Today was Austin Museum Day, and Austin institutions opened their doors for free. JaniceB, CarrieL, and I (MarilynF) took the #1 bus to the UT area and visited 3 museums.

We met at the South Congress/Ben White Transit Center. Janice took her local bus to the center, but I discovered I’d have to take THREE buses to get there from home, so I drove my car to the Transit Center, as did Carrie.

The bus ride to UT and back was great — drivers were nice and patient with wrinkly dollar bills, and other passengers were preoccupied, though there were plenty of characters. Apparently having a conversation on a bus is not the usual transit norm. I loved the view and relaxation, and I will take the bus again as the only way to go north to UT!

Here are brief highlights of the museums we visited:

Bob Bullock:

There is an exhibit there that I feel everyone should see and talk about: “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda.” On loan from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the exhibit does not involve walls of ghostly faces—rather it reveals what is much more insidious and deranged: How low voter turnout and apathy brought a ruling committee into power after years of job shortages and social problems; how the leadership learned to produce media messages that appealed to emotions and perceived unfairness; how most citizens did not embrace the committee’s philosophies but figured no harm would be done.

“Propaganda is a truly terrible weapon in the hands of an expert.”

Adolf Hitler, 1924

After the sobering exhibit we watched an award-winning animation, “World of Tomorrow,” which was clever, but its message still eludes me. I will stream it on Netflix and get back to you after watching it again.

Blanton Art Museum:

The Blanton’s permanent collection was not on view today due to installation work. The Goya etchings and lithographs were interesting but small, and the Xu Bing work, “Book from the Sky,” was an intricate work of protest, with books and books and pages and pages with invented nonsensical characters of Chinese writing. It made a statement against the tomes of Maoist doctrine published widely in China. What a brave artist!

Harry Ransom Center:

This delightful museum is always free, and today’s display of the photography of Elliott Erwitt showcased the Ransom Center’s extensive collection of his work. You get a glimpse into family life, street life, actors and actresses on set, and, in general, who humans are and what we do. Magazines and other publications with his work from the 1950’s are included, completing the picture of people everywhere. My personal favorite, due to still being upset about the Nazi Propaganda exhibit, was an Erwitt photo on the cover of Life magazine showing Russians in a planetarium viewing a globe that had a Sputnik model. The women were dressed in headscarves, and the caption said, “Russian peasants viewing the Sputnik model.” So that was propaganda, too, right? Meant to bring a contrast to light and evoke emotions.

No one can spend hours in museums without coming out changed. I hope you soon have a chance to do so, too.

We took Cap Metro back. Janice took the #3 home from UT, and Carrie and I went to our cars and to Hill’s Café for dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant a server gave us a tour of the grounds and buildings for even more learning.

MarilynF