Our Football Field Doesn’t Exist Anymore!

Things are able to change very swiftly at the Schuylkill River Path. Near the Art Museum and the “Sculpture Gardens”, there was a big field of grass that we once played football in. We haven’t walked on the path in a while and last Sunday when we did go, we discovered that they had put mulch all over the field and planted flowers in it. Paths run through the garden dividing it into squares but you can’t walk on them yet because they haven’t finished them. We thought it was really dumb of them to make this garden because there was absolutely no reason why they should have put it there. It was good like it was. It probably cost a TON of money to make that garden and on top of that, they ruined our football field!

by John

The Statues Near the Sculpture Gardens

Surrounding the Sculpture Gardens, there are dozens of big bronze statues of people. We decided to write about these things for a number of reasons. The first reason is that we’ve never even heard of most of these people. Since the Sculpture Gardens are sort of close to Valley Forge, one would think that they would have George Washington or another hero of the Revolutionary War, but they have people that we’ve never even heard of. They even have this Viking there. Some of them might be people from the Revolutionary War, but we can’t tell because the descriptions they usually have on the bottom of statues are almost impossible to see. As you can see from the picture, whoever designed the inscription was not the best. So they might be people from the Revolutionary War, but since we can’t see the words and since they are not famous people, we can’t tell who they are.

The last thing we noticed about these statue is that one of them has very square fingers. We thought that was amusing. Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading, and if you ever visit these statues and can recognize them, then you really know your history.

by Dink

Art Museum

While walking on the Schuylkill river path, we saw an art museum and decided to go into it. The entryway was very grand, and I thought that the art would be very impressive. However, the art was exactly the opposite, meaning the small amount of art that we saw was terrible. Okay, to be honest, it wasn’t that bad, but it was very modern and pointless. I never got into the whole “modern art” thing and I’m sorry, triangles and squares don’t impress me no matter what anybody says or writes about them. When did art become shapes and furniture? (See our article “Sculpture Gardens”). Alright then, back to the point. The paintings and drawings in the museum were very interesting. Although I couldn’t tell what most of them were, they sure were entertaining, in a convoluted way. My favorite one was a painting of a cactus because it seemed like it was the most like actual art.

by John and Dink

“Sculpture” Gardens

We have just returned from a scenic walk along the banks of the Schuylkill river. The walk was quite nice, despite being in the middle of the city of Philadelphia. We take one such journey nearly every weekend, and it is sadly the only exercise available to us here in the city. We like to go from the beginning of the trail and travel to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which, although we pass it weekly, we have never visited for the purpose of looking at art…perhaps a review of the museum and the art inside is in order.

The topic of this post is clearly stated in the title, and it is the sculpture gardens, which are located just outside the art museum. We have visited these gardens multiple times, and although I can’t say I’m impressed with the artwork there, I will tell you just a little about it. Before I begin, however, I should tell you that though the sculptures themselves are not amazing, the area around the gardens is actually quite nice. It is well-kept and very neat, with small trees growing here and there. If you look out of the gardens opposite the museum, you see a small man-made waterfall, which is accessible by the aforementioned path, which ventures out to within feet of the structure. It is quite nice to look at it, not only from close up but from a distance as well. But then you turn a corner and there are the sculptures.

The first two sculptures are built with cubes set on top of each other. The first is a pyramid, and the second is a thing called “steps.” Not surprisingly, it resembles two sets of steps facing each other. Further along, there is a large electrical plug, and a stone with chips in it, called “Origin.” Up ahead, a tall and wavy rock entitled “Dance.” Other sculptures include “Rain Mountain,” “Rock Chair,” and “Untitled.” My personal favorite is a sculpture of a naked human, curled into a ball. It is called “Steel Woman 2.” All in all, I was not impressed by the sculptures. As my young brother said, “Some of them look like they were made with Lego’s by a 5 year old.”

by Niles