of the Orlando City Stadium, across from City View. .Purchase quality, fresh and healthy food grown in your own
neighborhood by local farmers, including Fleet Farming, Growing Orlando,
and other community growers.

8pm to 11pm No Borders Breast Cancer Awareness Edition “Save 2nd Base”.   The Geek Easy 114 S Semoran Blvd, Ste 6, Winter Park, Florida 32792. No Borders presents “Save 2nd Base” our Breast Cancer Awareness Edition.

8pm to 11:30pm $15.95 Science Night Live. Orlando Science Center, 777 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL 32803.  It’s social. It’s science. It’s 21 and up! This is also one of the best opportunities to  check out my solo exhibition of Science Center Paintings on display on exhibit on the second floor near the Founer’s Room.

Science Night Live
at Orlando Science Center is your chance to spark your curiosity
through fun exhibits and programs…with some adult beverages, of
course! Bring your friends, or make it a date night, and join us for a
unique and ever-changing experience that proves there’s no age limit on
curiosity!

This event has been known to sell out and tickets are available online only for just $15.95, so get yours before they’re gone!

[TICKETS] www.osc.org/snl

FEATURED EXPERIENCES:

• Hear a presentation from our guest speaker

• Immerse yourself in the world of superheroes, crime fighters, gadgets and spies in our traveling exhibit, Hall of Heroes

• View stars and planets with telescopes in the observatory (weather permitting)

• Experience giant-screen films in the Dr. Phillips CineDome

• Conduct lab experiments in Dr. Dare’s Laboratory

• Enjoy the latest exhibition on display in Fusion: A STEAM Gallery (Work of Thomas Thorspecken of Analog Artist Digital World)

• Delight in food and adult beverages available for purchase

• Experience the Science Center in a whole new way…without kids

Admission to Science Night Live is free for Orlando Science Center Members and $15.95 for the general public.

Sunday October 7, 2018 

10am to 4pm Free. Lake Eola Farmers Market. Lake Eola Park, Orlando, FL 32801.

10am to Noon Free. Heartfulness Relaxation and Meditation Class. University, 5200 Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32811. The Method of Heartfulness A simple and practical way to experience the heart’s unlimited resources.

Noon to 3pm Donation based. Music at the Casa. Flamenco Guitarist Omar Miguel. Casa Feliz Historic Home Museum, 656 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Members of the public are invited to visit our historic home museum on a
Sunday afternoon from 12 to 3 pm, listen to live music and take a tour
of our historic home museum and the James Gamble Rogers II Studio by
trained docents.

Art Class

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Before I was teaching art classes at Crealde School of Art, I sometimes would stop in at different art classes around Central Florida to see artists at work. This seniors class was in a beautiful location right on a lake with white Ibis hunting for food right on the lawn. This was a watercolor class and I have to admit, I am a bit envious of the wide assortment of watercolor brushes that were available. I scrub watercolor on my sketches with a brush that has clearly seen better days.

I shared my sketchbooks with the class and then settled in to do a sketch of the artists at work. Besides the traditional watercolors being done there was also a large high tech printer available which is again something that would make my life so much easier to have in the studio.

Today was my last day with my Crealde Urban Sketch students and it always feels terrible to leave them just as they are warming up to the journey of doing sketches consistently. Once in a while a student comes along who embraces all you offered and it is a true pleasure to see them blossom and progress.

Jeremy Seghers hosts a public interview program at Urban Rethink

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Urban Re-Think (625 E
Central Blvd. in Thornton Park) used to be the cultural epicenter of downtown Orlando. It was a collaborative workspace, event space and  offered all around
great community programing.  Innovative and experimental programs were tested there each week. In this case, theater produce and director Jeremy Seghers interviewed people in front of a studio audience. The set up was simple, a floor lamp a microphone on a foot stool and two bar stools.

In this sketch, Jeremhy is talking to Darren McDaniel, the founding Director of Urban Re-Think. It was an informal chance to share stories. At the time Darren was having a mural added to the interior of Urban Re-Think based on a drawing done by a very young niece GraciAnn. It was a quirky drawing of a character done in yellow crayon with big eyes. Darren planned to get large mechanical googly eyes which would move. Called the Audacity of Play, the yellow character had a hexagonal head with a mad know of yellow hair, and spiraling yellow hands. The mural was created by Orlando artist, Carolyn Schultz. The functional googly eyes were concocted by Urban Re-Think resident
creative, Kathryn Neel, and empowered by Zach from Hicks Electric.

Urban Re-Think closed down in 2013 and sadly GraciAnne’s mural is no longer gracing it’s walls. Many co-working spaces, studios and creative/tech networking events have cropped up since Urban Rethink was closed but I can attest that the magic created there has not been replicated in any one venue. Though the city continues to grow, I see its cultural heart shrinking.

Art Critique

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An art critique was held at the Gallery at Avalon Island (39 South Magnolia Avenue Orlando FL). Each artist would bring a sample of work to discuss. It is best if the artist has a specific question that can be posed to the group. This artist hand paints electric guitars and other instruments.

The building was donated to the City of Orlando and is now known as the Rogers Kliene Building which is now part of
the Downtown Arts District. It is a contemporary art space that
displays work by emerging and established artists. The gallery is
located in the historic Queen Anne style Rogers Kliene building. It was
built in 1886, and is the oldest operational building in Orlando.

I had two painting on exhibit in what I believe was the last exhibit at City Arts Factory which will be moving into the Rogers Kliene Building. This means that the art scene in downtown Orlando has collapsed and substantially shrunk. The Rogers Kliene Building has 1.5 rooms as exhibition space as opposed to the 6 or so gallery rooms in City Arts Factory. Avalon Island curator Patrick Greene was planning to leave Orlando when Avalon Island closed, but was hired on at Laughing Samurai marketing.