ALBANY CAROUSEL INSIDE AND OUT

The Albany, Oregon Carousel is stunning, but a different sort of stunning.

Instead of cute, like nice effort for a small town cute, it’s a world class art installation.

You could pick it up and transport the building and all of its contents to any museum or amusement park in the world and it would fit right in.

Does it seem odd that such a great attraction is in a town known for its Timber Carnival?

Not when you consider all the wood it takes. It’s all about the wood.

Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”

The same story applies to a block of wood.

From an Albany Carousel carver pointed to a wooden square: “This block of wood will eventually be a dachshund, but right now it’s a boxer.”

The pieces you see here will be a horse like the one on the wall.

It’s a process followed for every critter imagined.

From Impossible To Hop On Starts With Study

When you listen to a complicated piece of music you’re hearing one thing: practice.

The other stuff depends on the tools musicians bring to the work: their instruments.

When you see an Albany Carousel ride, know that it starts with studying the subject, then the tools.

Using the tools takes years of practice to produce a ride worthy of leaving the studio/barn.

It takes a lot of warm ups.

When it turned out right in the distant past, they made the Museum.

I like to call museums Halls of Fame, and the Albany Carousel is no exception.

The lineup is a study in evolution, including mine.

From the moment I walked in the giraffe got me.

If we were going to ride, and we were, I’d race a kid to the giraffe.

Riding The Wind At The Albany Carousel

From raw wood carved in the shop, to a fresh coat in the paint studio, to the main stage, the Albany Carousel is a complete show.

A beautiful building, a downtown location, and something for everyone, it’s a stop to mark on your planning calendar.

If it matters in your plans, and it should since you’re traveling, the building was an easy find off the freeway and was easier getting back on four hours later.

On the right day the Big G is available. And it’s big.

You’ll need Big G for the big prize.

If you want to feel like you’re eight years old again, this is the place.

Which one is the Brass Ring?

They’re all brass when you’re riding that high.

Was it a task mounting up?

Harder getting down?

That’s the BoomerPdx challenge. Are you up for it? Leave a comment.

Last Word: Is The Albany Carousel Really World Class?

It would improve some places I’ve been.

Paris.

This is a perfect place for the Carousel.

That tower could use some company.

2

The guy on the right thinks the Carousel would be a better addition to The Louvre.

But no one asked him.

Instead, they asked I.M. Pei.

3

London.

A Ferris wheel on the river Thames called The London Eye?

It’s called the eye because it’s the best view of London.

Put the Albany Carousel beside it and ride Big G, then tell me about the view.

You’ll see a thriving community dedicated to the hard work of whimsey.

And it’s contagious, a contagion of the spirit that creates things we don’t find anywhere else.

Who doesn’t want to see that?