Ruth and I had a chance to see the Bank of America collection of 3 generations of Wyeth works twice but still haven”t seen them. First, it came to the Portland Art Museum after a long tour, but we were traveling and not paying attention to what was across the Willamette River from us and didn’t see it. One of our stops was Spokane where it was coming to the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture from May 13 to August 20 but not while we were there so we didn’t see it there either. The internet is not good at telling us future stops for this popular exhibit, so we could not find out where it was headed. It is officially called “The Wyeths: Three Generations Works from the Bank of America Collection.” I was aware that N. C. Wyeth and his son Andrew were both major American artists and that Andrew’s son Jamie had become a portrait painter of note, but I was not aware that Andrew’s sister was a painter and was included in this exhibit too.
The Northwest Museum of Art and Culture in Spokane is a Smithsonian affiliate and a museum that has been around since 1916, but Ruth and I had never been there, so it was our focus for going to Spokane even though Manito Park is a definite lure when plants are blooming, which they are not at this time of year even in the Northwest. Next door to this museum is the historic Campbell House that we hoped to tour also, but we did not know about the upcoming Wyeth Family exhibit.
The Northwest Museum of Art and Culture is an interesting place to see even though all of its exhibits are temporary. We managed to see its Native American beadwork show, its Dancing With Life Mexican masks, and its new and controversial Humaira Abid Searching for Home shows, but we were not aware of the Wyeth show’s arrival soon. Despite its temporary nature, I highly recommend a stop here at 2316 West Firat Street near downtown Spokane. It has its own collection of Plateau Tribal Art that is both featured and integrated into traveling national exhibitions like in other Smithsonian related museums. I also enjoyed the Ubuhle Women African beadwork exhibit that has since closed.
The next door Campbell House is worth seeing too for a particular reason. In many ways it is a typical 1898 house although more elaborate than most. It had the latest inventions of the day installed and is typical of a house owned by Idaho mine operators. The family lived here for 26 years and they turned over their home to a historical society that maintained it for at least another 50 years. It has its own exhibition of house artifacts that are not typical on a regular basis. A 1912 electric vehicle owned by this family is featured in the carriage house.
Hank
Security Conscious 