Douglas Newby Insights - Page 9
Nasher Always Beckons
Former DMA Director Rick Brettell once said to me that it is the small museums that people generally mention as their favorite museum. I hear from so many people that love visiting the Nasher for a variety of reasons. I also find it appealing for many reasons. Often the Nasher has extraordinary exhibitions, dynamic lectures, and a variety of vibrant, casual, or serene experiences. One might see friends, acquaintances, or make new friends. However, what is remarkable is that even if the exhibit one finds rather dull, or the other visitors uninspiring, the space is supreme. The architecture, space, and setting in the Dallas Arts District in downtown Dallas makes every visit to the Nasher joyful.
*Nasher Always Beckons
#Nasher #Garden #SculptureGarden #Dallas @NasherSculptureCenter #DallasArtsDistrict
Dallas Travels
Early this fall, I visited Chicago and New York on short trips. Regardless of the reason for the visit, I always go to the museums in these great cities. This year, on my return travel to Dallas, I immediately went to the retrospective opening of Matthew Wong: The Realm of Appearances. Normally, seeing art when traveling out of town rejuvenates me. This time my travel back to Dallas and seeing this exhibition refreshed me. The paintings were visually appealing, maybe it was the hint of fauvist influences that I liked. Learning about the artist was interesting, and seeing Dallas art patrons is always intoxicating. We are lucky to have the Dallas Museum of Art and so many collectors and patrons in Dallas.
*Dallas Travels
#DMA #DallasMuseumOfArt @DallasMuseumArt #MatthewWong #Art #Dallas
Love A Parade
I don’t think of myself as a sucker for a parade until I hear the sounds of marching bands, enthusiastic crowds, and then I begin anticipating the always joyful surprises of a parade. This Columbus Day Parade (Indigenous Peoples’ Day) included the Cadillac Club’s decades of vintage Cadillacs, including one with the horn from The Godfather film. The dog riding on the back of the motorcycle reminded me of my Texas State Fair Midway bulldog that I adorned with the World War II helmet I acquired as a four-year-old. And where but in New York in an Italian parade would one see a cement mixer rolling by?
*Love A Parade
#ColumbusDayParade #NYC #NewYorkCity #Parade #IndigenousPeoplesDay
NYC Retro Safety
New York seemed to be longing for a return of a safer New York City. The New York City Police Chief was in the Columbus Day Parade, populated by many first responders. The vintage police cars reminded me of a TCM noir film review. New York City sure feels safe on a sunny day watching a parade along Central Park and the architecturally significant homes on the Upper East Side.
*NYC Retro Safety
#ColumbusDayParade #NYC #NewYorkCity #Parade #vintagepolicecar
Brick-Paved Street
Historic homes have a certain grace that is missing from new developments. Architecturally significant homes create an aesthetic elegance in a neighborhood. Brick-paved streets root the neighborhood in another era that seems almost unimaginable. As a young boy, the streets paved in brick meant more than a bumpy bicycle ride. These brick-paved streets created weight and substance to the homes I was riding by. This 7600 square foot Richardson-Romanesque style home at 306 E. 1st St. in Hinsdale’s Robbins Park Historic District was built in 1898. Its size and impressive architectural style expresses its prominence, as does the Richardson-Romanesque style Old Red Courthouse built in Dallas in 1892. This is another example of how, through similar architectural design and materials, early Dallas and Hinsdale expressed their aesthetic achievement and substance. When I see vestiges of streetcar rails in the Munger Place Historic District, it is almost like running across an arrowhead at a creek’s edge. Growing up around brick-paved streets provided an even slower pace to a village that already had a peaceful gait. *Brick-Paved Street
#BrickPavedStreets #HistoricHomes #ArchitecturallySignificantHomes #HistoricDistrict #MungerPlace #RobbinsParkHistoricDistrict #Hinsdale #RichardsonRomanesque #OldRedCourthouse #Dallas #Architecture
Architectural Cadence
I have often attributed my inspiration and interest in architecture, neighborhoods and community to my hometown. The architectural and aesthetic backdrop, when I was delivering newspapers in grade school while walking or riding my bike through the neighborhoods, made an incredible impression on me. Growing up on two ends of Park Avenue, the homes I passed were often a bit older than those in the Munger Place Historic District, but many were of the same age and reflected much of the same style. An architectural cadence was set in my mind and an aesthetic example of a lovely neighborhood has influenced me ever since. Here are a few of the homes I walked or rode my bike by every day. *Architectural Cadence
#ArchitecturalCadence #HistoricHomes #Neighborhoods #Inspiration #Hometown #robbinspark #Hinsdale
#MungerPlace #HistoricDistrict #Architecture
Hometown Honor
There is something about a hometown honor that allows one to also honor one’s classmates, friends and hometown. Convening on the football field brought back high school memories of serving as pep rally chairman, announcing the Homecoming Queen, organizing festivities for the weekend, and escorting one of the young women across the field at the Homecoming game. Returning, I enjoyed a fun weekend with incredibly successful, talented and generous people. *Hometown Honor
Village Hall
I loved growing up in a village where the Village Hall bell marked the passage of time with the number of rings, that drifted across the neighborhood, equaling the hour of the day. Every half-hour was identified by a single ring coming from the Village Hall bell tower. My early childhood home was walking distance to the library which was located within Village Hall and was across the street from the shops and stores of this tree-lined village. Village Hall was also where they crowned Miss Hinsdale, who went on to be Miss Illinois and runner up to Miss America. This environment created my first sense of vibrancy and nature – the essential attributes of my favorite places. *Village Hall
#VillageHall #BellTower #Neighborhood #Home
Architect at Opening
I have taken hundreds of architecture photographs of the splendid Art Deco buildings at the State Fair of Texas, but only when I took a photograph of architect Cliff Welch, FAIA, at the fair on opening day, did the backdrop of 1936 Art Deco buildings and fair goers look like an architect-generated computer rendering of a park and people. I think Apple iphones have become so smart, that with face recognition the camera reads that the shot is of an architect and immediately goes into an architectural rendering mode. It was fun to see Cliff and know that since his office is across the street from Fair Park, he can treat the State Fair as his personal neighborhood cafeteria, like on opening day when he is picking up a corny dog for his wife. *Architect at Opening
#Architect #Architecture #ArtDeco #StateFairOfTexas #ArchitecturalRendering #Dallas #CornyDog #Neighborhood
Everyone is a Winner
Since attending SMU, along with the livestock competition, the midway of the State Fair of Texas has always been a fun excursion. My favorite was the classic midway game that required knocking over three large fuzzy-faced cats mounted on popsicle stick targets requiring all three throws being successful. Some hinges were sticky and a direct hit would not knock over a cat. The carnies’ perfectly timed distracting shouts added to the adrenaline. Players would wind up like Nolan Ryan. I used a soft quick dart style throw, lining up directly in front of my targets rather than making cross-throws. Years of playing allowed me to become so proficient that to show off I would throw balls simultaneously with my left and right hand, knocking over two cats at a time. Alas, a few years before the pandemic, the game was removed that had been played at fairs across the country for a century. Still the plate throw remained where two plates placed close together provided a tempting target, but the bull’s eye to break the two required plates was the size of a quarter. Negotiating with carnies was part of the fun. I love rules and always verified them ahead of time so none of my successful throws would be disqualified, and better yet, some of my unsuccessful throws might be counted as a winner. My favorite rule was a chipped or cracked plate counted as a broken plate. Carnies often will turn a chipped plate upside down and treat it as an unbroken plate. On a close throw I would always ask the carny to pull the plate out to see if I chipped it, resulting in me being a winner. After several years, this game also disappeared from the midway. For the first time in many years I returned to the the midway on opening day and saw a new plate throw that required four broken plates on four throws. There is nothing more nostalgic than a carny barking out EVERYONE IS A WINNER as he hands you a stuffed animal. *Everyone is a Winner
#StateFairOfTexas #Midway #EveryoneIsAWinner