No, sorry this is not a tribute diary to my favorite hard rock misogynist band, AC/DC. Nor is it a tribute to the dubious "hair band" groups.
However, if you are an amateur blacksmith, knife maker, or just turned on by the astounding beauty of various metals and how they can be made into both functional tools and artistic expression then the National Ornamental Metal Museum is just the place for your next visit when you come to Memphis.
It is a rather unique museum in that it also has a functional work area where people can take classes in the various forms of metal work and artists who work with metals often come to create and study. This museum is a neglected gem in Memphis over shadowed by the more famous offerings but no less interesting.
Dad and his wife came for a visit and landed in the hottest week of the summer. He declare that Memphis was the hottest place he had ever been. The perils of dragging an eighty year old man around for sight seeing had me pushing hydration like it was crack and led to some "don't treat me like a child" moments. I probably was vaguely paranoid about how he and his wife would respond and he was a touch childish when he got tired. When I am eighty I will likely just be permanently bitchy in the hot weather and they both held up better than I expected. Enough about the silly family dynamics between the middle aged and the elderly. I took a few pictures that I would like to share that I hope do this unique place justice. The museum building was actually the site of the first VA hospital in Memphis.
The outside grounds are shrouded in lovely old trees and all over the site are old relics of metal tools and original works of art by metal artists.
I sure wanted to take a dip in this fountain.
This interesting creature was made entirely from car parts.
The lovely bronze flower also functioned as a bird feeder, the birds cleaned this one out but there were several around.
A stairway to heaven or nirvana? I liked the decorative cow head as well.
This sculpture was actually a giant wind chime with parts that moved. Kinda big to hang off the roof but impressive none the less.
In the building were more sculptures and some gorgeous knives.
Who among us does not secretly fantasize about having giant antlers as a focal piece in the living room?
The knives were no doubt functional but imbued with vast efforts of craftsmanship.
Ah, the heavy yoke of our modern capitalist culture...
I wasn't quite sure of the deeper meaning of these sculptures, lacking any artistic sense myself I made up my own stories.
This "corn man" kinda looks like me before I have my first cup of java in the morning.
She must be the Goddess of the birds. Note she is in the cage with them. Who protects whom?
Ah, a flower that would survive in my house since it only requires looking at.
This one has a modern feel but the lines are compelling, it flows in a vaguely hypnotic way.
Thought this was one was just pretty. Imagine the time an effort that went into creating it.
I hope y'all enjoyed looking at these unique structures. Just another indication that Memphis has much to offer a curious visitor beyond Beale Street (yes, I still go there because there is good music to be had) and Elvis ( haven't seen him yet but I have not consumed large amounts of high grade tequila in years) and today's heat index is 107.