So, here's the plan . . . .

I’ve received a Fund for Teachers’ Fellowship. This is my second Fund for Teachers’ Fellowship. On the first one I traveled through Europe on my own. It was quite an adventure, but I’ll save the long version of that story for some later date. One of the things that trip made me aware of was how little I know my own country. I’ve touched ground in almost all of the 48 contiguous states, but I don’t really know this country.

So this time I decided to stay closer to home. My original proposal was to follow in Georgia O’Keeffe’s footsteps across the Southwest and, in addition, to study pictographs and petroglyphs along the way. That’s my proposal and I’m sticking to it.

I’ve been researching Georgia O’Keeffe for quite some time. I suppose that one of the things that appeals to me about her is that, early in her life, she taught art. Not only did she teach art, she taught art right here in Texas.

My hope is eventually to follow her path through out the United States, from her birth place in Wisconsin to Chicago and New York City. I had originally intended to document where she had lived in New York City, but I wasn’t able to make it up there this spring. A little matter of some very pricey oral surgery kept me from making it to the National Art Education Association Convention in New York City at spring break.

It remains to be seen if I’ll make it to New York City before or after the road trip. It is certain to be one or the other I'm just not sure which one. I’ve gone to great lengths to find the addresses there where Georgia O’Keeffe lived. My plan is to go and document these various sites. If the buildings are still standing I’ll photograph them, if not I’ll photograph whatever has taken their place.

Now, back to my upcoming road trip, I don’t intend on moving too far too fast. I like to believe that I’m still twenty years old and up for anything, but it just ain’t true. I’ve hit the half century mark and I’m proud of making it this far, although I do get the occasional jolt when I look in the mirror and wonder who is that woman with the graying hair.

My itinerary goes something like this. On or about June 26th I’ll pick up a rent vehicle. With the current price of gas going through the roof I may have to reconsider renting a small SUV. I don’t know. I’ll wait to decide on that one.

Once the vehicle is packed and ready to go I’ll drive up to the hill country. Georgia O’Keeffe spent a short period of time recovering from the flu in San Antonio and nearby Waring, Texas during 1918 just prior to her move to New York City. I don't have any address in San Antonio, but I know that she and Paul Strand walked down along the river

Since my plan is to follow her movements through the Southwest I’ll head on from there to Canyon and Amarillo, Texas. I’ll be stopping off at Palo Duro Canyon, one of the sites/sights that inspired O’Keeffe.

I am considering staying at Hudspeth House in Canyon, Texas. Their website says:
“Georgia O'keefe, America's most honored Artist once took her meals here at the Hudspeth House Bed and Breakfast in Canyon, Texas (1917-1919) with Mary E. Hudspeth as they were both Teachers at West Texas Normal College (West Texas A&M University).
She used to share her latest art projects with the dinner party that met quite often. We would love to take you back to the era in which Georgia O'Keefe lived and have you experience the home in which she enjoyed so many good times.”
I’ll make a decision on that sometime in the next week or two.

From Canyon, Texas I’ll drive through Amarillo, another Texas town where O’Keeffe lived and taught, and then on to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

O’Keeffe first saw Santa Fe in 1917 while on vacation with her sister. They passed through on their way back from the Rockies. Years later she said, “I loved it immediately. From then on I was always on my way back.”

Her way back took a little longer than expected. O’Keeffe returned to New Mexico again in the summer of 1929, twelve years after her first encounter with Santa Fe. Mabel Dodge Luhan invited O’Keeffe and Stieglitz to stay at her home, Los Gallos. O’Keeffe accepted and traveled with her friend, Beck Strand, for her first summer in New Mexico.

She returned to New Mexico every summer except for 1932, 1933 and 1939 until she moved there in 1949. In 1940 O’Keeffe bought Rancho de los Burros from Arthur Pack, the owner of Ghost Ranch, and in 1945 she bought the house in Abiquiu.

My plan includes making it to several of the sites that O’Keeffe painted over and over again including the Black Place and the White Place. More about that later.

I plan to make Santa Fe the hub of my stay in New Mexico. I’ll be attending a workshop called “Folk Art Traditions and Beyond” there from July 10th through the 16th. This workshop coincides with the Folk Art Festival at the Museum of International Folk Art and the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

I want to see the night sky at Chaco Canyon, and visit Canyon de Chelly and Mesa Verde. These are all places that O’Keeffe went long before there were good roads and interstate highways.

I’ve reserved the Georgia O’Keeffe room at Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos. Yes, it is the same room that O’Keefe stayed in 78 years ago on her first summer in New Mexico. There’s no need to ask if I’m excited.

There are a lot of little side trips and jaunts besides, but for now this is enough.

I’ll be spending these next few weeks making plans and reservations. I’ll let you know more as things start to firm up.

At last the end is near, make that here, . . .

The school year is over, at least for me. I have spent all of my time and energy for the last two weeks preparing for this moment. Now that its here I just may know what the rabbit caught in the headlights was feeling. Fortunately for me the outcome is not near as dramatic.

I’ve been afraid to really work on my road trip plans, hence the long delay between postings. I was afraid that if I started to focus on my summer plans I would never be ready for the end of school. The end of school is the same every year with kids and teachers equally wound up. Everything that can go weird does. There are class parties, awards and rewards. Schedules change by the moment. Nothing is set in stone and adaptability is the order of the day.

As it was, I was able to get my classes taught, my paperwork done, my classroom packed up and cleared away, but best of all, I did it all today. I’ll have to go back and collect artwork from the administration building and put up a bulletin board at school, but other than that I am finished until the start of school in August.

Three More Weeks of School to Go

This last week was a wee bit stressful.

There was a fire drill on Tuesday during my favorite Pre-K class.

We had Family Picnic for Pre-K through second grade on Wednesday. I was off campus for the morning taking a chosen few fourth graders to the Orange Show on an Art-A-Peel field trip. The kids had a wonderful time learning about mosaics. Urban Harvest provided help and herbs and the kids made small planters that will look great for Mother's Day. I came back in time for lunch and then spent the afternoon supervising third and fourth graders in the cafeteria.

Thursday was supposed to be Family Picnic for the third through fifth grades, but it was postponed due to bad weather. The park next door to the school was full of standing water and appeared to be somewhat between a bog and a pond. The date was changed until this Tuesday, May 8.

Thursday was also the day to turn in artwork for the Spring Art Exhibition. I managed to have everything matted and ready to go, complete with release f0rms from parents among other paperwork. I raced over and dropped the art off after school.

A quick stop by the house and I headed over to the Museum of Fine Arts for the Houston Art Educators' Town Art Meeting. This just happened to be the last week of the Metropolitan Museum of Art show and the Chronicle had run an article about the show that morning. Thursdays the museum is open late and admission to the permanent collection is free, so you can guess what a madhouse that was. Traffic was bumper to bumper with folks trying to get to the museum in addition to the usual rush hour chaos. The parking lot across the street was full and marked off due to a church event. The parking garage was full. I headed over to park about two blocks away near the Holocaust Museum. Rain, slick Houston clay on the sidewalks and puddles not to mention the bumper to bumper traffic made my walk the museum seem longer than it actually was. The meeting was worth the trip. Twenty-eight art teachers, including yours truly, unwound by creating collages in altered books.

Thursday and Friday one of the other specialist teachers (I prefer specialist to ancillary) was out. Substitutes are as rare as hen's teeth in my school district, so the rest of us got extra classes both days.

Friday was Cinco de Mayo at school.

For the good news, one of my students won a scholarship to the Glassell Junior School of the Museum of Fine Arts. I sent word out and his parents took him to the sketching competition at the sculpture garden. His mom came by on Thursday morning and thanked me. That's a pretty rare event and it certainly made my week. This kid really deserved the scholarship. He is incredible.

I brought home paperwork and had the best of intentions to get some of it done over the weekend, but I rested instead.

All I can do right now is place one foot ahead of the other and keep on trudging. One day at a time this last three weeks will end before I have the chance to really take it all in.

This morning I got news via e-mail that there is another opportunity to display student artwork next week, a last minute moment to show off what my kids can do.

This week should be fun. Tuesday is Family Picnic and Saturday is the Austin High School Feeder Pattern Fine Arts Festival. The Vanguard Program is at the end of this week, so I never know who is actually coming to art and who is off rehearsing. I can definitely use the time to put some order to the chaos of finishing off the year, but it is stressful not knowing what is up from moment to moment.

To top it all off, I'm thinking about riding on a friend's art car in the Art Car Parade on Saturday. Hurray for Art Cars!