Day 6: Pittsburgh to Philadelphia

Day 6:  Pittsburgh to Philadelphia

QOTD: The wheels on the bus really go round and round and round

Weather: Balmy! 60s

Pics: Gluten free toaster, on the way to Bob P’s collection, Ani Kasten and piece we bought elsewhere

Note: OMCA no longer allows pictures to be taken at private collectors’ houses (unfortunately, the privilege was abused, so even if the collector allows picture taking, it is better to just have a total ban)

The usual start: FitCtr and toast (not in the gluten free toaster, people were watching) and yogurt and fruit. And, we’re off to Philadelphia with a stop in Lancaster to see Bob Pfannebecker’s (mostly craft) collection. And it is wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling, in four different buildings on his 40 acres in the midst of PA farmland (and Amish horse and buggies).

Bob knew the pedigree of every artist in his collection (100s…a 1,000?): school, who was in school at the same time, where he/she went after school, where they are now, who they know now. Very impressive, and mostly (so it seemed to THB) early work by many of the artists that was not always iconic. Most of the tour thought: OVERLOAD! OBSESSION! THB thought it was fun to see so much craft and find the gems.

Back on the bus to arrive at the Hotel Palomar in downtown Philly (THB and DB have often stayed in the HP in Westwood, part of the Kimpton chain. Unpack, freshen up, and off to the opening night of the 37^th annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft show (this was definitely a craft day).

Buffet dinner and visits to many a booth. Introduce ourselves to a young artist, Ani Kasten, because we bought several pieces of hers when chasing down Masamichi Yoshikawa’s work in, of all places, Concord MA. Ani is very exuberant, and makes great ceramic pieces. We also met her mom, who was justifiably proud!

Back to hotel to start resting up for tomorrow’s big event: a tour of the new Barnes (if you haven’t seen it, watch the documentary on the Barnes move: The Art of the Steal, highly recommended).