Cleveland Rocks

by Rosemary

We spent most of a day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a museum dedicated to the history of the most significant figures in the development of rock and roll. In addition to a vast collection of memorabilia, including instruments, costumes, documents, and photos, there are a number of in-depth historical displays, interactive kiosks, and video presentations. When we were there, there were special exhibits on John Mellencamp, Rolling Stone's 50th anniversary, the Summer of Love, and the 2017 inductees.

Yeh!

The next day we visited another museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art. It's not possible to see everything there in one day, so we focused on the special exhibits. There was a small exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of sculptor Auguste Rodin. Among other works, the museum has one of Rodin's iconic Thinkers. The statue was vandalized by a bomber in 1970, a crime that remains unsolved. After much debate, the museum decided not to attempt any repairs, and the damaged statue remains on display.

The mangled Thinker in Cleveland.

The Thinker as we saw him in Paris in 2010.

The museum also has some wonderful interactive displays, where the viewer can stand in front of a computerized wall and use hand and body movements to interact with the presentation. We had great fun trying this.

Not far from the art museum are the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. This is a series of small gardens, representing various cultures or ethnicities from around the world. The project began in the early 1900s, and is ongoing. There are currently 29 completed gardens, and more are in progress. Each garden has an identifying sign. Inside, there may be statues, water features, plaques, or structures.

Of course, Dante Alighieri has a prominent place in the Italian garden.

From Cleveland, we continued north.