American Visionary Art Museum - Baltimore

 Got up on Saturday morning and drove up to Baltimore to visit the American Visionary Art Museum.  Baltimore is one of my favorite American cities. It has it's problems, it's a city. But it is also full of amazing places and people. I've shared this one before, but it's on the top of my list so I just have to share it again every time I go. The American Visionary Art Museum is really a campus with three buildings at the base of the Federal Hill Park a stone's throw to the Harbor. The original use of the buildings were as warehouses for goods coming and going from the harbor. AVAM has re-conceptualized them in the most amazing ways. Along with the structures there are exterior sculptures--some kinetic, and a little butterfly garden, too. The main building's exterior is a wrapped in a mosaic of mirror shards and other found piece of glass and ceramics.

 Part of the third floor is home to a restaurant and the open balcony is part of the restaurant's setting.

 One of the many kinetic sculptures on the museum grounds.

 Don't you love how the shadows form shapes and "things"? Like finding bunnies in the clouds--only these bunnies are a little less innocent looking!

 The hand stamp sees all....

The museum selects a theme and then creates one exhibition per year built around that theme. This is its 20th anniversary year and the theme is "Hope".

Along with this there is a third floor gallery space and artist's studio that is given each year to a different artist to use and to fill with his or her works. This year's artist-in-residence is Matt Sesow. As fate would have it, he was present today in his gallery interacting with visitors. I so LOVED his paintings! I even purchased one, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to speak to him. I think that the paintings were just so overwhelming to me that I knew if I tried I would burst into tears that I just wouldn't be able to explain. I'm like that some times.