Admirable Art in Huntsville, Alabama

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As I’ve mentioned before, one of the nice things about travel is that it helps us, and often forces us, to confront our beliefs. When traveling internationally, we must admit that while we love our home country, other cultures have pretty great traditions too. When traveling in our own nation, we stand face-to-face with our own stereotypes or mistaken beliefs and watch them explode. In my imagination, Alabama was comprised of small, dusty towns with red dirt roads, crumbling white clapboard farmhouses, and uneducated people. That’s really embarrassing to admit. I’m sorry, Alabama.

While I suppose there could be places like that in Alabama, that has not been the bulk of my experience in the state. In fact, in July 2021 U.S. News and World Report ranked Huntsville, Alabama as the third best place to live in America. It is one of the most educated cities in the nation. Due to the space industry that has been based there for decades, there is an unusually high number of people with advanced STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) degrees. You know what is true of educated communities? They love art and culture!

I come from a University town with a vibrant art scene and I have seen the way good museums can add quality of life to a community. All this to say, that I was very curious about the Huntsville Museum of Art. It is what I consider a mid-sized museum. I was concerned about the $12 price tag at first because I am an advocate for making art as accessible to the masses as possible, and for many people $12 is expensive. I was placated when I discovered that the museum has 14 galleries to explore, which makes it fairly large and a better experience for the price than I originally thought. The museum had inexpensive metered parking right out front, too.

During my visit the exhibits were wonderfully wide-ranging from 9/11 photographs by the Associated Press to the role of whimsy in art: from a studio glass display to an exhibit of silver animal sculptures.

I am not sure that I can pick a favorite exhibit. Each gallery was excellently curated, and I nearly always found at least one piece to love. The award for the most mind-blowing artistry of my visit goes to Buccellati: A Silver Menagerie. Apparently, Gianmaria Buccellati is the head of the House of Buccellati (in Italy), which has been creating silver pieces since 1919. He welds countless silver filaments of varying thickness and lengths together to create a realistic appearance of hair, feathers and fur. Words cannot do the work justice, so please enjoy this gallery.

9/11 and Beyond: Photographs from the Associated Press was as poignant as you would expect it to be. There were photos in black & white and color from that historic day and the days following. It was interesting to see some of the famous shots up close and to view ones that I had not seen before. In particular, I liked that the exhibit included photographs of the construction of the World Trade Center. Seeing those photographs reminded me that the building complex was full of promise when it was first erected. While the name “World Trade Center” today evokes crushing heartache to any American who hears it, that reaction in itself is disturbing. It was nice to be reminded that for decades the words “World Trade Center” were not sad. They represented prosperity and the intrepid American will to succeed.

We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America was a powerful portraiture exhibit by painter Mary Whyte that took up several galleries. In 2010, Whyte embarked on a huge project. She wanted to paint 50 large-scale watercolor portraits of veterans. The thing to remember here is the sheer size of each painting. Below, I have included some photos that will show the scale and others that you show the incredible detail. She visited and photographed (for reference only) veterans from every state with the end-goal of selecting one person from each state to be in the final collection. She has included men, women, various ethnicities, numerous post-military career choices, a wide range of emotions, and much more. The result is a varied and wonderful patchwork quilt of lives, stories and of our nation as a whole. Here are just a few.

The Huntsville Museum of Art was founded by city ordinance in 1970 and is situated in Big Spring Park. After viewing the art, I made time to explore this little park too. It is not a lot of land, but it packs a big visual punch. Wow! Immediately next to the museum, there is a fountain and a pool where families feed ducks. Across the street is the other half of the park and there, you will find the best part (in my opinion). There is a not-so-secret waterfall! Yes, right in the middle of the city! OK, it might not be a waterfall exactly, but it is a water feature, and it makes you feel like you are not in downtown, but rather, exploring a rural mountain grotto somewhere.

It is all related to the city’s water reclamation, and their cycling and cleaning of the water supply. I don’t completely understand the process, but it makes for one amazing park.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. Alabama continues to surprise. To fully appreciate my trip to the Huntsville Museum of Art, remember that you can click on any of the photos of the art contained in this post and they will enlarge so you can get a better view. Downtown Huntsville, the museum and park were only a 15-minute drive from the area of town where we stayed at the Huntsville Marriott at the Space and Rocket Center. I am always happy to find unique art anywhere, but it’s even more fun when I am surprised to find it. America, you are one cool place!