Calendar Note: Visit the Artrain this weekend!

We drove to Calera to see the Artrain at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. The 4-car museum contains artwork by Native Americans, a couple of working artists, and a tiny gift shop. The art was beautiful and thought-provoking. The only disadvantage to a train-based museum is that it's difficult to get far enough away from a few of the larger pieces. We also enjoyed wandering among the rows of train cars in the yard of the Railroad Museum.

Calendar Note: Artrain USA April 5-10, 2007

Calera, Alabama

The Artrain USA, an art museum in a train, will be at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. Presented by the Academy of Fine Arts of Shelby County, the featured exhibit is Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture. (Not open Easter Sunday.) We do plan to visit this.

Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama

I'm always amazed at how many residents of Birmingham and Alabama (and probably anywhere) are unaware of the myriad places in their neighborhood that are worth visiting. Natives tend to stick to the familiar. Transplants moan about being in a cultural backwater. Recently we did our Showcase Recital at Boutwell Auditorium. We gave directions using the Birmingham Museum of Art as a landmark--and many didn't know the place. What a shame! The Birmingham Museum of Art is definitely a regional treasure. It has a world-class Wedgewood collection, which prompted my then 5-year-old son to comment that this museum had "way too many dishes". He was soon won back by the display of samurai weaponry.
Personally, I am fascinated by native American quillworking. Before Europeans traded for beads, native American women used dyed porcupine quills to decorate clothing. BMA has some nice examples--I think better even than the Denver art museum.
We usually plan our visits around the special exhibitions. The museum is open every day except Monday and a few holidays. Admission is free, with a donation box at the entrance. Parking is free (after validation) in the museum's lot off of 21st Street.