Earlier that morning, I set up an itinerary: visit Goodwill/Salvation Army, check out a Slavic general store, visit the local all-purpose museum, take in some historical buildings, and soak up the third largest city in Indianer.
Thrift stores were a bust, and SlavMart closed down a few years back. Not too hungry, so on to museuming.
The Evansville Museum of art, science, and history is nestled towards one end of a riverfront park/promenade. The cool air inside was welcome in the balmy heat of summer in Southern river towns. A donation box sat at the front, but no entrance fee is charged.
The first floor covers the history of the growth of Evansville from nothing marsh land to post-Rust-Belt boomtown. Believe it or not, the Army turned to Evansville to construct some transport vessels (maybe rivers are less scary than oceans, seas, and Great Lakes...). Pretty interesting exhibit on those factories, the ships, etc. Also some sprinklings of prairie life and gazebos. Also, just like the Detroit Historical Museum's basement, there were mock streets with old shops, a dentist, and a doctor's office (all mid to late 19th century). In one room down one of these memory lanes were miscellanea from the Museum's back-rooms. Included was a translation by Oscar Wilde of some Polish poem, a letter written by Voltaire, dueling pistols, etc. Eclectic and surprising.
Moving upstairs there was an Ancient Art room with pieces from the Ancient Egyptians, African tribes, old Chinese dynasties, old Japanese dynasties, Native Americans (including the Mayans), an all around nifty and surprising smattering for such a (comparatively speaking) small city museum. The outstanding exhibit, though, was courtesy of the estate of local eccentric and posthumous philanthropist, Elizabeth Zutt (1915-2006).
According to what I gathered from pamphlets, displays, and docents, Miss Zutt was one of those fading midwestern eccentric art fiends. You know the kind who would lobby for saving the Old Courthouse (she did, in fact lobby to preserve some old building along with local art students) or spend thousands to erect art in public places, but not the kind of hipster that's taken over the game in recent years.
Miss Zutt was a graduate of the Ward-Belmont School in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of Wisconsin. She completed a degree in library science at Columbia University in New York City and worked for 30 years at the Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library.
Sounds like the type of life George Bailey saved Mary from, but it seems Miss Zutt had a good go of it all. She traveled EXTENSIVELY (passports showed markings from every continent save the frozen one), sending home missives along the way. Not content to merely be well-travelled, though, she purchased art from anywhere and everywhere. A lot of it was in the tacky noveau art vein (she had a peculiar love of modernist sitting implements), but also included Islamic and Hindu illuminated manuscripts, landscapes, and other delights for the eyes.
While surveying the wonders and the travesties presented, I noticed an older gentleman in blazer, tie, and slacks sitting on a bench. He looked pretty official, and I wasn't sure if he was guard or guide. After being in the same room with someone for a while, though, the natural instinct to make small talk overcomes shyness.
I began:
So, just one woman collected all this?
--Yep.
[Oh, they have Southern accents here, too...]
That's pretty amazing!
--Yeah, she was really big into art. Did you know her?
No, I'm from Detroit.
--Oh, well, she was big into art. Every few months she'd come by here to inspect the new art exhibits. Give it a look over, see if she liked it.
Wow! I couldn't imagine just collecting all of this in my house, though.
--Yeah, this is only part of it, though. I don't care for a lot of it. You didn't know her?
No...
--Well, she gave half to the University, and half to us.
That's a lot. I couldn't imagine having the time and money to do that.
--Yeah, she traveled all the time with her mother. I don't think she ever did get married.
Well, I guess at least she got to do...
--Yeah, she did what she liked. Don't think she ever got married, though.
The amount of disappointment and subtle tisking in his voice was a bit surprising in an art museum. But some of the Natives, especially the older ones, are fairly to staunchly conservative, at least on social issues. Many arties (artists, hipsters, etc.) always talk about thinking outside of the box, forging new pathways, often just falling into a new norm where out of the box is a new box in and of itself. The Natives have their own boxes, and they be a bit musty and worn from the years, but they are new to these eyes.
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