On a quest in Deland Florida

Yesterday my friend Pam and I went on a quest to find the “National Museum of Women in Art”. It was said to be in Deland and since Pam is a member, we thought we would go find out what she is a member of. So we trucked it up to the beautiful, quaint city of Deland, about 15 miles away.  We went to the address on the Google map and it turned out to be the Cultural Arts Center at Stetson University. We wandered in and looked around at the gallery, the work was abstract expressionist by Florida artist, Harold Garde. Every piece was vibrant, really alive and embracing, I gravitated to his “puppet” series, one of a few series he has on display. The exhibit will be there till the 15th of this month –

But, when we asked about the Women’s Museum, no one had heard much about it. And the women working there as volunteers were quite wonderfully informative. So we back tracked and went walking with our cameras to downtown and ate at Norville Barnes which had excellent food.     Then off we went through the downtown looking for places of interest where Pam can work with her infra-red film.  We found a very cool bookstore with many antiquarian books which I love. Then there was a very fun pet store, Animalia which had terrific snakes and lizards and koi besides other pets. Outside there were robins flying all over and they so remind me of growing up in Ohio and seeing those wonderful red breasted birds.

But still no National Women’s Museum.
We went to take photos of the Wharf, an older building where artist Courtney Canova has painted people on the windows.  And as we walked back to the car, we scame across the Artsan Inn and on a fluke Pam looked up and saw a sign, (no not from God, an actual sign) that read, National Museum of Women in Art. We wandered in and took the elevator where it directed us, the second floor, because there are only 2 floors. And we peeked in all kinds of room and found it. There was a featured artist on exhibit and we found a women who welcomed us there and said yes, this was where Pam was a member. They hoped to host many one person exhibits. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the artist, but she had remarkable detailed work, plus a painted ostrich egg!    (this photo from the Artisan Inn itself, not one of mine)
So Pam and I had a great time and had fun discovering part of Deland which I can say I would be happy to live in such a wonderful and friendly town. Everyone we met was so open and nice. Being a University town with Stetson has shaped this into a cultured city with lots of history and charm. I would go back at the drop of a hat.
When I got home I fished, no fish caught, but weather all day was so perfect you could not have asked for a better day to enjoy!    a few more pics: Methodist Church   Elizabeth Hall.

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