I cannot tell you just how disappointed I was at the light snowfall that we had today. Earlier in the week we were getting dire predictions of a massive snowfall that would snarl the city, engulf us in an ocean of white fluff and render ineffectual all of our attempts to conduct life as usual. Our weather reporters seem to chronically over promise and under deliver. But we did get snow. Annette and I ran through it as we were leaving the Art Museum where we, along with her parents and sister, were circulating to see the “Art in Bloom” exhibit. A challenge issued to local florists and garden clubs, Art in Bloom gives the floral artist the opportunity to reproduce one of the museums art works with plant material, including, of course, but not limited to, flowers. That, and the cold day, is what drew us to the warm confines of the temple on Art Hill.
As one of the shareholders in Forest Park, the Saint Louis Art Museum occupies a place of prominence, situated at the top of Art Hill, and looking out over the grand basin. The view from the bottom of the hill, of the basin, its fountains, the museum itself and the tree lined promenade at the top to the hill, is the most iconic view in the park, and on almost any day of the year you can encounter motorists stopping in the middle of Lagoon Drive to get a photo on their phones. It is also a great place to take refuge from the weather. Today, I, and about a thousand other people, did just that.
I did my usual thing of prowling for photographs; watching the humans doing human sorts of things, looking for patterns, shapes, color, moments, anything interesting. I am always particularly interested in people taking pictures, and there were a lot of them. Most were using their phone cameras, but there were a good number with sophisticated cameras of various brands. Adventure is out there, and in the museum, so is art.
ESL