Inspiration
American Flag Memorial Murals
Today is Memorial Day — time to remember the fallen who sacrificed so much for our country. Dennis McKeon asked artist Scott Lobaido to replace graffiti art in Queens with flag murals, now they don’t get tagged out of respect — brilliant, resourceful and what a tribute: Here are a few more flag murals to enjoy before you start grilling or doing something All-American to remember the price paid to maintain our Freedom & Liberty. A couple of years ago we went to see Rolling Thunder — all the Vietnam Vets and others on their motorcycles parade over Memorial Bridge. That was quite something to see — a cultural and…
The Physics of Origami
I’ve already written a post on origami, featuring Dr. Robert Lang, but he was profiled recently in The Washington Post, and Rachel Saslow’s article, When Origami Meets Rocket Science, was so informative, I thought I’d do a follow up. At 49 he’s the quintessential origami master. He quit his career as a laser physicist and semiconductor laser and fiber-optic researcher while working for NASA in their Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As if these professions weren’t “heady” enough and lucrative once going into private technology in Silicon Valley, he decided to give it all up for paper folding. He is doing well, traveling giving lectures, and being the go-to origami guy. His…
Curatorial Lectures
I really love the National Gallery. It’s my favorite museum by design and acquisition and that it is so accessible. I used to work there and that probably has something to do with my continued affection for the NGA. When I first worked at the NGA, I was an intern in the Public Relations Office — the administrative side — before I worked later on the exhibition side. This was a wonderful opportunity to learn the behind the scenes tactics of what it takes to operate a famous and large-scale public art museum. Fortunately, I was able to do this with a Tonya Grant from my university. Normally this was…
