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Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum – Saginaw, MI

June 21, 2011 in Travel | 2 comments

Summer day trip? Well, if you insist.

I recruited John, my constant pal and expert adventure-taker, for an afternoon in Saginaw.

Inspired by a recent foray into the work of Marshall Fredericks, we went to the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum. That was pretty much it, but it was enough. You’re not supposed to take pictures inside of the museum, but how could we resist a surreptitious snapshot of Marshall Fredericks’ shoes???

Adorable:

The main exhibition gallery showcases Fredericks’ larger-than-life plaster casts and reliefs. You’ll recognize some of them: the Spirit of course, and the Henry Ford tableau from the Henry Ford Centennial Library, maybe even the victory eagle from the Veterans’ Memorial Building if you’re sharp. And I thought the soaring swans on the back wall looked familiar: they’re from the Milwaukee Public Museum. (Images of the main gallery available at the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum Flickr page.)

The Sculptor’s Studio smells pleasantly of clay and holds hundreds of objects from Marshall Fredericks’ home studio in Royal Oak: assorted models and casts, dozens of tools, his shoes (see above!) and Fredericks’ last completed figurative statue (of Lord Byron), completed just days before his death in 1998. The Studio explains how massive bronze sculptures are made, which is close to magic. Fredericks even says so in a highly charming video you can watch about the process. (You can also read about it in this nifty PDF.)

Outside there is a sculpture garden where you can snapshot to your heart’s content.

Seriously, go ahead!

Friendly animals,

Gnarly animals, like these toothy fish and a hungry otter,

Fredericks loved them all.

The Museum is on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University and open Monday – Saturday, 12 pm – 5 pm. Admission is free. It took us just shy of two hours to drive up from Detroit. We had this friendly guiding dove on our windshield and we enjoyed the chance to just talk, take in the scenery, and listen to Springsteen.

Recommended! With more summer day trips to come!

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The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory: Belle Isle, Detroit

March 5, 2010 in Best of THE NIGHT TRAIN, Uncategorized | 4 comments

belle isle conservatory

It’s getting warmer, but it’s not as warm as you think it is, a lesson I have learned the hard way this week after multiple attempts to go outside without a coat and take some long walks.

My bright idea yesterday was a stroll on Belle Isle in a skirt and tights and flimsy flats. Luckily for people like me, who constantly find themselves under-dressed for the near-spring weather, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and it’s like a tiny tropical vacation under glass. When I walked past, an old man opened the door and shouted, “Get in here, where it’s warm!”

palm tree

Built in 1904 and designed by Albert Kahn, the Conservatory is named after Anna Scripps Whitcomb, daughter of Detroit News founder James E. Scripps and bequeather of the massive orchid collection — now the largest city-owned orchid collection in the country — that makes the whole place smell like paradise. Many of her orchids were saved from Great Britain during World War II.

pink flowers

Botanical gardens and conservatories (like their cousins, aquariums) seemed so boring and pointless to me, for the longest time. I’d say it’s because the pleasure and beauty they offer is subtle, except some of these plants are completely outlandish, and the fact that they’ve been collected from wild climates all over the world and thrive under one roof is astonishing.

I liked the common names of these whimsical creatures, for instance:

felted pepperface

The felted pepperface, as well as:

gold dust

The gold dust plant, and my favorite:

shrimp plant

The shrimp plant.

Back out in the cold, almost-not-winter afternoon, in the formal gardens, the Levi L. Barbour Memorial statue of a wheeling gazelle, by Marshall Fredericks, is stunning:

fredericks gazelle

This statue, which won a national prize in 1936, was Fredericks’ break-out success (he was commissioned for the Spirit of Detroit almost 20 years later). I love the lettering at the base of the fountain:

to my fellow citizens

And even more, I love the four smaller statues at the foot of the sculpture, which represent wildlife local to the area: the grouse, the hawk, the otter and this adorable little rabbit:

marshall fredericks rabbit fw

I wish I had come to the Conservatory earlier in the winter; the greenery and the humidity and the smell of flowers and this incredible sculpture that I just fell in love with really did something good for my sinuses and for my heart.

At least now I know that it’s there when I need it.

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