Winona Road Trip Part I

The button club went on the road to see an exhibit of special interest at the Minnesota Museum of Marine Art, The Shell Game: Clam Fishing and the Pearl Button Industry. We were delighted to find that there were three other wonderful current exhibits. Impressionist and Hudson River School Art, Life on the River - Leo and Marilyn Smith Folk Art Collection, and Famous Names and Places: The Marine Art of John Stobart, Roy Cross, Dusan Kadlec and Maarten Platje. The Impressionist and Hudson River School Art collection contains work by Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam and others. An unexpected treat!





Just for this special occassion one of the button club ladies wore a shellbutton-embellished vest she has made. Her attire caused a flurry of attention and activity among the museum workers who took photos and tried to get a news reporter to show up to cover her creation and the momentous visit of an out-of-state button club to their exhibit. The number of buttons Norma sewed to her vest is near 2000 and she says she isn't done yet. This is the vest back.

I highly recommend you put the MofMA on your list of places to go, things to see, and people to meet. It would be a great destination for those who like to take the occasional Sunday drive. If you happen to have kids in college in Winona a visit here would be a good graduation weekend add-on activity or a post apartment move-out destresser. The beautiful six-year-old museum has strong supporters including, I believe, the owners of the Fastenal and Watkins companies, and is well run by a very friendly staff. Sadly, by the time you read this, the whimsical wood carvings of Leo and Marilyn Smith will be gone, but their work comes back later this year in a holiday-themed exhibit.