Eastern Michigan–October 16, 2023

Most of the day was at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the grounds of Saginaw Valley State University. We got there a bit before the museum opened, so we toured the outdoor sculpture garden.

The Lion and the Mouse

Sisters

Persephone

Chief Black Elk

The back of the baboon statue

Heartbroken, acrobat, and juggler clowns

A Boy and His Bear

Pterodactyls

Don Quixote

Not a sculpture, but another sample of the leaves turning color.

One thing that I really liked about the museum was that it was brightly lit (many other museums are lit like dungeons; this was a refreshing change). I wonder when Fredericks ever slept; he was incredibly prolific.

I didn’t know this was Sir Winston Churchill until I read the label near the sculpture.

This was used as an emblem for Mercury automobiles

Another room had Native American art:

And next to it, a room with part of Fredericks’s warehouse/studio:

Finally, off the main museum, a corridor with student art:

This one was my favorite.

Frankenmuth

On the way back, we stopped for lunch in Frankenmuth, which is a total tourist trap. It was founded by people from Bavaria, who, according to one sign in a storefront, “brought the word of Christ to the Chippewa” (who, I am sure, appreciated it enormously...). At any rate, the center of downtown is pretty much a cosplay Bavaria; at the restaurant we went to, the staff wore lederhosen and dirndls. You get the idea. The style of fried chicken they serve there is absolutely wonderful, by the way. The gift shop at the restaurant is pure Middle America with all sorts of amusing plaques and kitsch galore. As I said, it’s a cosplay Bavaria, and if you take it at face value, it’s pretty much fun. If a German person from Bavaria were to visit, I’m not entirely sure what they would make of it.

This one strikes me as fairly creepy (next few pictures show closeups)