April 10, 2014. Alabama Museum of Wonder and Desdamona: A Play About a Handkerchief.

On Poorhouse Road in Seale, Alabama, about an hour from Auburn, there lives a man named Butch Anthony.  At the age of 14 he found dinosaur bones in a creek near his home and since he was already a collector of things and a maker of stuff, he decided to open a museum and named it the Alabama Museum of Wonder. His collecting and making was put on hold while he did a degree in anatomy and zoology at Auburn, where those dinosaur bones are now housed, but he soon went back to his craft and has become a well respected artist of some renown.

You need the exact address and a gps or a good map to find his place as there are no signs to guide you there. I had emailed him to see if he would be around on Thursday and the reply I got was simply, "yes, thanks".  We drove up the long curved driveway and honked the horn, which I learned from his website, is the way to let him know that you have arrived. We were greeted by three dogs and two peacock...all friendly. 

First of all, he invited us into his home where he showed us the paintings he was working on. He answered our questions, said that we could take pictures of anything we saw there and then led us to the museum. Wow! What stuff....wall to wall pieces of art. Much of it looks like folk art, while others are curiosities. He paints over existing pieces, mostly outlining people's bones, and adds text. He puts, what I would call random prices together to from pieces of art. For example I saw a piece that included a globe, toy dinosaur, yellow chick, bottle containing a turnip root, an animal skull much more. 

             

All of his work is for sale, ranging in price from $125.00 to $500.00 or more. We didn't purchase anything but did leave a donation in the wooden box provided. There was certainly no pressure to do so, no was there any indication that we were interrupting, although he was at work when we arrived. Butch is a very humble man. However, I did find out that he is on a TV show called "American Pickers" and that PBS was coming by the next day to do a special on him. 

       

As if all that wasn't enough, as we were leaving he suggested we visit his drive through museum up the road. Of course we stopped and not only drove through, but got out of the car to look more closely at this one of a kind museum, made of five containers; the kind you see on big trucks and at container piers. There were some very cool things here too.

          

On the drive home we couldn't stop talking about this unique man and his art. I am so glad we visited Butch Anthony and his Alabama Museum of Wonder. You should go!

We got back to Auburn in time to grab a bite to eat and take Jackie for a short walk before it was time to go to the Telfair B. Peet Theatre at Auburn University to see Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief. From the playbill: "This play is a raucous reimagining of Desdemona's (Othello's wife) last days. Vogel upends the simple caricatures given the three female leads and gives each a fully formed character - complete with opinions on sex, power and class." 

The play was exactly as described...lots of humour amid serious topics, all relevant today. 

Wow...what a full day. Thanks Jessica!