By Patricia Frischer
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| Colorful Culture: African Bead |
I know I am coming late to the party, but this was the first
time I have visited Balboa Park since the pandemic started. The park was full
of people, but luckily not too many were in the exhibition space of the newly renovated
Mingei Museum.
The good news is that the top floor is full of the
wonderful treasures that are always an inspiration to me. I get ideas for
painting and sculptures and fund raisers and gifts from their wonderful
collection of objects from all over the world (Humble Spirit/Priceless Art to
July 4). As always, the works are beautifully displayed and well labeled. The
works when I visited was a selection from their vast collection. But I did get
a sneak peek of the Niki de Saint Phalle show that will be opening on April 8. And
there is still the view of the wonderful board room table and chairs plus a
brand-new glass fronted library. I can imagine spending hours there researching
a subject in depth.
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| Procession by Alice Hudson |
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| Colorful culture: African Beads |
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| So simple and so charming |
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| Wonderful ceramic pot |
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| Conference table and chairs |
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| Library |
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| Niki sneak peek |
The downstairs was much less impressive than I thought it
would be. There was no WOW moment when you walk in from either the old entrance
or the new one from the Alcazar Gardens. There are five glass display cases but
they didn’t really stand out visually. What you do see is the gift shop and the
restaurant and the feeling you get is “spend money here.” The fact that was
even a display on the second floor was not evident, if you had not visited the
museum previously. I had a particular
problem with the low metal ceiling which I understand was supposed to be symbolic
of a music box cylinder of raised metal bits. But the Mingei is not about music
and this was a big miss for me. However,
I could see that in the future, if the restaurant seating could be altered in a
more organic design, they could bring back a display on the ground floor.
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| Lobby Restaurant and metal ceiling |
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| Gift Shop |
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| New entrance from the garden |
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