Pinterest Interest

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - unnamed
I have a friend named Rob. I don’t see him very often, but when I do it is always a real pleasure.

He is a very upbeat person with a seemingly insatiable curiosity for delight in many of its guises – flavorful cheeses, distinctive food preparations, beverages of all sorts to accompany food, or to drink alone; especially wine.  And it doesn’t stop there – he has accumulated many treasures over an extended period of time: paintings, drawings, prints, maps, photographs, furniture, books, objects – and the list goes on.

Rob and his remarkable wife Shelley have had a rich life raising their four daughters in a grand-scaled Queen Anne home (including  a carriage house) in an early Boston suburb, while leading rich professional careers.

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While the children (and now grandchildren) live on their own, Rob and Shelley’s ‘nest’ is hardly empty.

Rob has an intellectual, historical or aesthetic connection – and is passionate about – nearly every ‘thing’ in his home.  He is a cultural adventurer; some time ago we enjoyed an afternoon looking at antique furniture, paintings and decorative arts in a museum, followed by an exhibition of adventuresome new art,  we had a lovely meal with a great accompanying beverage, and went to a enormous outlet bookstore.

And what’s particularly refreshing about Rob is that unlike so many men, he speaks of his professional life only when prodded – there is too much still to see, do, experience, taste, share, etc. to converse about work!

Now you’re wondering what Rob has to do with Pinterest?

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‘Arlene Shechet: Meissen Recast’ at the RISD Museum

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - Arlene Shechet - RISD

“We have the Monkey Band!”

A chance meeting of like-minds at the NYC Freize Art Fair in 2012 was the moment of inspiration for an idea that resulted in an extraordinary exhibition which opened last week at the RISD Museum – ‘Arlene Shechet : Meissen Recast’.

The director of the RISD Museum and 2 of its curators ran into sculptor Arlene Shechet at the 2012 fair, and Arlene shared that she was currently the Artist-in-Residence at Meissen (the renown German porcelain manufacturer.)  Director John W. Smith enthusiastically shared “We have the Monkey Band!”

Arlene responded “We have to talk!”

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Secrets of New York: SOHO

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Although my love affair with New York City started much earlier, I moved to NYC full-time in 1984. The city has changed a lot in those 30 years – some for the better and some, well, not for the better.  That is the way of this city: always in motion and always changing.

The stream of double-decked tour buses in New York City indicates the incredible appeal that it has for tourists from around the world.  And certainly there are the ‘must see’ sights and destinations so many of these visitors come to see.

I hope that they have life-altering experiences (like I did), spend a lot of money (great for the city revenue) and come back again.  I will not however be reporting on the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building or the Magnolia Bakery – that I will leave to others.

Thankfully, there are still very special places, often hiding in plain view, that have not succumbed to the pressures exerted by the powerful real estate forces here. I am going to share some of my favorite places in a series of posts, starting today with two amazing spaces in Soho.

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A ‘New’ Old House on a Pond

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Photo credit Gross & Daley

The initial telephone call inquired about my interest in working on a “home on a pond in Westchester”.

It was many months later the prospective clients came into NYC to meet with me to talk about their project.  As it turned out, while the site did overlook a pond, the pond was adjacent to the Long Island Sound and the very distinctive property had fantastic and dramatic water views!

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