Traveling and Paducah

I recently had the pleasure of taking a trip to Paducah, Kentucky where I took a class from Diane Gaudynski. Paducah is the Mother Ship of Quilting, home to the National Quilt Museum as well at the infamous Paducah Quilt Festival held each April.

My travels took me to the new terminal at Sacramento Int’l Airport which is filled with art.The iconic centerpiece image of the new terminal is “Leap” a 56’ aluminum leaping red rabbit created by Lawrence Argent. It’s an intriguing piece that holds your attention from every angle. It dominates the  interior space and appears to be  leaping from the ceiling glass into a giant vortex suitcase.My only complaint: look at the suitcase and its placement on the floor. There’s a sign next to it that says “Please Do Not Climb on the Sculpture”. Really??? It’s exactly kid height, it’s on the floor, it appears to be indestructible, and it’s just fun-come on!

BTW, “Leap” has caused some to dub the new terminal the “Hare Port”!There is this airy chandelier over the security section created by Donald Lipiniski in the form of a Valley Oak tree-delightful.In the ticketing section hangs a huge 75’ x 12’ wall installation piece that depicts the faces of three baggage handlers that work at the airport. Christian Moeller, a professor of art at UCLA designed the “bit map” piece that uses 4,000 strips of plywood slats placed so that the image is created by light and shadow. An interactive piece shaped like a French horn, called  “Your Words are Music to Their Ears” by Living Lenses, is located in the lounge area.  It’s about 10 feet high and is made of reflective steel. Attached to the piece is a computer keyboard that seems to have no connection whatsoever, but, if you tap on the keyboard the piece makes these odd, whale-like sounds that are wonderful- a great surprise!That’s me-couldn’t resist. I love it when art brings out the kid in you!

On to Paducah…Downtown Paducah had a very friendly small town feel. I felt right at home as there was much in common with my home town of Ottawa, Ill: convergence of two rivers, strong Indian heritage, barges on a daily basis, trains rolling through, brick streets, etc.I was able to take advantage of a daily Farmer’s Market right next to the museum.There is outdoor sculpture everywhere in Paducah; this piece sat outside of the B&B where I stayed.
Of course no stay in Paducah is done without a visit to Hancock’s of Paducah. This incredible array of Dahlias graced the checkout area-apparently Mr. Hancock has quite a green thumb and enjoys sharing his creations with his customers.On the last day of class we were treated to lunch at the home and studio of Caryl Bryer Fallert-see her work here-it’s amazing. Caryl generously offered a tour of her entire home and studio.Caryl has both fiber art and wearable art on display. Isn’t this fun?Caryl had a stained glass representation made of one of her fiber pieces. Her home was filled with wonderful art everywhere. You’ll see on her website that she offers classes throughout the year. I hope to return to Paducah and take her Freeform Piecing and Design workshop.The class of 18 included some characters like Susan! She and her tablemate arrived with Halloween candy and flashing headbands-how fun is that?

I’ll talk about the class with Diane in my next post.