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Usher just showed up Tuesday at the Walker Art Center.
Curatorial fellow Mia Lopez was in the gallery when she got a call from visitors' services that the entertainer and former judge on NBC's "The Voice" was interested in taking a tour a few hours before his performance at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.
On his @Usher Twitter account he posted photos of himself in Minneapolis, in the Sculpture Garden at the Walker. There's a great photo of Usher, looking like a bug while sitting in front of Spoonbridge and Cherry.
He was wearing very cool head gear, with a zippered hood and goggles that completely concealed his face. It looked entomologist-inspired, giving Usher the countenance of a bug. Or a cat burglar. But the gear made it possible for him to walk around without causing pandemonium.
Usher doffed the head gear indoors, and several people recognized him before he connected with Lopez.
"He was very friendly," Lopez told me Wednesday. "He was clearly interested in contemporary art. We walked through the 'Radical Presence' exhibition and the 75th-anniversary exhibition called 'Art at the Center.' I guess he visits museums while he tours. He definitely knew some art history. He was really kind of attentive and into the art."
Usher was accompanied by someone who seemed like a manager-type to Lopez.
Prospects for AP
Three words Adrian Peterson might want to consider: Canadian Football League.
ESPN's Ed Werder said Wednesday that if the Vikings release the now-suspended running back for the 2014 season, and maybe longer, there are CFL teams that would be interested in him. Werder said that, unlike Ray Rice — with whom Peterson is inextricably linked by the word "abuse" — the league sentiment is that Peterson has two more productive years in him.
Although the CFL pays considerably less than the NFL, Peterson could play now and on the larger field, which might suit his running style even better. Then he could really turn a deaf ear to more lectures from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The Commish had lots of words of wisdom in a lengthy letter explaining Peterson's punishment in the wake of his no-contest plea to child abuse charges for how he spanked a 4-year-old son.
Goodell's letter and punishment for Peterson did not sit well with ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" hosts Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon. Goodell telling Peterson "you have shown no meaningful remorse for your conduct," rubbed Wilbon wrong: "Tony, anything that Roger Goodell does now in the way of punishment and meting it out to players, simply seems like butt covering. … It is all built for Roger Goodell to avoid meeting tough public opinion — which he didn't deal with so well with the last time out [ie., Ray Rice's domestic abuse]. I would have reinstated Adrian Peterson and let him either be traded by the Vikings, cut by the Vikings or go back to work. Adrian Peterson has been punished, in my opinion, enough."
Kornheiser said: "I would say this seems like a lot for a single misdemeanor count that resulted in absolutely no jail time. Had this been a drunken driver episode, he'd be back now with time served — but it's child abuse. The letter is extremely paternalistic. It's a lecture. I think it has less to do with Adrian Peterson than three classic words, 'Ray Rice video.' Everything must be seen in the prism of the Ray Rice video. Even if you make the best case for Roger Goodell with Ray Rice, that he acted out of kindness at only giving him two games [suspension], he's not going to do that again for precisely the reason you are talking about: the terrible PR hit."
Peterson hasn't, however, been perfect since this abuse story broke.
Whose idea was it for Peterson to skip a meeting with the NFL commissioner? That was either bad advice or arrogance, which he can't afford right now.
Peterson may need a little more time to adjust his attitude. Being rebuked for crossing a societal boundary (though he's crossed a few) is new; until now everything that Peterson has done since his athletic gift was discovered has been met with approval. Being in league-mandated therapy will help him get there.
C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on FOX 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.
