San Francisco Friday November 13

Friday the 13th was not unlucky for me, although I did have some challenges. My planned outing was to go to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.  I went by bus, and that worked out pretty well..except I got off a stop different than the one I had researched.  Since I was early, it was no problem.  I walked through parts of Golden Gate Park and eventually arrived at the Museum.  My next shock was the remembrance that it is not the same museum as it was in the sixties.  It was completely remodeled.  I have been there a couple of times since the remodel, but the new museum is a bit of a shock.  Above is a picture of how it is now.  And this is how it was before.  In fact, I saw it this way in the sixties.

I don't think I was ever in the tower of the old museum.  The new tower is a "must see,"though.  The view is truly amazing.  This is what I saw, and I love the peek at the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

I was also happy to see the work of Ruth Asawa in the lobby where you wait for the elevator to the tower.  She was at Black Mountain College and became a truly amazing artist.  I hope to see more of her work next month at an exhibit in Boston of art from Black Mountain College.  The exhibit is called "Leap Before You Look."  Asawa's sculptures are magical woven shapes in metal or natural materials.  Here's an example:

A current show at the museum about Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915.  The show is called "Jewel City."

That Exhibition not only highlighted the city of San Francisco, and the West....but also many artists who are familiar today, including Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent.  The poster shown above is dazzling, but doesn't show well in the tiny space here.

I was at the museum quite awhile and had lunch and looked around some more.  When I decided to head back to the bus, I learned that my cell phone battery had expired!  I was able to find the bus stop and eventually made it back to my room, but I was happy that I was somewhat familiar with the route I needed to take.  I think I rely too much on Google maps when traveling.

My day was not over, though.  I had learned about a candlelight labyrinth walk that night at Grace Cathedral...walking distance from my hotel.  I decided to take a bus, even though it was just a few blocks, but it was uphill and I had done a lot of walking.  I learned that  rush hour bus travel in San Francisco is tricky.  I had to wait for five before one could take us.  The first five were totally full.  I loved the labyrinth walk, though, and told the woman who greeted us that I had done a series of paintings based on labyrinth experiences.  I learned that she was Lauren Artress, who wrote one of the books that I used for research.  It was a great experience to meet her and talk with her.  After the labyrinth walk, which was illuminated by candles, I walked back to my hotel...it wasn't very far, and was almost all downhill.