On Saturday, April 2, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, ARLIS conference
attendees have a chance to see the Orange Show and go on a Houston
Eye-Opener tour for the bargain price of $50.00. (Refreshments
included!) For those of you who are not familiar with the Orange Show,
it is the creation of retired postman Jeff McKissack in honor of his
favorite fruit.
(http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXHOUorange.html)
Working from 1956 until his death in 1980, McKissack used found objects
and common building materials to create a maze of walkways, balconies,
arenas, and exhibits decorated with mosaics and brightly painted iron
figures. The site is operated by the Orange Show Center for Visionary
Art (http://www.orangeshow.org <http://www.orangeshow.org/> ), a
non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and presenting works of
extraordinary imagination.
The Beer Can House
(http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXHOUbeer.html) is also owned
and maintained by the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art and will be
included in our special Eye-Opener Tour. John Milkovisch claimed to
have drunk the beer from every can that he used to festoon his modest
bungalow. He flattened beer cans to make decorative aluminum siding,
and strung thousands of pull tabs to make long streamers to hang from
the eaves. The result is a shimmering fantasy that will make you
marvel.
Our tour guide will be Houston architect and visionary art expert Larry
Harris, alias NarrowLarry. (http://www.narrowlarry.com
<http://www.narrowlarry.com/> ) His Web site includes images of
visionary folk art environments all around the country.
As art librarians, however, we are well aware that photographs cannot
equal the experience of actually seeing art works in person, so, plan on
joining the group on April 2 at the Orange Show and the Houston
Eye-Opener Tour!
If you have already registered for the conference and want to sign up
for the Orange Show tour now, email Susan Rawlyk at [log in to unmask] If
you have questions about the tour, please contact me at the email
address or phone number given below.
Margaret Culbertson
Director, Hirsch Library
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
P.O. Box 6826
Houston, Texas 77265-6826
telephone: 713-639-7326
email: [log in to unmask]
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
