Met up with girlfriends from my Midwood High School days (Brookyn, NY 1961) for a lovely french bistro lunch in upper Manhattan ...not one of us has aged in 50+ years, of course !!
and then, we slowly strolled....
passing such wonderful buildings
until we came to our destination
The Georgian style mansion was built over the course of the years 1899 to 1902 and has sixty-four rooms. The home served as not only the home for Andrew Carnegie, his wife, and daughter, but also as his office for his philanthropic work after his retirement.
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we're greeted by some Russian protesters...thankfully they were peaceful...but loud!
The COOPER HEWITT museum, which was the first Smithsonian museum outside of Washington, D.C., moved to its home at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in 1970. The Mansion was renovated and the museum opened to the public on October 7, 1976. In May 1968 the museum officially became part of the Smithsonian and in 1969, it was renamed as the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.
It is filled with wonderful things.
The Cooper Hewitt collections consist of decorative and design objects.
This is a mans hat (ashetu) from Cameroon-mid-late 20th century. Crocheted cotton and wood splints. It reflects the hairstyles of high ranking men.
This was the upper part of a decorative radiator.
These are Compagnonnage examples showing the skills of design necessary to build a spiral staircase unsupported. It also shows the skills in veneering.
Below we have an installation of a "Stamp World" map.
for my Aussie friends I give you Australia
Just SOOOOOO Brilliant !
and for kids (old and young alike actually!) they offer the Pixar room
where you get to create your very own characters
everything is interactive
so, here are a few more of the exhibits and I hope one day you'll all get a chance to visit.
and I left with this purchase (below!)
the entire day was filled with inspiration and good memories.