A Special Trip to Washington, DC
We now have a woman’s leadership award established in the name of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Last weekend, I traveled to our nation’s capital to attend the special inaugural ceremony and gala in the Library of Congress - you may have seen my post on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48. The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation created the new leadership award in honor of Justice Ginsberg’s exemplary career and life. I was honored to be a part of the nominating committee and to see the award presented to Agnes Gund, for her positive and notable influence on society. It was a very special evening. The next day, I visited Glenstone - a private contemporary art museum in Potomac, Maryland, just 15-miles from downtown Washington, D.C. The museum's exhibitions are drawn from a collection of about 1300 works from post-World War II artists around the world.
Enjoy my photos.
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- It was a nice evening in Washington, DC when I arrived. Here I am passing the United States Capitol, also known as the Capitol Building, home of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the US federal government. The Capitol is just across the street from the Library of Congress.
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- The event was held in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress. This Library is housed across three buildings on Capitol Hill: the Thomas Jefferson Building, the James Madison Memorial Building, and the John Adams Building. It houses more than 164 million items, from books to photos to recordings, etc.
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- I attended the event with my nephew, Josh Bernstein.
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- It was a very special event. Seated here are Julie Opperman, Chairman of the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Award recipient, Agnes Gund, president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and chair of its International Council. In her remarks, Justice Ginsberg said, “I am especially pleased that the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation established the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg Woman of Leadership Award to honor women who have strived to make the world a better place for generations that follow their own, women who exemplify human qualities of empathy and humility, and who care about the dignity and well being of all who dwell on planet earth.”
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- I was part of the nominating committee. Here I am in a group photo after the event with Leonard Lauder, Philanthropist Ghada Irani, Gloria Allred, Sue Kroll, and Harvard Law School Professor, Martha Minow. Justice Ginsberg and Agnes Gund are seated in front.
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- The ceiling of the library’s Great Hall at the front of the building is inlaid with six decorative stained-glass skylights and aluminum plating. Along the perimeter of the ceiling are the names of 10 authors, considered to have made great contributions to literature. They are Dante, Homer, Milton, Bacon, Aristotle, Goethe, Shakespeare, Moliere, Moses, and Herodotus.
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- The evening concluded with a delicious dinner.
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- And here is one more photo of the Capitol Building at night.
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- The next day, we visited Glenstone in nearby Potomac. Glenstone is an art museum that assembles post-World War II artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries and displays them in a series of indoor and outdoor spaces. The name “Glenstone” comes from two local sources: Glen Road, where the property line begins, and a type of carderock stone indigenous to the area, which is still extracted from several nearby quarries.
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- This is Heizer overlook located along the main path near the Entry Pavilion of Glenstone.
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- This piece is “Spectrum IX” (2014) in Room 1 of the Pavilions. This work by Ellsworth Kelly is part of the artist’s Spectrum series, composed of twelve joined monochromatic panels. The painting is among the last works completed by the artist before his death in 2015.
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- This piece is “Untitled” (1962) by Lee Bontecou.
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- This is called “Herd (Stove)” (1969) by Dieter Roth.
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- I admired this one because it is made from eggs. It is called “Ovale d’oeufs 1234567,” which translates to “Oval of eggs 1234567” (1965) by Marcel Broodthaers.
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- This is simply called “Flag on an Orange Field II” (1958) by Jasper Johns.
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- This is “Mappa,” (1971–1972) by Alighiero e Boetti. Alighiero was an Italian conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera.
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- This “Untitled” (10/22/1988) is by Keith Haring, a well-known artist whose pop art and graffiti-like work grew out of the New York City street culture of the 1980s.
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- This painting is part of a triptych titled “Moon Landing” (1969) by On Kawara. The installation features three Date Paintings from the Today series (1966–2013) that together commemorate the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission in July 1969. Each large-scale canvas bears a date documenting the mission’s launch (July 16, 1969), the landing of the lunar module (July 20), and man’s first steps on the moon (July 21).
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- This is called “Collapse” (1967/2016) by Michael Heizer, a land artist specializing in large-scale and site-specific sculptures. This artwork consists of 15 heavy beams of rusted steel that appear to have been tossed into a deep pit lined with vertical walls.
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- This is a view of the Water Court, the open 18-thousand square foot central area of the Pavilions that lines the Passage.
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- This is the view from Room 7. This space does not have art in it. Instead, it is meant to offer a moment of rest for visitors. The Room offers an expansive view of the meadow, as well as a peek of Split-Rocker” (2000) by Jeff Koons.
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- In this group, clockwise from the top: “Hand holding egg” (2007), “Handheld bird” (2006) and “Chicken” (2007) – all by Charles Ray.
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- This is “Sleeping woman” (2012), a piece also by Charles Ray, a Los Angeles-based sculptor known for his strange and enigmatic works that draw on the viewer’s perceptual judgments.
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- This is called “Moss Sutra with the Seasons” (2010–2015) by Brice Marden. It measures nine feet by 39-feet.
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- This is “Untitled” Lexington (1951) by Cy Twombly.
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- Another piece by Cy Twombly called “Cycnus,” Rome (1978).
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- And the third piece in this room is “Anabasis” Bassano in Teverina (1980) by Cy Twombly.
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- Here I am on the staircase between the Entry Pavilion and Room 1. The only space in the Pavilions that is at ground level is the Entry Pavilion, so this staircase brings visitors up to the main level of the building.
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- This is “Horse and rider” (2014) by Charles Ray. This sculpture is located along the main path between the Pavilions and the Cafe.
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- And here is “Split-Rocker” (2000) by Jeff Koons. From May to November, this sculpture is planted with 25-thousand living flowers.
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- Next, we went to the Cafe at Glenstone Museum. The Cafe sources its ingredients from local farmers, producers, and bakeries. A member of the grounds crew designs the floral centerpieces each week with plants from the meadow.
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- And here I am with the Cafe staff – Lily, Dave, Chef Brian Patterson, Karyn, Eddie, Emily, and Tomas. It was a fun visit to Glenstone – please stop by the next time you are in the area.
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