In November, Gayle, Diane and Sue took a trip out to Hagerstown to visit the fine arts museum, have lunch in the old part of the city at the Rhubarb House and check out the Hagerstown Ribbon Outlet. It was one of those really cold breezy days in November, so we were bundled up and glad to be indoors. Although Carroll Garden Club often participates in the Art in Bloom program, many of us had never toured the museum for its own sake, so this was a good opportunity to appreciate what the fine, smaller museum had to offer.
There are multiple connecting galleries and we went through them all. The museum showcases some local artists and children’s works, sculpture, prints, paintings, multi-media and decorative arts in furniture, fabrics and fine wares. They have representations of contemporary art and periods from the Renaissance through the 20th century in the permanent collection.
I asked about taking pictures, but for the majority of items it was not allowed. We strolled through the exhibits, mostly trying to figure out how to interpret the works. Usually, what was most obvious was our immediate feeling toward the piece of art–whether or not it met our criteria of “liking” something.
Afterwards, we strolled the grounds. Hagerstown Garden Club does a great job maintaining the area. Although it was cold, we enjoyed looking at the landscape design around the side of the museum near the Lower Lake and walking near the water.
After finding our way downtown to the Rhubarb House (highly recommended for a couple or a very small group) for a delicious lunch in a decorative setting, we adjourned to the ribbon outlet. You can find all categories of spooled ribbons, cards, stickers and such here for ridiculously low prices. Diane left with a huge bag full if I recall!
Here are a few pictures of our day.
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- This map shows the museum setting
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- Arch
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- Di and Gayle admire the entry garden.
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- Museum has quite a few sculptures.
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- I thought their entry was a nice design.
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- There was a special exhibition showcasing painter Philip Koch.
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- We saw this one Rockwell painting. Such fun detail.
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- Artemis or Diana. SUch a graceful piece.
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- This curved walkway was well done, making one wonder what is beyond.
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- You can see the Diana sculpture is the reflection isn’t too extreme.
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- Look at the great shape!
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- I always thought of Osmanthus as zone 7.
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- There are some lovely old homes across the lake.
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- Another more open view. Mallards were also enjoying a swim.
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- That baby bear is so cute.
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- Is it cold?
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- En route to Rhubarb House, looking at the architecture.
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- The ribbons were groups by type, color and size in open bins.
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- Di among the cards and whatnots.
