The stuff outside the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City was so cool ! You could hardly leave the green space surrounding the gallery to go inside. The grounds feature four giant badminton shuttlecocks created by artists Oldenberg and Van Bruggen. They are 18 feet tall and weigh 2.5 tons. Apparently the pieces enjoy a love/hate relationship with art critics and art gallery visitors alike.
Seeing these four seasons sculptures by Philip Haas was like greeting old friends. 
We had already enjoyed them at the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix Arizona.
And had seen some of the original paintings by Guieseppe Archimboldo on which the sculptures are based
At the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota Florida.
I was intrigued by this installation called Storage by Judith Shea. Who might have owned the space where this collection of objects was stored?
I loved the quote from Victor Hugo just under the roof line of the gallery building. The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real. 
And then of course there was a casting of Rodin’s The Thinker which we are posing in front of with our friend Jeff.
Despite all the cool stuff outside the museum we did eventually make our way inside. But that’s a topic for a future blog post.
Other posts about art gallery visits……
