I’ve been a New York Times reader for as long as I can remember. Sections and columns come and go and morph with the changing times. The “Metropolitan Diary” has been a fixture since 1976. It’s a regular feature that provides a space for New Yorkers – residents as well as visitors – to share odd, overheard, and direct exchanges that run the gamut of responses, from eye rolls to bursts of laughter. Regardless of the response, the encounters shared always seem genuine.
No surprise that as the Woodson Art Museum’s director, I hear a lot of stories, from first-hand experiences in our galleries to hearsay about a friend of a friend who enjoyed a Woodson traveling exhibition at a distant venue. I welcome them all. In fact, there’s nothing quite like an unexpected story from a far-flung locale.
Just such a story popped up in my email inbox recently, courtesy of a longtime Woodson Art Museum member.
He wrote from his Florida winter home: “I drove over to the nearby 7-Eleven to get the papers this morning. An older guy coming out of the convenience store spotted my Wisconsin license plate. He asked, ‘where in Wisconsin are you from?’ Wausau, I replied. ‘Been to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum many times,’ the gentleman added. Where are you from, I ask. ‘From here,’ he replied.”
Our Woodson Art Museum champion concludes his message to me: “Your fans are everywhere.”
Love that.
If you hear something on the street or elsewhere, wherever your travels might take you, we’d love to hear your story, too.
