Miko and Me: Bluegrass Capital

A friend of mine told me about an exhibition at the Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky that sounded interesting. “Promise Witness Remembrance reflects on the life of Breonna Taylor, her killing in 2020, and the year of protests that followed”.

Artist Nari Ward
These are shoelaces.

One of the art pieces consisted of two flags, which were draped from the ceiling to the floor. Each star in the flags represent a life lost to gun violence. The artist thinks of these lives as “fallen stars”. 15,433 were killed by gun violence in 2019. 15,433 people, including Breonna Taylor were killed by gun violence in 2020. As you move through the galleries, a portrait by Amy Sherald (she did the official portrait of Michelle Obama) of Breonna dominates the last wall – it was quite moving.

This is the 2020 flag

There was another exhibit by Isabelle de Borchgrove – life-size clothes made out of paper. The amount of detail and craftsmanship was stunning.

Sometimes there were portraits behind the dresses
which were the ones that inspired the artist for a particular dress

I am vehemently opposed to the racing of two and three year old horses. These are baby horses – their bones haven't even finished growing yet. I have to say, though, that when I walked on the grounds of Churchill Downs I got a little weak in the knees. There is so much history and tradition here.

The grandstand

The Track

The horse when he has finished the race

I am a sucker for factory tours – automation, machines whipping out hundreds, thousands, millions of the same article in a matter of minutes. So, I jumped at the chance to tour the Louisville Slugger factory and museum. I have to say, I was surprised at how small and intimate the assembly line was. The Louisville Slugger bat has been manufactured since the late 1800's. The wood for the bats all come from a forest on the PA/NY border. Bats are made from maple, ash and birch – each type of wood has different characteristics. For example, birch gets harder the more it gets hit.

This is how the factory gets the wood from the lumber mills.
They call them billets.

All colors that are to be used in professional baseball must be approved by the MLB

A maxi bat

Everybody got to take home a mini bat.
I'm thinking another self protection item in my arsenal.

There is a new type of hotel that is beginning to pop up called Museum Hotels. There is one in Louisville, the 21C. They have exhibitions just like a regular art museum, but you can also sleep with the art. They tend to specialize in more contemporary art.