in Baltimore

This is a wonderful city and this museum - the Amerian Visionary Art Museum - is absolutely visionary!
It is a museum of art with a difference. The folks who exhibit here, some of teh works are owned by the museum and some are invited, are self taught. NO formal training so this means that the art is truly original and inspired by themselves. The work is common and ordinary and at the same time doemstic and simple. It could be a painted fence post, an engraved tin, an "artfied" door (and Baltimore is the home of the art screen doors). It could be a painting, a sculpture, a drawing, a postcard ... so many choises. we totally fell in love with this musuem ... and also the gift shop which is the most ecelectic gift shop, nothing like any other gift shop in any museum that we have ever seen. It is a bit like a two dollar shop - with totally unrelated pieces of this and that which have have nothing at all to do with the art that is on display a the museum. I even had toruble finding a magnet to start my USA 2010 holidyya collection (but I did!)!

There are internal scultpures that include seats, chairs and Icharyus falling (and spinning), as well as model boats constructed from glue and matchsticks and also numerous fence posts with parinted slogans and sayings, and the postcards that line the ascending (or descending) staircase.

Here are just a few snaps of some of teh external sculptures

Side of AVAM

the entrance shimmering in mirrors ... including the bus

of course one has to eat!

the chicken or the egg

a bird reaching to the next!

a windmill sculpture - of sorts

the restaurant from the bird's nest scultpure opposite

outside the museum (pity ths shine for the neighbours)

It's a little way out of DC ... but not a problem with the zooming motorways. So thrilled that we got to go to Baltimore. This is a museum that MUST be on the go-to-see list!