Road Runners paint the town with Fort Worth “Art” exploration.
Peggy Crandell
On a beautiful March day, 44 Road Runners ventured to Ft. Worth to enjoy In The Art of It All. Our itinerary included Western art at the Amon Carter, the permanent collection at The Kimball, the Water Gardens in Downtown and the art of making beer at the Martin House Brewery. So as you can see we had quite a diversified day.
Our artistic talents were tested when our tour guide distributed paper and crayons and requested we draw a picture and tape it to the window. After viewing all the entries, Bill Ambre’s picture won the “Picasso Award.” Watch for Bill’s debut art show soon.
Along with the Western art at the Amon Carter, we viewed the traveling Thomas Hart Benton collection. We remarked about the beautiful walls throughout this museum and learned from our very knowledgeable docent the walls are made of unique shell stone.
The Kimball was our next stop where we lunched in their famous café and browsed in their lovely gift shop before starting our docent-led tour. Geraldine Gawle pointed out that when you walk by the bigger-than-life portrait of Don Pedro, there is an illusion of his foot moving. So of course we were all took turns walking back and forth in front of the portrait. And you know, she was right. We viewed art by Van Gough, Cezanne, Matisse, Munch, Picasso, Brague, DeGoya and Michelangelo. In fact The Kimball owns Michelangelo’s first painting, The Torment of St Anthony. The museum is also very proud to have in its permanent collection Winged Deities from modern day Iran. These would have been among the art and antiquities destroyed recently if The Kimball has not acquired them.
Our motor coach then took us to Downtown Ft. Worth to the Water Gardens situated in a beautiful wooded park oasis. A misting pool and a multi-tiered water garden leading down to a pool in the center highlight this venue. Only our tour guide and two of our members, Peggy Crandell and Bobbi Hardt, ventured all the way down to the pool. They said it was somewhat challenging but worth the effort.
To end our day of art our next venture was to the Martin House Brewery where a brewmaster showed and explained the process of making beer to us. We then ‘bellied up to the bar’ to taste several of their selections including Day Break (pairs well with Cheerios), Salty Lady (think Margarita), Gateway Blonde, River House and Pretzel Stout. We found their friendly staff to be passionate about their craft. We all headed home with a souvenir mason jar tasting glass and were confident we all now knew more about art.