Back in Time Day 2 - Site 2

 Welcome to the Arizona Copper Art  Museum

Located on Main St  on Historic Rte 89A Clarkdale AZ just 15 miles

from Jerome this massive and incomparable collection of 

over 6000 works of copper art & architecture of Western European

 and Northern American emphasis, spanning from 

3500 B.C.E to the present day.

This  impressive sign sums things up...

W.A. Clark founded Clarkdale and

Copper Built Arizona.

Cyprus,  Legendary "Island of Copper".  Cyprus is the 

world's oldest Copper Mine (6000+ years).

  Copper is man's 1st metal.

These are some  the  largest Copper Mines in the U.S.

The collection is housed in the former Clarkdale High School 

which was built in 1928.

We spent a little time sitting outside on benches that

were made of bricks.  They were amazingly comfortable.

Do you know what this is?  I walked all around it before

I discovered the sign... I even asked Don if he knew what

it was.  He did not.  It is a Beer Kettle, made of Copper, of course!!!

And I even tried out  the Bronze Church Bell. 

The bellfounder was Marcel Michaels of Tournal Belgium.

And if you had time you could have a game of chess with

your friends (and a friendly dog) as you picked up and 

carried the chess piece you wanted to move to their desired location...

all according to the rules of the game.

The entrance to the museum was thru Copper doors, of course.

As we wandered around inside this massive museum, copper

footprints on the floor took us from one exhibit to the next.

A close-up of the plaque above the fireplace in the prior photo

is flanked by "Trench Art" which you'll learn about shortly.

Click on this photo to read the facts about selecting the

best state and town for this Copper Art Museum.

The perfect state and town (Clarkdale) were chosen.

Copper as Art - The World's Most Beautiful Metal, is presented

in 3 categories:

Fine Art - aesthetically pleasing artifacts created without

purpose except to be admired and contemplated.

Decorative Art - Beautiful and useable objects which we're 

intentionally decorated  when created, and

Applied Art - which are plain and functional objects

that were creatively decorated after the original purpose. 

Only two metals have color.  

The metal Copper is the first of the elements and Gold is 

the second.

However, Copper can be turned into Bronze with a mixture 

of 85% copper and 15% tin.

The Statue of Liberty is a perfect representation

of "Verdigris".

"Copper Flower"  is man made but can also form naturally.

This is a piece of natural Copper as it was extracted from the mine.

From  1914-1918 the term "Trench Art” affixed itself to a variety of war 

moments usually made from battlefield debris.

 It is used to describe many types of handcrafted artifacts made during 

or right after the war.  Most WWI trench art comes from 

the Western Front, stretching from Belgium thru France and Switzerland.

Discharged artillery shell casings were the most plentiful and were 

popular for making artwork while in the trenches.  Also many prisoners

 of war and wounded soldiers designed these souvenirs in exchange 

for food, wine, cigarettes & money or just to relieve boredom.  

There is an entire room full of over 600 German 7,7 cm shell casings

which have been repurposed into artwork appealing to the soldier's eye.

And, this is called "trench Art".

A mixture of copper and zinc was used to create the design on the surface of

the shell casing (in this case).  

This was my favorite. and a definite  winner in the "applied art" category!!!

Speaking of favorites what do you think of this giant

Copper grasshopper (about 20 inches long),

 with  what looks like to me abalone shell

inlay for the eyes and to decorate the legs.

 

And, this copper and glass necklace was pretty stunning.

This  close up shows the piece with more true to color lighting.

Bocce Ball anyone.  These beauties (circa 1800-1900)

were made in France out of Bronze, Iron, Copper and/or Brass NAILS!!!

Click on each of the items below to enlarge so you can

easily view the descriptions of how these glass colors were created.

Whew...  this 2 part 4 site was interesting and overwhelming

to see and write about.  Thanks for hanging in there... hope you

enjoyed the ride and maybe learned something new or two...