By Linda Cooper: The Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement in downtown St. Petersburg is the newest of the many museums in the area. “In America, the Arts and Crafts movement spread across the country from approximately 1890-1930. The tenets of the movement – simplicity in design, honesty in materials, hand craftsmanship, and depicting the natural world – are still widely valued today.” This is a quote from their website. We saw everything from pottery, to furniture, to period tiles and glassware. Our group was divided into 3 with each group having it’s own volunteer docent. Our guide commented that she had also been our guide when we toured the Raymond James Western museum at another MBCA event several years ago. There were pieces and architectural elements from famous designer like Frank Lloyd Wright, Tiffany glassware and Paul & I recognized several pieces of Rookwood pottery made in the factory in the Mt. Adams area of Cincinnati where we both grew up. After touring all 5 levels, we hopped in our cars for our short 2 mile drive up 4th street to Harveys 4th Street Grill where we enjoyed a terrific meal and got caught with most of our thirty one members
from the tour.