Let me just come out and say it: Sometimes the most beautiful aspect of an art museum isn’t its art, but its architecture.

Sometimes you just stumble upon something by accident. Finding the Museum of Contemporary Art during a recent trip to Madison, Wisconsin was one of these happy accidents. I was walking around Madison Square and saw a huge glass building with really long colored stripes behind huge glass windows. Whoever designed this building had style, and I knew I had to go inside and explore.

Free Admission!

Thankfully, I didn’t have to make much of an investment to discover whether or not the Museum was worthwhile because admission is completely free of charge. For the traveller on a budget, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Fantastic View of Madison Square

I entered the museum and climbed its many flights of glass stairs to the fourth floor where there was a charming little restaurant and a door leading outside to the roof. I stepped outside and beheld an amazing view of Madison from the very top of the museum building. The museum features art on each of its four levels, and some sculptures had been placed up here. Though they’d been exposed to the elements for years, it was alright because these sculptures were clearly built to withstand the weather.

The only sculpture that caught my eye on the roof was a plant-like white sculpture. It’s flowing form fit well with the cumulous clouds behind it. But the best part about being on the roof was the view itself. Looking down to the street level, I could see the Orpheum Theater, and in the distance I could even see the Golden Lady sitting atop the Madison Capitol building. If the museum itself is closed when you visit, you should still be able to walk up to the roof for some really excellent photo opportunities.

The Sunlight Dances with the Glass Staircase

Perhaps the Golden Lady gave me her blessing that day, because as I was walking back down the glass staircase, the sun was setting just behind the steps. I was there just in time to capture the beautiful way the light interacted with those translucent glass steps. It’s difficult to describe in words, but it was a truly memorable experience.

I walked down to the ground floor and noticed that each colored ribbon was actually a single piece of vinyl that ran the entire length of the museum — suspended from the ceiling of the 3-level stairwell all the way down to the bottom of the ground floor where I was standing. These seamless ribbons created an interesting effect as the setting sunlight shone through them, striping the floor in shadow. I could easily see things happening at street level because the only thing separating me from the street was a piece of glass. In fact, it was pretty impressive how much glass was used in the construction of this building, and the result was a truly unique structure.

Silly Scared Artists

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to photograph any of the strange paintings on level 3 of the museum. And although you might not agree with me at first, these restrictions have their root in fear. In this world of truly ubiquitous digital photography, I have to wonder how long it will be before people realize one of the facts of this new century: if it can be seen with the human eye, someone will manage to photograph it. Being an artist myself, I’ve learned to cope with that fact. Plus, putting artificial barriers on photography only limits the exposure an artist can achieve. After all, a photograph is never an ample substitute for actually being there.

Lost in the Overture Center

I wanted to explore more, but they sort of kicked me out since it was closing time. However, I did return the next day, and as I was wandering around the first floor of the museum I actually got a bit lost. I found myself in a strangely futuristic white hall with white columns and tile. I found out that this was the Overture Center, and it was connected to the museum.

More fascinating architectural creations were to be found in this area, further reinforcing that the greatest work of art was the very thing I had been standing in and walking around in all day — the building itself. The carefully curving halls and meticulously arranged columns lent the building an atmosphere that very few buildings ever achieve — a kind of minimalistic elegance.

Recommended Experience

To be brutally honest, unless you’re a big fan of avant garde style painting, the view from the roof and the building itself may be more interesting to you than the exhibits.

For this writer, the view alone is worth the time to check out the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, and I plan on visiting again the next time I’m in Madison. Check out their website at MMOCA.org, and be sure to look in the gallery for high resolution photos from this trip.

Check out all of the photos from this location in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art album. All photos in the Gallery can be used as widescreen desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440).

In August, I took a sojourn down to Madison and then to Chicago. I’m not going to publish this trip as a series per se, but I am going to highlight some of the interesting places I explored during my time in both cities.

I’m going to start of with Tenney Park because it’s the first interesting new place I visited on this, my fourth trip to Madison. Or was it fifth? In any case, every time I visit Madison it shows me a different side of itself. I never thought a city of under a quarter of a million would have an unpredictable dynamic quality that is usually only reserved for cities in the millions.

A Hidden Gem

As parks go, Tenney Park is a hidden gem, and it lies on the northern part of the Madison isthmus. (And if you didn’t know, an isthmus is a land bridge between two bodies of water.) The park features some excellent boating opportunities, but most of the park encompasses the land around the pond and Tenney Lock. According to a plaque I found nearby, the Tenney Lock connects Lake Mendota and Lake Monona which allows boats to travel between the two lakes, even though Lake Mendota’s water level is actually five feet above Lake Monona.

Tangential?

Now, please forgive me if this feels completely tangential, but I saw something really eye-catching on my way to the park.

As I was walking north on Baldwin Street, I passed parked plumbing van that, instead of having a plumbing logo on the side, it had a comic strip! The comic strip depicted a superhero plumber saving the day. Is that not awesome? I’d never seen a comic strip used this way before. It was such a creative idea that I had to snap a picture, and I’ve included it in the Tenney Park album.

First Glance

At first glance, the park seems very similar to the James Madison Park just a mile southwest, but Tenney Park has something more to offer: the bravest ducks in all of Wisconsin. (True story.) Oh, and there’s also the matter of its photogenic pier.

The Tenney Park pier juts out hundreds of feet into Lake Mendota, and it’s just begging to be photographed. Something about the style of its lamp posts, its benches, and its overall sheer concreteness give it a contemplative, reflective quality — almost as if a road was once where the lake now flows, and the lamp posts are still waiting for a car to drive up any day now. I walked out to the end of the concrete pier took some contemplative photos from that perspective. Whenever I photograph a place, I try to capture its unique character and atmosphere.

Curiously enough, the banks of the pier were lined with yellow and violet colored boulders. Had these boulders been colored, and if not, what kinds of rocks were these? What do you think? If have any ideas, feel free to let me know!

South Side

After checking out the lock, I headed to the south side of the park and came to a charming stone bridge arching over the water. Manmade though it was, this artificial river (being the channel between the two lakes) seemed right at home within this small forest reserve. The tree overgrowth over the lock made the park feel older than it probably was, and I was pleased that, instead of merely making a lock, the city of Madison had taken the time to create a pleasing park that benefitted the entire community.

Tenney Park is a charming place, and it’s a great destination for swimming, fishing, or just enjoying the nature around you. If you find yourself in Madison, I highly recommend you experience it for yourself!

Check out all of the photos from this location in the Tenney Park album. All photos in the Gallery can be used as widescreen desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440).