“Is it a picture of light or is it water?” I asked my children after we plopped down on the large bean bags and let the immersive video installation flow around us. “The Undersea Well” was made by Jane Cassidy for this exhibition. It’s a dive deep into the waters off the west coast of Ireland. However, if you know where you are when you experience a video installation by Jane Cassidy, then you are looking at it wrong. I was well aware of my spot that my children insisted I share on their bean bags. Their enthusiasm to include me in their art experience is special. We watched and listened. Then I let them convince me it was either or neither or both water and light.

 

Jane Cassidy’s solo exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts includes three video and sound installations plus two video sculptures. My advice for engaging Cassidy’s work is this. First, you should find the humor. Second, you search for the zen. And when you finally connect all that you saw in those first two looks to everyday life, then you found the artwork. It’s the interaction between transcendent moments, laughing out loud, and what you did yesterday that makes the art resonate.

You have until September 16th to see this exhibition and enjoy what I am calling our perfect day in Montgomery. It includes a playground, ethnic food, art, and coffee. Also, I highly recommend the new Legacy Museum and National Memorial to Peace and Justice. We will be back this fall to visit because it was too much for our littles this trip.

 

In downtown Montgomery there is a little neighborhood of authentically preserved buildings from the 19th and 20th century. In the middle is a large playground. Stepping out of the car after a long drive, our children were delighted to see this playground in front of them! That’s your first stop in Montgomery.

Then we drove away from downtown to get lunch. The last time we were in Montgomery, we went to the #1 Yelp recommended Korean restaurant. This time, we tried #2. And love both of them! There are no Korean restaurants in our home town, so this is a treat for us and an experience for our children. Both restaurants are right around the corner from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is free to visit. I wrote about it before here, here, and here. Their children’s play area has a variety of activities, including some that actually teach art principles and skills. My boys are not as interested in those, but they love to explore and play in the stations. I was impressed that the museum educator was engaging many of the families in Spanish. You can find places in Alabama where different languages and cultures are included, but you have to be intentional to find them.

We left the art museum to find a treat, so we headed to Food and Wine Magazine’s top rated coffeeshop in the state. That’s Prevail Union in Kress on Dexter. The building is a piece of history and located in the front was an art exhibition presented by Montgomery Builds and Dashboard U.S.  The gallery attendant/security guard was one of the most delightful people I have met in an art gallery. And he did his very best to answer all one thousand questions my son asked about Vincent Buwalda’s artwork. My five year old is completely enthralled (like more than ice cream and cookies enthralled) with his kinetic sculpture, “Intro/Extraversion Study.”