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| A detail from the Children's Museum. |
"To my mind a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them."
-- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Delaware Tourism Office is always trying to find different ways to encourage people both local and not to explore the state. Some of their ideas are excellent. Case in point is the Delaware Discoveries Trail.
Developed in the fall of 2020 when the country and the state needed some color and some fresh air, the DTO commissioned artists to paint something that would be displayed outside from the top of the state to the bottom. I spent a day visiting them all and I am here to tell you that it is a success.
For those of you from larger states, it may seem daunting to drive from one end of your state to another in one day. I did it twice. From Wilmington, I drove straight through to the Big Chill Parking lot and then did the trail on the way back up.
Including all stops and all driving time, it took me about five hours to drive the 130 miles from the parking lot at Big Chill to the parking lot at Hagley. I stopped at each place to take a photo and I made two small detours, but otherwise I pretty much just drove from one stop to the other.
My recommendation is to take a longer time doing it. I would love to have explored some of the stops further and I did not stop for lunch. Make a weekend of it and spend some real time wandering around. The website is packed full of ideas as well as a great map that will lead you clearly from one to the next. I did not follow the numbering, but instead went from south to north.
Finally, the DTO is offering a prize to anyone who uploads photos of four of the stops. I came home about three days after sending the photos to the DTO to find a big box from them. It contains all the supplies to make pour art.
To put it mildly, I am a struggling artist as you can see. I must admit, however, that I am very happy with how these turned out. The big item is meant to be a wave, but I like it better as a bird. There are three circles. I turned one into a magnet and two into coasters.
You don't know what wooden shape you are going to get until it arrives. In addition to the wave, the DTO sends out a butterfly or a seahorse. I was very happy with the wave as the colors are my colors. If anyone else does this, please post a photo of your masterpiece. It would be fun to see how many of these we can get going up and down the state.
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But, enough about my artistic endeavors. Here are the ten pieces that real artists created and put up around the state.
BIG CHILL BEACH CLUB, Bethany Beach
Artist: Kelsey Montague
Location: Very easy to spot as you drive into the state beach parking lot. It is over to the left of the restaurant.
Impressions: The idea of this painting is to have someone stand in the middle so s/he is surrounded by sunbeams. Unfortunately, I was by myself on a very cold day, but I think you get the idea.
CAPE MAY - LEWIS FERRY, Lewes
Artist: Christian Kanienberg
Location: There are two entrances to the ferry. Choose the foot traffic entrance as that is where the parking lot is. You'll see this as soon as you pull up. It is on the side of the ferry terminal.
Impressions: I love the colors and I love the cartoon fish. It's just not quite what I had expected from a beach painting.
MISPILLION RIVER BREWING, Milford
Artist: Michael Johnson
Location: This painting is right on the front of the building as you pull into the parking lot.
Impressions: Meh. Too early in the day to drink beer and this painting didn't do a lot for me.
Artist: Michael Johnson
Location: If you are looking at the front of the main office building, this painting is around to the right side.
Impressions: While the painting itself wasn't my favorite, if you are doing a straight through, this is a great place to walk a bit. Clean restrooms and a water fountain to fill up the water bottle. If you're lucky, you'll get to watch some sport. I was there in the middle of a lacrosse tournament.
TOWN OF WYOMING, Wyoming
Artist: Natalia Ciriaco
Location: You will park to the left of the town hall/police station. The painting is on the right side, so you will need to walk around the building.
Impressions: I loved this painting. I love the colors and I love the sense I got of the middle of the state. The sunflowers are simply perfect. My favorite of the ten.
BOMBAY HOOK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Smyrna
Artist: Kelsey Montague
Location: Drive all the way into the refuge. This is clearly visible right next to the Visitor Center.
Impressions: Who doesn't love angel wings? While I thought it was an interesting choice for an area famous for horseshoe crabs, I really liked the idea of it and the colors used.
CHASE CENTER ON THE RIVERFRONT, Wilmington
Artist: Terrance Vann
Location: This one is a bit tricky depending on where you park. Walk to the front of the Chase Center. Then, walk around the building to the right. It is just at the corner of where you are about to turn to the back of the building. If you are looking at the painting, the tall brick tower will be directly behind you.
Impressions: I love the idea of balloons and the different things some of them represent. Again, the vibrant colors really spoke to me.
DELAWARE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM, Wilmington
Artist: Laura Erickson
Location: Part of the front of the museum all the way to the right. It is right next to the train and the mini-golf.
Impressions: What really impressed me about this one is the fact that the artist used the building itself as her canvas. The flowers used to represent the land masses are gorgeous and I liked the compass so much I used it for the lead photo of this article.
DELAWARE ART MUSEUM, Wilmington
Artist: Laura Erickson
Location: This one is a bit hidden. From the parking lot, you need to stay outside. Walk past the shop and the cafe, past the entrance to the museum, past the studio and then turn the corner of the building. You will find this on that far wall.
Impressions: Love the peacock feathers. The colors aren't exactly to my taste, but I loved the way the feathers all interact with each other.
HAGLEY MUSEUM AND LIBRARY, Wilmington
Artist: Leah Beach
Location: Unfortunately, this is the only one of the ten that you will need to pay to see. You may get lucky. I went up to the ticket window and told the woman that all I wanted was to see the outside art piece and could I sneak in, take my photo, and sneak out. I was allowed to do that. I think it helped that I turned up about 45 minutes before they closed, so I would not have been able to see too much anyway. The piece is right across from the Gibbons House in the picnic area. Once you are there, you can't miss it.
Impressions: One of my favorites. I love the dandelion seeds blowing and the red flowers are just magnificent.
I recommend taking some time and doing this trail. You will get to see all different corners of the state while looking at some really nice local art along the way. Then, when you get home, you get to create your own memory of the trip. Perfect.
UPDATE: I originally did the trail in March. In April, the Delaware Tourism Office added another piece of art down state.
DELAWARE BOTANIC GARDENS, Dagsboro
Artist: Leah Beach
Location: This piece is placed at the end of the drive into the gardens just before you get to the Visitor Center. Unfortunately, this means that you will only be able to see it when the gardens are open.
Impressions: I simply love this one. I find the colors to be bright and charming and the flowers are completely appropriate for a botanic gardens. I was lucky enough to be with a group of people when we saw this. We laughed ourselves silly trying to look as though we were "sitting" on the swing.
If I were going to do the whole trail, I would start at the Delaware Botanic Gardens, drive over to Big Chill, and then follow my route north from there.
Again, I cannot recommend this trail highly enough. You will discover all kinds of lovely hidden corners of Delaware.
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