Keepin' Busy Day 1

Jonathan is out of town on business so I took the kids to the McNay Art Museum to keep the darlins' busy and not climbing the walls. Before we set off for the museum we went over the cardinal rules. 1. Speak in an indoor voice. 2. Look, ask questions, say what you think, but don't touch!!!

I left with only moderate expectations from the art museum.

I was impressed.

They had a number of works by Picasso, Renoir, Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec, and a gorgeous, large Monet painting of water lilies. There were a many other famous and semi-famous artists on display as well. The McNay also boasted of a large Edward Gorey collection with an area set aside for children to make their own "Gorey" scenes with backgrounds and cut out characters. I'm a bit oblivious to the art world and had never heard of him. His work is filled with odd, amusing characters, ridiculous circumstances and a fair bit of black humor. In some respects his work reminds me just a bit of Gary Larson, albeit with much more artistic ability. A word of caution, the tales for children are not really for children, and are a touch too macabre for the elementary age set.

The museum also contains artifacts dating back to the 1500s, quite a bit of modern art and sculpture, a section of religious alter art, and a portion we didn't even explore. The curators were quite helpful, and some of them loved explaining details and hidden pictures and meanings to the kids. According to Matthew and Melissa, the highlight of the trip were the scuplture and pond gardens. To their credit, Matthew and Melissa behaved very well in the museum. I let them blow off some steam outside and race along the beautiful grounds. Apparently many couples use the grounds as a backdrop to wedding and engagement pictures, and I can see why.

So it was successful first trip to an art museum (I took Matthew once to the Springville Art Museum, but he was a baby, so I don't count it). Next time I go though, I leave the kids and make it a date. Then Jonathan and I can lesuirely enjoy the works.