Friday, May 2, 2008

Ready to be cultured in D.C.

The great thing about living in Delaware is that we are only about 2 hours from DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia so we have the best of both worlds with our rural beach area, but city life nearby.

I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore so we visited DC often. We would visit the zoo, White House, monuments, memorials, and of course the Air and Space, Natural History, and American History Museum. I enjoy walking the mall and just looking at all the architecture.






However, in all the visits I never went in the Natural Gallery of Art. Honestly, I wasn't ever interested, but lately I have been thinking it is time for me to become more cultured. Maybe it has something to do with the thirtieth birthday approaching quickly...nah!!

Anyways, every year my 3rd graders take a field trip to DC at the end of the year. This is by far my favorite field trip because many of my students have never left the city where they were born and they are always so mesmerized by the tall buildings (we don't have anything over two stories here is slower, lower Delaware), busy streets, and of course the museums. It is also my favorite field trip because we encourage every child to bring a chaperone so that means I don't have any students to watch. This way I can take the day off to sight see on my own be available for emergencies. So I decided that on this trip since I was kid free I would take time to visit an art museum.

After looking at the Museum map I decided to visit the
Hirshhorn Museum, which contains modern and contemporary art. So I headed over with an open mind and big aspirations to gain some culture. Instead this is what I saw...


Please...somebody tell me, just who is the almighty one that decides what is art and what is not because after visiting this museum I just didn't get it. Not to mention I visited a new exhibit entitled "The Cinema Effect" and let's just say it was disturbing. First of all it was completely dark, and I don't really do dark, and then there were these weird images being flashed everywhere, heads on the floor, an eyeball hanging from the ceiling...uh no thanks! As I felt the on start of a panic attack I called Dave who told me to get a guard and have him escort me out. Okay, cause that would be really cultured!! So instead I kept him on the phone as I ran meandered my way out of the exhibit. He then informed me that I probably would not like this museum at all (like I hadn't figured that out already) and that I wanted to go to the National Gallery of Art. By this time I only had about 30 minutes until I needed to be at the bus pick up, but by golly I was going to get some culture if it killed me. So I get into the museum and am welcomed by this beautiful sight...


No darkness, no flashing lights, instead flowers and fountains. Peace! Since I didn't have much time I decided to try to find a Leonardo da Vinci painting because I did at least know he was a famous artist and all so I thought that would be a good place to start. I ended up finding this...





Isn't it beautiful? Not that the picture does it justice at all. Since I had such a limited time I only saw a couple rooms down one hall, which amounts to nothing since it has, I believe, four stories, with multiple halls, and multiple rooms off each hall. I called Dave so excited about the museum and told him we had to go back sometime soon together and without children so I could take my time and you know, get cultured!!

Oh by the way, I did learn that I really enjoy Italian Renaissance Paintings!!

2 comments:

  1. something a bit closer is the baltimore museum of art. It is really great too. And the Walters Art Gallery is in Baltimore too the next time you are home. I've never been to the DC art galleries but my favorite museum is the American History one. LOVE DC! So glad we live close to it eh?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had to laugh at your experience with modern art. At the Chicago Art museum there was a group looking at a picture for like 45 minutes- i was perplex. i told my sister "it is a train coming out of a fireplace really an hour to discuss that" There was some meaning etc. i just had to laugh- I know how you feel.

    ReplyDelete

Go ahead...tell me like it is!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...