Springsteen Exhibit

I feel like Don and I are on a Springsteen kick this year. First we saw him perform near the tail end of his River tour. Then we each read his autobiography. When we learned that Morven was having an exhibit of some photographs of him, we knew we wanted to go. We also knew Ashley had no interest in seeing it.

We tied our visit to when their annual Festival of Trees -- when local nurseries, the library, and local shops and non-profits decorate Morven for Christmas. The first tree we saw when we walked in was dedicated to Springsteen. I snapped a bunch of pictures on my phone and sent them to New Cousin Barbara (NCB).

Here are a few links to reviews of the exhibit. It started at the Grammy Museum of Woody Guthrie in Tulsa, OK, before traveling to Monmouth University near where Springsteen grew up down the Jersey Shore. I told NCB hopefully it will make its way closer to her in Massachusetts.

Woody Guthrie Museum (Tulsa, OK)https://www.grammy.com/news/grammy-museum-woody-guthrie-center-launch-springsteen-exhibit

Monmouth University (NJ)http://www.ahherald.com/newsbrief/arts-news/20728-the-bruce-springsteen-a-photographic-journey-on-view-at-monmouth-university

Morven (Princeton, NJ)http://www.centraljersey.com/time_off/magic-in-the-light-a-photographic-journey-of-bruce-springsteen/article_6fe692cc-b7f0-11e6-840e-ebf9e173bef8.html

I enjoyed seeing the photographs of him. The collection included people who took the pictures that grace his album covers, and who also took candid photographs of him. I would have loved to have taken pictures of those, but that was forbidden. I liked one of him sitting next to a window at the oak table he wrote about in his book writing a song. On the far right of the picture is his reflection in the mirror. I was impressed the photographer (I think this one was his sister Pamela) did not appear in the picture, too. Don liked one of him playing piano. The collection made his autobiography come to life.

The exhibit was displayed upstairs. I overheard one of the docents saying when Morven was opened to the public they made the conscious decision to use it to host art exhibits rather than fill it with period furniture and turn it into a historic home.

I'm sure NCB would have drooled over the pictures for hours. For us, though, 45 minutes was plenty of time. I'm glad we went while it was decorated for Christmas as we really enjoyed studying the trees.

More images of trees and mantles: