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14

Oct

Travel Tip: See Chicago in Close-Up

by Joyce McGreevy on October 14, 2019

Chicago at night features surprising little details of America’s best big city, prompting the travel tip “slow down and focus.” (Image © by Jennifer Kleiman)

Chicago’s sweeping views are mosaics of historical detail.
© Jennifer Kleiman

A Big City’s Surprising Little Details

Poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago “The City of the Big Shoulders.” America’s third biggest city is known for big sights—as a few little details will show:  Read more...

  • First skyscrapers? Sorry, New York. They started right here in the 1880s, soaring from 10 to 110 stories in nine decades.
  • That body of water to the east? It’s massive Lake Michigan, more of an inland sea.
  • A “world-dazzling” wheel that rivaled the Eiffel Tower? George Ferris engineered it for the 1893 World’s Fair. We know it as the Ferris Wheel. Today’s version at Navy Pier is a Chicago icon.
 

On Foot/The World's Art & Design/USA

17

Jun

The Wondrous World of Steampunk New Zealand

by Joyce McGreevy on June 17, 2019

Parade goers cheer the arrival of Queen Victoria (Pinky Agnew) at Steampunk Festival NZ, which reflects the Victorian cultural heritage and creative thinking of Oamaru, New Zealand. (Image © Liz Cadogan)

As an airship hovers nearby, Queen Victoria rolls into town for Steampunk Festival NZ.
© Liz Cadogan/@LizCadogan

Victorian Cultural Heritage
Meets Kiwi Creativity

Queen Victoria was there, celebrating her 200th birthday. Festivities included a parade, teapot races, parasol duels, and a wedding. The bride wore purple, the groom a metal samurai hat.

What is this?

Oh, I see: This is Oamaru (pop. 13,000), where Victorian cultural heritage and Steampunk creative thinking are a marriage made in heaven—a.k.a. New Zealand.

Parasol duelists and crowds enjoy Steampunk Festival NZ, which celebrates the Victorian cultural heritage and creative thinking of Oamaru, New Zealand. (Image © Janet Doyle)

Like “Rock Paper Scissors,” parasol duels involve three  moves: Plant, Twirl, Snub.
© Janet Doyle  Read more...

 

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/New Zealand/The World's Art & Design

16

Apr

“Where Are the Women?”

by Joyce McGreevy on April 16, 2019

Shadow of a woman on stairs in a restorer's studio in Florence where Jane Adams of Advancing Women Artists is working to restore the hidden half of Italy's artistic heritage. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

At a restorer’s studio in Florence, art by Renaissance women emerges from the shadows.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Hidden Half of Florence, Italy’s Artistic Heritage

“First came the flood,” says Jane Adams. “Then came the flood of helpers.” A passionate builder of partnerships for Advancing Women Artists, Adams meets me at a café near the River Arno. The setting is picture-perfect: Florence, a 2,000-year-old city and the center of Italy’s artistic heritage.

In Florence, reflections of buildings in the Arno river that flooded in 1966 and threatened Italy's artistic heritage. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Mirroring calm today, the River Arno turned deadly in 1966.
© Joyce McGreevy  Read more...

 

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Italy/The World's Art & Design

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