Travel

Next weekend (May 8, 9, 10), the St. Croix Valley Potters sponsor their 17th pottery tour. This Minnesota event now reaches from coast to coast, with the hosts inviting exhibitor friends from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia on the east and Oregon on the west. Being in flyover country themselves, they have not ignored the middle: there are also guest potters from Tennessee, Montana and Nebraska, and bunches from next-door Wisconsin.

While the jury is still out on whether rainy weather attracts or detracts crowds from trade shows, I alighted on the Architectural Digest Home Design Show on Sunday, March 29th, prepared for a day of interiors.

Tea Culture of Japan: Chanoyu Past and Present

Yale University Art Gallery
New Haven, Connecticut
January 20 - April 26, 2009

The art (and design) world convenes each year the first week of December in Miami for Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual international art event. It began in 2002 as an offshoot of its European predecessor, Art Basel. Millions are spent on art production, marketing, collecting and participation.

Can Chicago sustain its frenzied fervor over the election of hometown hero, President-Elect, Barack Obama? Can SOFA Chicago maintain its momentum on its 15 year anniversary? Can you drink wine while walking the aisles at any other time other than opening night? Some thoughts on these queries and more follow. What do you think?