National Postal Museum

Washington has such an abundance of museums to visit and sights to see that in my sixteen years here I am still visiting and discovering new places. The National Postal Museum had been on my list for a while, but its location off the National Mall makes the slightly offbeat museum also more off-the-beaten track. Still, it is conveniently located next door to Union Station, and as a Smithsonian, entrance to the museum is free of charge. Even given its somewhat esoteric topic, it has plenty of very positive reviews online, and the museum is currently hosting a special exhibit in which I had particular interest.

Fittingly, the museum occupies the building which was Washington's main post office from 1914 through 1986. The building itself is quite impressive and attractive.

A step up from the modern America post office, wouldn't you agree?

This clock is in what used to be the postmaster's office.

Home to one of the world's largest collections of stamps and philatelic materials, the museum has done an excellent job of creating colorful, educational, and interactive exhibits. For example, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery displays many stamps, including a variety of rare ones.

Washington cherry blossom stamp in top left is one of my all-time favorites!

Whoa, the stamp on left looks familiar!

This gallery also has a computer on which a visitor can create - and email to themselves - a stamp or two, including with one's own photo. These are two I created.

Mailboxes from various countries are scattered around the museum. Some looked familiar, but others were quite different than the North American or European mailboxes I have seen.

The museum's collection also includes numerous vehicles - from wagons to cars to airplanes - that have been used to transport and deliver mail by the U.S. Postal Service.

Old mail wagon.

Railway post office.

Interior of the railway post office.

The special exhibit which I had wanted to see is called "PostSecret: The Power of a Postcard." Begun as a one-time community art project in 2005 by Frank Warren, PostSecret has evolved into a cultural touchstone and spawned an empire which includes numerous books, exhibits and speaking engagements. The project has Washington roots, as it was initiated during a local Artomatic exhibit, and Frank himself lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington.

The website Frank runs is updated weekly with postcards containing secrets -- sent to him from around the country and around the world. Some of the secrets have mature themes, thus I will warn that the following link for the website itself might be NSFW - "not safe for work." Frank updates the website every Sunday morning with new postcards, and with classic (older) secrets. The PostSecret exhibit at the Postal Museum displayed a small selection of the millions of cards received over the last decade. Some are heart-warming, others are heart-breaking, while others are funny or slightly strange. The next three photos are just a small selection.

This exhibit runs through September of this year, but on its own the Postal Museum is well worth a visit if you're in the area and have an hour or two!

Wonder - Exhibit at Renwick Gallery, Part II

One of the captivating things about the Wonder exhibit was its diversity. Strolling from one room to another, I was continually surprised by the materials used and the end result.

Have you ever considered using shredded tires to create art? I hadn't, yet the artist Chakaia Booker did precisely that.

Another fascinating material used - this by Jennifer Angus - and for an incredibly impressive effect: insects!

Yes, an entire pink room full of bugs!

A simpler material - small wood pieces - was utilized by John Grade to create this enormous tree trunk, which was suspended from the ceiling.

View of the trunk's inside.

The artist Maya Lin, best known for her very early career design of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington, used glass marbles to create the Chesapeake Bay in her piece "Folding the Chesapeake."

The largest gallery holds yet another artwork which mimics nature, yet this in a truly surprising way. Walking into the gallery in which Janet Echelman's "1.8" is suspended from the ceiling, I immediately marveled at the beautiful colors and shape, as well as the fact that a number of gallery visitors were sitting underneath it on the carpet, beanbag chairs, and loveseats. 

My next surprise came when I read the sign describing this piece. Again, best to leave it up to the experts: Echelman’s woven sculpture corresponds to a map of the energy released across the Pacific Ocean during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history. The event was so powerful it shifted the earth on its axis and shortened the day, March 11, 2011, by 1.8 millionths of a second, lending this work its title. Waves taller than the 100-foot length of this gallery ravaged the east coast of Japan, reminding us that what is wondrous can equally be dangerous. (Source: here.)

I lingered for a while, but promised myself I would return in the coming months. On YouTube I discovered a great video - seemingly posted by the artist herself - of the piece and how its colors change.

While walking through the galleries on the museum's second floor, I had also noticed a sizable glass artwork suspended from the ceiling. I took a photo, looked on the walls to find identification, but did not spot any. Later I tweeted the photo at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, asking if it was a Chihuly. Imagine my surprise when a short while later the artist's studio responded that it is indeed a piece by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly, and that it's called "Slate Green & Amber Tipped Chandelier", and was donated to the museum by Barbara Lee Diamonstein-Spielvogel.

Travels in the Imagination

While the words "art" and "Washington, D.C." might seem incongruous, that is not the case at all. The DC area is home to many excellent art museums and more than a few galleries. With the Embassy of Latvia having its own art space in the building immediately next to the Embassy, there have been quite a number of Latvian art exhibits to see in the last several years. This summer, however, a larger museum is exhibiting the work of a Latvian artist who not well-known, but whose eclectic and imaginative art will be of interest to many.

On a recent Friday evening I visited the American University Katzen Arts Center for the opening of an exhibit of works by Latvian artist Visvaldis Ziediņš. The exhibit is titled "Travels in the Imagination." I knew very little about the art or the artist, but loved what I saw and learned. Ziediņš was born in the port city of Liepāja in 1942, went to an arts high school, but did not pursue art at the university level. He spent his life in Liepāja, making a living designing department store displays, theater sets, and the like. In his free time, however, he created artwork, which he created only for himself and a small group of local artist friends. During Ziediņš' life he only had only four shows in Liepāja. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 2007. To put his life span into historical context, one needs to remember that World War II was being fought in 1942, when he was born, and Latvia was recaptured by the Soviet Red Army (from the German Army) in 1944. Soviet occupation lasted for approximately fifty years, with Latvia declaring its independence in 1990.

Katzen Arts Center, American University

As explained in the lovely exhibit booklet by one of the curators, Eleanor Heartney:
"But if Ziediņš' outward life was unremarkable, the works he left behind attest to a complex and deeply satisfying inner world. Two years after his death, art historian Ieva Kalniņa and art gallery director Ivonna Veiherte were invited by one of Ziediņš' artist friends to his home where they discovered a trove of over 3,000 paintings, collages, and assemblage sculptures. In addition, they found an extensive archive of diaries, photographs and documents in which he detailed his artistic preoccupations, theories of art, and interactions with other artists. In the years since this discovery, Kalniņa has organized this material, used it to produce a detailed study of  Ziediņš' work, and facilitated a number of exhibitions of his art, including this one. Reflecting on his legacy, she notes: "...we can be glad of this chance to obtain a detailed insight into the breadth of inner freedom of a creative individual under totalitarian conditions."

"Box: Freedom Figure", 1988.

According to art historian and exhibit curator Ieva Kalniņa (as described in the booklet): "Chronologically the works in Visvaldis Ziediņš' collection span the period 1958 to 2006. More than a third were created in the 60s. However, some of his work from the 60s has subsequently been reworked or augmented."
 
The piece above, titled "Freedom Figure," immediately struck me - with its dramatic use of red, and the female figure stretching her arms - she reminded me of "Milda," the woman at top of the Latvian Freedom Monument in Riga. He created the work in 1988, which was essentially the beginning of the Singing Revolution in the Baltic countries, or the beginning of the end of Soviet rule.

Much of his work was created using found items, such as driftwood and feathers from the beach, or recycled materials, such as crates or leftover paint from his day-time jobs.Wandering around the exhibit, I was impressed by his resourcefulness, ingenuity and sheer creativity. I will share several photos of my favorite pieces, but if you are in the DC area, I highly recommend visiting the exhibit yourself! It is on display through July 26. (Unfortunately my computer was being finicky, and didn't wish to properly upload several photos, thus there are a couple of oil paintings and small sculptures I'm unable to show you, and the 'boxes' are a bit over-represented here.)

"Pine in the Wind." Undated.

"Box: Fairytale." 1986.

"Box: Sandpit." 1988

"Bespectacled." 1992

"Box: Sea." 1987

"Box: Atlantic Sardines." 1989. (My absolute favorite!)

Latvian Jazz and Two Open Houses

So many fantastic events coming up in the DC area this spring!

On Sunday, April 26, the Latvian community is having an Open House - see the poster for more information!

The following week, on Wednesday, April 29, Latvian jazz ensemble Maris Briezkalns Quintet will perform at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. This is a free performance. It begins at 6pm, and will be streamed live online, as well as archived for later viewing.

Maris Briezkalns Quintet (Source: Facebook)

Performances by other Latvian performers who have graced the Millennium Stage in the last several years can be seen online:

• Tev un Man
• The Piano Trio Rix
• Riga Dom Boys Choir

The annual European Union Open House event takes place on Saturday, May 9 from 10:00am until 4:00pm. The Embassy of Latvia will be open to visitors - stop by to see the beautiful building, and maybe catch some singing or dancing!