Wow! There's a museum for everything. Want to know how I know? I visited the SPAM Museum! This summer I was driving along I-90 and needed a break. Spying a sign for the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota, I was intrigued and followed the signs.
Pulling up to the gate, the guard asked all sorts of questions before letting me pass and park. I didn't realize you have to pass an interrogation just to see the SPAM Museum. You should be thankful I forged ahead so now you know too. Inside, a much friendlier guard asked if I'd had my photo taken with Spammy yet and because, no, I hadn't, we took care of that right away.
The museum was actually really cool. I was a bit hesitant at first, thinking I'd be bombarded by a sample tray of SPAM - but there was actually none of that. Instead, Hormel (parent company behind SPAM) created a really cool museum with interesting displays including an old Hormel wagon and antique Red Wing crocks.
My favorite part of the whole museum? The winding conveyor belt overhead carrying tins of SPAM from room to room. So. Cool.
Well...The gift shop at the exit was pretty cool too. Who knew you could get all kinds of apparel, gadgets, gags and even nice gifts emblazened with the SPAM logo? Outside of seeing the SPAM tent at the Minnesota State Fair, this opened up a whole new world. Here's to more quirky and wacky museums yet to explore!
Look at this clever reminder that the art in this exhibit is to be appreciated with eyes only, as in HANDS OFF - with the notable exception of this.
What is this, you ask? Why, I was hoping you'd inquire. Let me tell you. This is the "Hands-On Art" display in the Fine Arts building at the Minnesota State Fair, held just a couple months ago from August . And the most exciting part of Hands On Art is YOU get to be the artist! Yes, YOU! That's right. Don't be shy now. In fact, you'd better be pretty brave because this area is so popular, you might have to shoulder your way in close just to take your turn at building your own artful masterpiece out of smooth wooden blocks.
See what these kids have created? And all on their very own too!
You might be surprised how quiet this area of the busy building really was. You see, this level of artful inspiration takes a lot of concentration and you usually have to be very quiet to muster much of that. About the only noise we heard in this area was the wail of a disappointed block artist who wasn't quite finished with their masterpiece when their patron (usually a parent) had to pry them away to go see another part of the fair.
The lure of block artistry (an artform akin to cubism, perhaps?) is nearly impossible to resist.
In fact, there was nary a parent who didn't give in to the temptation to create their own exquisite block formation in the guise of "helping" their child.
Yep - this was certainly the art hotspot of the day. Looking forward to more of this next year when we get to go on another fair adventure!
