Picasso at the Frist Museum
The Frist Museum of Art in Nashville is one of our favorites for day trips. It’s only a couple of hours from Chattanooga if traffic is agreeable and well worth a day of enjoyment. Yesterday, Tawnya and I made the trip to see the Picasso Exhibit. As always, the art and the trip were an adventure.
I feel compelled to note that the trip to and from Nashville was uneventful. We did not slow down or stop once for traffic congestion. That was a first!
There was the art:
Needless to say, the above selections are only a few of those in the exhibit, and those I found most interesting.
I cannot say that Picasso is my favorite artist. But, I can say his art is very interesting. Personally, I was most interested in the curving or angular lines and the brush strokes. In fact, I spent most of my time with my nose thirteen inches from the art, trying to understand how each line was defined and noticing for the first time that most of the brush strokes seemed (to me) to be a little haphazard. It was a learning experience and one that was welcomed.
Now, a little about the trip. First, we stopped at Union Station for breakfast (?) and were quite surprised to discover the usual dining area seemed to be undergoing some sort of renovation or perhaps blocked off due to the pandemic. Anyway, we encountered a rather interesting server who seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by his job. He spoke little English, perhaps none that we recognized, but he was most accommodating.
We asked if the breakfast area had muffins or something similar. We did not order, we just asked. The server mentioned something about bagels. Well, we never saw a bagel, but we were served a piece of toast that had been heated, not toasted, and a biscuit with butter and cream cheese.
We decided to give the biscuit a try. We weren’t exactly hungry, thank goodness. As we began to sample the biscuit and bread, blueberry muffins were served. Jelly was served with the muffins. The muffins were quite good. Please note that we still have not officially ordered anything.
Realizing that we needed to eat and go before anything else the server discovered in the kitchen area appeared on our table, Tawnya asked for our check. Well, the computer system was down so the server decided to charge us only for the least expensive item we had not ordered. Cash was required to pay out. Tawnya paid immediately. We had to laugh a little as we left since we had actually ordered nothing but the blueberry muffins were quite good.
We walked across the parking lot to the Frist, figuring there would be a line since appointments were required to visit the exhibit. Ordinarily, there is no line and in safer times appointments were not required. Sure enough, there was quite a line and each person was standing on his or her designated mark.
Not knowing where to stand, I asked one young man who was toeing the mark if we needed to check in at the front desk for instructions. He said, “yes, just inside the door.” Then he said, “My appointment is at 10:30. When is yours?” I smiled and looked stupid, I guess. We didn’t have an appointment or scheduled time.
And, that brings me to an important point. Tawnya and I purchase what is called a “Passport pass” each year from the Hunter Museum of American Art, our local museum. The cost is $100 a year for two people (and there must be two). Being an older person, we get a 10% discount on our pass each year. The Passport pass gives us access to almost a thousand museums across the country and few outside the U.S.
With our Passport cards in hand we walked into the museum and asked where we were supposed to stand. The lady at the desk examined our cards, and said, “Stand over there,” and pointed to a lady about three feet away. The second lady looked at our cards, took our temperature with one of those temperature guns, and directed us down a hallway to the real front desk, where once again, we presented our cards, got our admittance stickers and were sent on our way to the exhibit. So, it seems having a Passport card has more benefits than access to hundreds of museums. (Highly recommended!)
After wandering through the exhibit, and stopping in the gift shop for a souvenir (we always get souvenirs), we decided to walk a few blocks toward the heart of the city and the Bridgestone arena. We will be returning to the arena in August for the James Taylor/Jackson Browne concert and wanted to be sure we know exactly where it is so we can book a hotel room within walking distance. Anyway, that went well. So, we headed down the street looking for the site of the bombing at the AT&T building.
There were a few interesting sites along the way, a few interesting places, and that’s all I have to say about that, except for a picture I cannot find today of a man (of dubious integrity) holding a handwritten sign on a piece of cardboard that read: Hooker and Weed (top line) with an arrow pointing to the second line which read: Ain’t Cheap. I am not sure if he was attempting to register a complaint or was advertising.
The music from all the bars and eateries blared onto the street. I couldn’t help but wonder how many wannabe musicians and singers are paying their dues just a few days away from bankruptcy or stardom. It’s well known that many a country music star has begun a career in a hole-in-the-wall bar on the street we were walking.
And, then there was this on Second Ave. This is the site where the bomb was detonated a few months ago in front of the AT&T building.
Construction is underway to repair and restore the destruction that took out our communication system across parts of the south. Many old buildings are boarded up, businesses are closed, and a part of Nashville’s history is lost.
That said, Nashville is alive and healing. People are positive. Hope is in the air. And, if you are familiar with Nashville you know no one misses a beat.
