But life is busy, and sometimes you have to make time for things. So, my sister-in-law is visiting from Tasmania for the week , and my daughter and I thought it would be fun to take her to the Perot. And there is a fabulous exhibit on, THE ART OF THE BRICK, by Lego artist Nathan Sawaya.
We booked ahead, then woke yesterday morning to the news that Ross Perot had died.
Such an interesting person, Ross Perot, a truly self-made man, billionaire, philanthropist, and such a fixture in Dallas history and culture. He cared passionately about science and education, and the Perot museum is only a small part of the legacy he left us.
Here's a little pictorial tribute from our day, staring with my daughter towering over me in her heels:-)
Here are some highlights from the fabulous ART OF THE BRICK exhibition. If this comes to your city, do go see it! Nathan Sawaya recreates many famous masterpieces with Lego bricks--you can probably name a few of them!
I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of his Girl with a Pearl Earring, which is the one I keep thinking about. But we liked his original work even more. "Swimmer" was a particular favorite for all three of us.
And then on to the museum itself. We only really saw two out of the four permanent exhibit floors, but they were fabulous, especially the fossils! Check out these guys!
And a close up of my very fave, the sea turtle.
All the exhibits are so interesting and so well designed. I'll be going back, and I highly recommend those of you who are visiting Dallas for Bouchercon to give the Perot at least a few hours.
I'm grateful to Ross Perot for his generosity and for his dedication to education and to his city. But my favorite quote from the obits I read yesterday was this:
When asked in 2016 how he wanted to be remembered, he said, "Aw, I don't worry about that." 'Nuff said.
You can read more about Perot and his philanthropy here.
REDs and readers, who do you admire for their charitable legacies?
I think I’d like to spend a day, or two, or three, in that lovely science museum. The LEGO sculptures are fantastic . . . amazing what can be done with those little plastic bricks.
ReplyDeleteThe charitable legacy of James Smithson established the Smithsonian Institution . . . quite a gift.
I would love to see The Art of the Brick. I'll have to keep an eye out for it around my neck of the woods. And, how cool that your sister-in-law lives in Tasmania. Have you visited there, Debs?
ReplyDeleteTwo, well, actually three people come to mind for their charitable giving/legacies. Bill and Melinda Gates and J.K. Rowling. Of course, Andrew Carnegie's library legacy is near and dear to my heart.
I'm not a creative thinker, so The Art of the Brick is absolutely fascinating to me. I'd love to see it in person (if I haven't already missed it here in LA.)
ReplyDeleteI sure admire that Lego artist! The charitable legacies I admire are not big names. My father and Julie Hennrikus, who never had/have a bad word about anyone. My friend Joan who works tirelessly to stem gun violence. The guy who paid off a college classes student loans. Another dear friend who has worked for a quarter century as a white person combating racism, teaching classes, training others. And so many more.
ReplyDeleteYes, Edith, all those small acts make a big difference.
DeleteThat's a cool museum Debs, thanks for sharing! Definitely Bill and Melinda, Jimmy Carter. We saw the town where Andrew Carnegie grew up in Scotland, including the gorgeous library and the park he promised he'd open so all kids could enjoy it. We gathered he was a very complex fellow with things to admire, and others not so much...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Jimmy Carter.
DeleteOh, yes. Add Jimmy Carter to my list, too.
DeleteWhat an interesting museum! And an interesting man.
ReplyDeleteOn bulding with Lego... There's an annual Lego competition for architects.My daughter, an architect, has competed several times, and it's amazing what they can build with legos.
Hallie, the engineering involved in these creations is amazing.
DeleteI really want to see that, haven't been to downtown Dallas in maybe five years. I, too, haven't been to the JFK museum although I lived in Irving when Kennedy was assassinated, and my daughter took ballet with Ruth Payne's little girl a few years later. It, going to the JFK museum, is something I can't possibly do, still burst into tears even driving by Dealey Plaza.
ReplyDeleteI have a confession. I, the tried and true Democrat, voted for Ross Perot. (If I'd thought there was a chance Bill Clinton would lose, I would have voted for him.) Way back when, maybe in the early seventies, Ross Perot pledged that any child in Texas could go to a community college for $100 a semester, fees only, no tuition. There was also no tuition at the state universities. Now tuition plus fees at UT are around $5000 a semester, still a bargain. Perot's dedication to providing education for all wasn't as publicized as those of big donors are now, but it was substantial. Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, Jimmy Carter, and all of us who fund PBS come to mind.
I wonder if male employees at EDS are still required to wear dark suits and ties! And crew cuts.
RIP Mr. Perot
Ann, I have never wanted to visit Dealy Plaza. That was one of the most horrible days of my childhood, and I have no desire to revisit it.
DeleteI vote with Joan for James Smithson, who started what has become the Smithsonian museums. All free admission. We make an annual trip to DC and visit one or more of the museums.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was saddened by the news of Ross Perot's death yesterday. He was truly an interesting man!
ReplyDeleteThe first name that popped into my head in terms of charitable legacies was Andrew Carnegie. Those libraries made a huge impact, and they are just as impressive today as the day they were built. I agree with all the others who have been mentioned, but just to mix it up, I'm pretty impressed with Gary Sinese and his philanthropy in support of veterans, military families and especially bereaved military families.
The Art of the Brick was at the Cincinnati Art Museum a few years ago, and I took my grandson to see it. It looks as though there may be some new sculptures since them, because I don't remember Nefertiti. But the exhibit is so huge, that could just be my memory.
ReplyDeleteOthers have named bigger donors, but Cincinnati has had some very wealthy and very generous patrons: Patricia Corbett, who among other things helped build the College Conservatory of Music building at University of Cincinnati. Louie and Louise Nippert, who promoted the Cincinnati Symphony, and who left a lasting legacy with their Greenacres Arts Center. And Richard and Lois Rosenthal, who started F&W and Writer's Digest Magazine and annual digest, who made a lifetime bequest to the Cincinnati Art Museum, making it possible for everyone to enter the museum free, every single day.
My friends and I wonder who in the upcoming generation will step up to the plate, philanthropically. There are only so many Warren Buffets and Bill and Melinda Gates, who want to share their wealth. Somehow, I can't see a Kardashian Foundation, can you?
ReplyDeleteI would love to see the LEGO exhibit. I have a half finished LEGO Falling Water waiting for me in my projects cupboard. I also spent 100’s of $$ on LEGOs for my grandsons not to mention many retail therapy visits to their local LEGO store. From a very young age they could put the bricks together faster than I could read the instructions. As for philanthropy, I think of the unknown folk would, on the surface, lived quiet lives and then leave a million dollars for education or some such needed cause in their neighborhoods. I also admire those who give of their time; volunteers who grease the wheels of day to day for small non profits, community organizations and those who are just good neighbors. These are the ones who counter the daily negativity. Unfortunately the Dallas paper doesn’t allow me to read Mr. Perot’s obit. I’ll find it somewhere else. V and I remembered watching his tv hard hours along with a flip chart and more statistics than I could grasp, very impressive.
ReplyDeleteNever been to Dallas, but if I make the Perot is definitely on my list. I always admired his generosity, same with JK Rowling and Jimmy Carter. Edith, you have a lovely list! Generosity is so much more than financial donation.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kait.
DeleteHonestly, the one reason I'd like to be rich would be for the pleasure of giving away major $$$ to various organizations and causes I believe in. What a privilege.
ReplyDeleteRoss Perot not only gave money to education and the arts, including Dallas' Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. (Perot made the donation on the condition that the center be named after his friend, Morton Meyerson.) He was a major supporter of UT's Southwestern Medical School Children's Medical Center, and he worked tirelessly his whole life to support veterans.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the Dallas Morning News has a pay well up on the obit.
As for other charitable donors, I would have mentioned Warren Buffett and the Gates, but also JK Rowling and Elton John, who do an enormous amount for charity. But as to who's going to step up in the younger generation of the very wealthy, who knows....
What an amazing museum! I'll have to make time to visit this October.
ReplyDeleteI'll go outside the norm and mention LeBron James. He has donated so much money for education in Ohio so kids who come from little to nothing (as he did) get a chance for a good start.
Deborah, great post! Who do I admire for their charitable legacies? The people I admire are people from my lifetime whom I have known. They were not famous. They set up scholarships in their estate plans. Some set up trust funds for education so their descendants could afford to go to private school or to college or both.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about a novel that I read recently. Someone left funds to the church in his will so that there were funds to fix the roof. However, the funds were earmarked for roof repair only.
Someday I'd like to visit the Perot Museum; if I ever get back to Texas! Here's some odd trivia for you. In Texarkana in the late 1940s, Ross Perot was a high school student of one of my great aunts. He used to mention her occasionally in interviews. He said she needled him for not doing his best and told him if he put in the effort he could make something of himself. In one article I saw, he said it was a turning point in his life. #unimportanttrivia but #letshearitforteachers!
ReplyDeleteI love that story! She may have inspired his dedication to education. My dad also grew up poor in northeast Texas (Sulpher Springs) and I see a lot of my dad in Perot, although my dad's successes were certainly more modest.
DeleteRoss Perot was definitely a character! It is gratifying that philanthropy is alive and well in all shapes and sizes. I particularly admire those folks who give so generously and don't advertise it. At a church we attended years ago one lady paid into a fund that provided flowers for special occasions for years, and nobody knew it! And then your have the super-rich that give so much of it away to museums, medical centers, schools. We have quite a few of those in Houston and they don't toot their horns about it!
ReplyDeleteEugene Lang. In 1981, while speaking to a class of sixth graders in Harlem, on the spur of the moment, promised to help pay for college for any of them who graduated from high school. He provided the star that they could navigate their young lives by.
ReplyDeleteIn Maslow's Hierarchy of needs the highest need is transcendence, that is giving beyond yourself.
ReplyDeleteThe hierarchy discusses what motivates human behavior, is short, what makes us human or better humans. The idea of giving beyond the self is so worthy, especially as mentioned, those who give without a desire of recognition.
In Tampa, there have been many who were transcendent people. I mention Frank and Carol Morsani who have donated so much of their wealth to USF. They have donated more than $40 million dollars, helping build create a clinic The Morsani Center for Advanced Health Care, and funding the USF College of Medicine. Along with others they provided generous donations for the performing arts in Tampa. We no longer have to travel up to 60 miles to attend state of the art theater.
As far as the Kardashians et al, are the charitable donations similar to those of done in the Gilded Age? Is it more look how wonderful I am to give money, rather than I see a need and give of myself?
I admire all the wealthy people who donate to good causes but also the not so wealthy who give small gifts to keep things going. The volunteers who help are unsung heroes.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of younger people doing charitable things but I can't remember anyone in particular. The Kardashians and others may come through later. I don't think Carnegie and Rockefeller gave much when they were younger.
My niece worked for Perot back in the 80s and loved him. He was one of a kind.
ReplyDelete