A Visit to the Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum
Be Fearful of Mediocrity
I had to get out of town for a weekend day trip. 2 hours away from Des Moines, in the SW corner of Iowa, is the small town of Clarinda, Iowa. It’s the home town of big band leader Glenn Miller and has a museum there to honor him. Clarinda has a prison. And Clarinda seemed to have more farm implement dealers than car dealers. While Clarinda doesn’t have a Wal-Mart, it did have a Tractor Supply near the hospital on the south end of town. I didn’t really plan a day trip for any of that, although I did stop by Tractor Supply and the nearby Fareway grocery store. Everybody’s friendly and helpful.
My main reason for visiting Clarinda was seeing the Clarinda Carnegie Museum, the town’s former Carnegie Library, which was bought and reimagined into an art museum by Karen & Robert Duncan of Duncan Aviation.
When I visited, the show contained pieces from the vast art collection of the Duncans.
This art museum is about as special as it gets.
I don’t want to use the phrase “the middle of nowhere” to describe where it’s located, but it’s definitely “out of the way”. It’s an easy drive from Des Moines, Omaha, or Kansas City.
They had a Nam June Paik multimedia exhibit from the early 90s called “Good Girl, Bad Girl” that I made into an Instagram Reel, but I forgot to take a photo or get video.
I didn’t photograph everything. I’m just giving you a flavor for the place. In addition to the paintings, sculptures, and installations, there are thousands of art books in numerous book cases on the main floor and in a side office.
And in the men’s room on the lower level is this:
I was the only person there when I visited on a Saturday, other than the gallery director. She told me to the story of the Duncans installing art by Omaha artist Mike Nesbit along a walking trail on the south end of town, behind the hospital.
I couldn’t believe it.
Behind the hospital, next to a corn field, and on the edge of a small town, there’s this:
From Des Moines, I went I-80 west to avoid some thunderstorms, and got off near Atlantic and went over to Highway 71 south to Clarinda. Once you’re off the interstate, it’s mostly farm fields and very small towns. I’d drive for several minutes without seeing another vehicle. It was a totally ‘chill’ trip. On the way back, I took Highway 2 east to Mount Ayr and then Highway 169 north to Winterset.
The gallery director also told me of the town of Malvern, Iowa, located 45 minutes to the NW of Clarinda. The Art Church is there. The downtown looks vibrant for only having 1000 people in town. Ride through town in “street view” mode of Google Maps to see what I mean. My wife and I will plan a trip in the future.
In Other News
I did get a Letter of Relinquishment from Songtrust this past week. I’m done with them after June 30th and, going forward, I will self-manage my music catalog on the mechanical and publishing side.
Songtrust refuses to acknowledge the other issues I have raised with them, one of which involves a payment they said was sent out but my bank didn’t receive. Judging by what others are saying about the company at Trust Pilot, that’s par for the course. It’s a matter of time before it all catches up to the people running this company.