The Living Dead Museum

After taking some photos of the zombie on the outside of the Monroeville Mall, we ventured inside to The Living Dead Museum.  Walking through the same spaces where Dawn of the Dead was shot was a very neat experience.  I tried to imagine Romero filming in those giant empty spaces.  And tried to picture motorcycles driving through there at some point back in 1977-78.  And of course - the zombies.

The museum is at the far end of the mall, right above Romero Square.  Tickets were reasonably priced and the items within were fantastic.  Loads of historical facts and artifacts relating to Romero's films, and other zombie-centric movies.  And a wall of autographs (and bloody handprints from their signers) - the Maul of Fame.

If you're ever in Pittsburgh, this museum is definitely worth the trip.  

Click here for the Museum's IG.

And click here to see some more photos that Jenna took over at her IG.

Glencairn Museum

Growing up in PA, we heard a lot of spooky stories regarding the Pitcairn family... my sister's friends would sometimes mention the Pitcairn [haunted] mansion.  They spoke of deformed descendants still living there.  They mentioned the horridly abstract notion of inbreeding to a small child (me).  

Turns out this terrifying fictional place I built up in my head as a kid has always been a beautiful sprawling estate which houses an amazing cathedral, a museum, and a mansion.  No ghosts nor deformations were spotted.  It was a wonderful tour and a great way to spend a windy Saturday afternoon. 

Glencairn is a castle-like mansion in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, that was home to the Pitcairn family for more than 40 years. Now the Glencairn Museum, it contains a collection of about 8,000 artworks, mostly religious in nature, from cultures such as ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and medieval Europe, as well as Islamic, Asian, and Native American works.  The nine-story, granite-and-ruddy-colored-stone mansion features more than 90 rooms on 10 floors.

VAMPA: Vampire & Paranormal Museum

With a light snow falling, we headed to Doylestown, PA on Sunday to visit the VAMPA Museum.  Packed with beautiful handmade artifacts and dark artwork (most devoted to the art of vampire killing), we walked through each room with a sense of awe.  I had some fears it would feel a little cheesy or heavy-handed, but it was surprisingly tasteful.  The pieces are gorgeous.  You can instantly tell that the curation of this strange collection was to create a place of beauty and dark wonder.  

In their own words:

VAMPA strives to create an environment where psychological drama and spiritual conflict are given free reign for imagination. A place that stimulates learning and understanding on how the magical mystery of the supernatural, folklore, myth, and faith has influenced the world in sculpture, painting, furniture and objects of art throughout the ages.

We will be returning for sure.

Some photos below, but click HERE for a short video.

A Day With The Wyeth Family

Had the absolute honor of visiting the Brandywine Museum this weekend.  This blog has hosted works by the Wyeth family since the very beginning.  So many paintings by N.C., Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth capture perfectly what Autumn offers to folks like us.  And there's a delightful obsession with pumpkins.

It's beginning to sound like a theme, but I've wanted to see original Wyeth paintings for literal decades.  When I was growing up, a family friend had a framed print by Andrew Wyeth hanging in their kitchen.  I recall studying it quite a bit.  The image felt golden and elegant, and it had a rural simplicity to it that made it feel relatable and welcoming.  Art appreciation was significantly lacking in my parents' home, so it always felt like something of a novelty when seeing wonderful paintings in other people's houses (I'm sitting here feeling very grateful for Art History in my years of schooling).

So here we were... driving to see something that once again was relatively close and incredibly accessible.  The beautiful late-Spring landscape of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania was pretty spectacular.  There's been a drought in these parts and the light browns and charred yellows of much of the fields and hills in the region made the arrival to the museum feel extra special.  A Wyeth Landscape for sure.

The museum and the amazing tour of the Wyeth home and N.C.'s studio is something I'll never forget.  And it's definitely something we'll be doing again throughout the year with the changing seasons.  I hear Christmas there is pretty special.

Below are some photos from our trip.  So glad that this museum is in my home state.  And feeling really lucky to have someone who encouraged me to satiate this decades-long wish.  It's been exceptionally nice checking off items from a bucket list that I assumed would never actually shrink in size.

Click here for the museum's site.