Last year, a friend and I went to the Crocker Museum early on a Sunday morning (there's free admittance then). My friend was a very strong-willed, liberal, independent woman (I bet she still is too). I clearly recall her berating me over my socio and political apathy on more than one occasion- particularly about the 2008 election and my views on such films as "Sicko".
Anyways, we wandered around the museum for about 2 hours, checking out all the levels. As our interests in art are not identical, we did not stay together the entire time. I, myself, spent over 20 minutes sitting on a bench in front of a Kaltenbach (the pic). I do this each and every time I go there. It was there that my friend found me and we departed.
As we exited, a rotund man stopped my friend and asked if she would take a poll concerning her experience at the museum. She agreed and answered the man's questions, laughing aloud at her own answer of "it was free" when asked why she came to the Crocker that day. I leaned back against the railing, watching the exchange and observing both my friend and the poll-taker. When he was done with his questions, the man gave my friend a free pass for two to any of the museums in the city.
As we walked back to my vehicle, I asked "so how did that feel".
"Pretty straightforward," she replied.
"No," I said, "being interviewed by such a favorite of yours."
"What are you talking about?"
"You didn't notice?" I smiled, "the man's name tag... you were polled by 'Mike Moore'".
To this day, I still laugh at such an absurd coincidence as my friend being questioned about the arts by a man sharing a name with one of her favorite directors.
1 comment:
Steve Kaltenbach was my teacher at CSUS. I remember this image so well. He was finishing the painting in a Large Barn type structure at the time I had my class with him. He showed us slides of the almost finished piece at the end of the semester. I also have to stop and sit at it every time I go to the Crocker.
I remember him crying in class when he showed us the images of his progress, and talking about his father's death, which obviously at the time was still painful. Kaltenbach was an amazing teacher (he stopped teaching a few years later). He was a bit of a religious hippie type, I always thought he had a very "jesus Christ" kind of mentality, and even his appearance reminded me often of the Jesus pictures you see. He had a sadness to him, and kindness, that was hard to find. I love this image still. I ran into him later, at the Crocker during a lecture, and was able to go to his studio for a tour. He was a little different, but there were elements of the Jesus hippie left. He's a great sculptor, you've probably seen his work around town. Look it up.
he was one of my favorite teachers, truly a man of worth.
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