There is a running joke between some of my friends and I that ‘you’re not a museum unless you have an Alexander Calder piece in your collection on display.’ Now, of course this is a sarcastic joke, but there is some validity to it. Calder was an American sculpture best known for his innovative “mobile” sculptures who gained prominence in the art world in the 1920s. He created over 16,000 pieces of art throughout his life and they are in many of the world’s largest museums including The Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Gallery of Art. Personally, it seems as though every large museum I visit I see a Calder piece or two. Each time I see his work I chuckle to myself for a second and think “ahh, so here is their Calder piece.” Most recently, I saw his work during my visits to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. I started asking myself, “I wonder why everyone has Calder pieces??” I mean, I knew a little bit about Calder, but clearly not enough. I thought, “if he is in damn near every museum I visit, I should probably know more about him.” [ Read more ]

During times like this where we may find ourselves with more down time than usual, we have the opportunity to fill our time with things we may not be able to on a regular basis. That might include more exercising, reading some new books (and if you’re interested, I do have a suggested reading list), or watching something entertaining! For me, it can be difficult to find time to watch TV series, movies, and documentaries because I’m on the move a lot. But when I get the chance I enjoying watching different movies, documentaries, and even panel discussions as a way to actively learn and be entertained. So, for this post I wanted to share some awesome videos that will grab and hold your attention. [ See the list on the Urban Walls Brazil website . ]