THE RUBY SLIPPERS FROM JUDY GARLAND'S MUSEUM HAVE BEEN RECOVERED!

The Recovered Ruby Slippers (The Traveling Pair)

Today, FBI authorities in Minneapolis, together with Grand Rapids Police Chief Scott Johnson, will release information on the recovery of the stolen Ruby Slippers worn by Grand Rapids native Judy Garland in the 1939 movie classic, "The Wizard of Oz."

The case has intrigued people worldwide. The Herald-Review will broadcast the press conference live on www.grandrapidsmn.com, starting at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The famous shoes, one of only four original pairs of such red slippers, were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids in August of 2005.

“These shoes are the holy grail of all Hollywood memorabilia,” said Rhys Thomas, the author of “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” who has tracked the case closely for years. “There isn’t anything else that does more to evoke the power of belief.”

Per the Associated Press, federal authorities revealed Tuesday they have recovered perhaps the most recognizable footwear in all of film history after the crimson heels went missing in 2005 when the culprit broke into a small display case holding the shoes at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

Reportedly insured for $1 million, the shoes — which Garland’s Dorothy famously taps together to return home to Kansas following her stay in the fantasy world of Oz — comprise one of four remaining pairs of ruby slippers the actress wore in the film.

These are the mismatched pair that match the other pair in the Smithsonian!

FBI Recovers Stolen Ruby Slippers Used in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

Leonardo DiCaprio and director Steven Spielberg privately acquired one of the pairs in 2012 for eventual display inside the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures when it opens in 2019.

Details regarding the stolen pair’s return were not disclosed, though officials with the Minneapolis FBI, the North Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Grand Rapids Police Department have scheduled a Tuesday press conference WILL BE AT 1PM to release more information, according to ABC News.

Anyone with additional information regarding the theft of the ruby slippers or the extortion plot is encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or submit information online at tips.fbi.gov.

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The Ruby Slippers of Oz

AT THE DIA: PLAY BALL COMMEMORATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1968 WORLD SERIES!

THU, MAR 29, 2018 — SUN, SEP 16, 2018

The DIA exhibition commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Tigers’ 1968 World Series victory with memorabilia, baseball cards and collectibles. If you were a kid then, you won’t believe the feeling of being then again. If you’ve only heard about it, you’ll discover what the time was all about.

Play Ball! Baseball at the DIA

Take a step back in time and celebrate the great American pastime of baseball at Play Ball! Baseball at the DIA, featuring items from the Michigan-based E. Powell Miller collection and the Detroit Institute of Arts. This exhibition commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Tigers’ 1968 World Series victory with memorabilia, baseball cards and collectibles. Visitors will also experience the extraordinary opportunity to view more than 500 baseball cards known as the “T206 White Border Set.” Miller’s collection of these vintage cards is noted for its rarity and superlative condition, and includes a Joe Doyle “error card” as well as the coveted and rare Honus Wagner card.

Visitors also will experience the extraordinary opportunity to view more than 500 baseball cards known as the “T206 White Border Set.” Miller’s collection of these vintage cards is noted for its rarity and superlative condition, and includes a Joe Doyle “error card” as well as the coveted and rare Honus Wagner card.

The exhibition runs through Sunday, Sept. 16 at your Detroit Institute of Arts.

CRANBROOK ART MUSEUM SUMMER 2018 EXHIBITIONS

Shepard Fairey, Pasteup, Unknown, 1999.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich., March 5, 2018—This summer, Cranbrook Art Museum will organize the largest exhibition of its kind exploring the unique visual language of the punk and post-punk movements from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die: Punk Graphics, 1976-1986 will feature hundreds of graphics—including many rare flyers, posters, albums, promotions, and zines.

“Since its rebellious inception in the 1970s, punk has always exhibited very visual forms of expression,” says Director of Cranbrook Art Museum Andrew Blauvelt, who is curating the exhibition. “From the dress and hairstyles of its devotees and the on-stage theatrics of its musicians to the graphic design of its numerous forms of printed matter. As such, punk’s energy coalesced into a powerful subcultural phenomena that transcended music to affect other fields such as visual art and design.”

Various posters for The Clash, c. 1977–1985, Collection of Andrew Krivine. Photo courtesy the Galleries at Moore, Philadelphia.
Photo by Joseph Hu.

In conjunction with Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, the Museum will debut the original exhibition Shepard Fairey: Salad Days, 1989-1999, which considers Fairey’s first 10 years of artistic practice and its roots in the graphic language and philosophies of the punk scene. Punk’s ethos played a decisive role in the artist’s early work. “When I discovered punk rock, and realized that music could have an attitude in its style but a specific point of view in its lyrics,” states Fairey, “I became even more interested in how it works as a way of shaping attitudes and culture.”

Opening Weekend Events
June 15 + 16, 2018

Cranbrook Art Museum will host a weekend of celebrations surrounding the opening of both exhibitions. For exclusive access and advance ticket information, become a member today!

Preview Party: Friday, June 15, 2018 from 6-9pm.
6-7pm: VIP reception exclusively for ArtMembers. Memberships may be purchased on our website.

7-9pm: Open to the general public. Tickets are $30 at the door, or may be purchased in advance on our website.

DJs will be on hand for the celebration, as well as a very special guest! Cash bar. Live music. Complimentary appetizers.

MISSING JAMES DEAN'S PORSCHE "THE LITTLE BASTARD" MAY BE FOUND

JAMES DEAN'S MISSING CAR: James Dean died on Sept. 30, 1955, after crashing his car. The wrecked Porsche toured nationally as a highway safety exhibit after the actor's death, only to go missing while being transported from Florida to California.

Now, a museum in Illinois may know where it is....

VOLO, Ill. (WLS) --

The Volo Auto Museum says it has a credible tip regarding the whereabouts of James Dean's Porsche Spyder wreckage, missing since the early 1960s.

Dean died on Sept. 30, 1955, after crashing his car. The wrecked Porsche toured nationally as a highway safety exhibit after the actor's death, only to go missing while being transported from Florida to California. FULL STORY HERE

KEEP THE VULTURES AWAY FROM DETROIT'S INSTITUTE OF ART!

KEEP THE VULTURES AWAY FROM OUR ART MUSEUM! JERRY VILE EXHIBIT

Maybe some great news for Detroit! Looks like the BIG 3 may be coming together to save our beloved DIA...Hasn't Detroit been raped and pillaged enough by politicians? Sell something else....maybe the governor can donate his 14 kt gold slinky to the cause...I am so sick of watching this city taking such a beating......

The Detroit Three automakers are considering giving tens of millions of dollars to the Detroit Institute of Arts toward its $100-million obligation to help reduce pension cuts and protect art from being sold in the city’s bankruptcy, the Free Press has learned. FULL STORY HERE

THE WILLOW RUN BOMBER PLANT CLOSER TO BEING A MUSEUM

 

I worked inside this mammoth building for three years..Am glad they plan to save a portion and convert it to a museum....We need to preserve our history like the Europeans do.

At least a corner of Ypsilanti Township’s former Willow Run bomber plant, the factory where Rosie the Riveter toiled during World War II, may yet be transformed into the Yankee Air Museum’s new home.

The museum confirmed Tuesday that it is close to purchasing a 175,000-square-foot portion of the property from General Motors’ bankruptcy trust.

The museum plans to renovate that section of the 5-million-square-foot factory — saving the massive, still-operational bay doors through which thousands of finished B24 bombers rolled. FULL STORY ON FREEP