Pink

Beginning this evening, the Milwaukee Art Museum, for the first time ever, will glow pink against the stunning backdrop of the September evening sky. The 10-day lighting project celebrates the opening of the Museum’s major fall exhibition, Andy Warhol: The Last Decade with a nod to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at the Milwaukee lakefront on Sunday, September 27. With a 217-foot wingspan that opens and closes twice daily, the illuminated wings of the Quadracci Pavilion will offer an extraordinary spectacle along the city’s skyline.
“It’s wonderful timing that we’re unveiling the work of an iconic Pop artist as the 2009 Komen Race for the Cure winds around the Milwaukee Art Museum,” said Dan Keegan, the Museum’s director. “For the first time ever, we’ll fully light the Museum in color – bright pink – to show our support for the race and breast cancer awareness. The lighting project will offer a beautiful visual representation of art as a catalyst for healing and hope, and underscores the Museum’s importance as a community gathering place.”

In a continuing effort to collaborate with and support an array of community organizations, the Museum exterior will be lit in pink each evening from approximately 7:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., starting today through the beginning of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Friday, October 2. The end time will be extended until midnight on Friday, September 25; Saturday, September 26; and Friday,

October 2. For added visual excitement, the Museum’s outdoor fountains will also take on a bright pink hue starting today.

“We hope the community, and families, will take the opportunity to drive or walk by the Milwaukee Art Museum to see this spectacular sight,” added Keegan.

In an additional show of support, the Milwaukee Art Museum will offer free admission on race day to all cancer survivors participating in the Komen Race for the Care. Survivors will be presented with a certificate for admission in the Survivor’s Tent after the race, or can gain admission on race day by wearing their signature pink t-shirt. All other participants will receive a special offer for $2 off admission. The Komen Race for the Cure, the largest series of 5K runs/fitness walks in the world, raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivorship, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease.

The lighting is made possible with the support of the Pellmann Center for Medical Imaging.

What 9/11 Gave Us

I used to live in the Washington, DC area. Back then, I never really toured the city except when guests came to town. It really is a beautiful city and it's buildings and architecture are a photographic delight. But there are clear signs of change from when I left DC in 1996 most notably the security around the city, especially at our monuments and government buildings. This picture is of the back side of the US Capital. That's one serious piece of hardware in the hands of the guy in the middle. A scene like this was never evident before 9/11 . . . a sign of the times.

Patches

The weather in SE Wisconsin has been the best of the summer season even though summer is ending. The skies have clear, the wind light resulting in several days of patchy fog in the morning. I've spent the past couple of mornings getting out bed way too early to drive during sunrise through the fog looking at wonderful displays of light. The normal and mundane are suddently trasnposed into the mysterious and beautiful. The scene shown here is merely someone's driveway in rural Racine County.

Boat Trails

Labor Day weekend brings the end of summer and with it the end of another season on the lake. While there's plenty of good boating weather left in September it seems that most people are distracted toward other activities and so the crowds thin out very quickly. I like our lake in September. There's often fog in the morning, the fishing is great and the colors of sunrise are crisp as cold mornings become more the norm and a sign of things to come.

Two by Two

A recent photowalk by the Cream City Photographers, a Flickr group, found ourselves at Jones Island in Milwaukee. It's the city's main shipping port and I have photographed this area before.

While there were many other photographs that I took, this one was one of those spontaneous images and a departure from all the other images I made that day. It was the symmetry and the mystery that caught my interest. The symmetry in the two women with red hair and black coats, two telephone poles against a large pillar of salt. The mystery was wondering what these two photographers were doing or looking at! I still don't know.