Don’t see all the art. That’s my best advice for adults taking children to see art in a museum. Skip a few, enjoy what you do see, and go back. Museums usually have more art than anyone has the attention span to experience in one trip. That’s how we approached our first visit to Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. We did not have much time, so we decided that we would only stop to look when someone said, “This is my favorite.” Our goal was to see four artworks and check out the children’s gallery.
Z-man chose a mixed media sculpture by local artist, Michael Vaughn Sims, titled “Tower of Saint Peters.” He immediately plopped down to make a drawing. Soon after, the oldest child called from another gallery that we “had to see this.” He yelled that in front of about five more artworks in the museum, so we looked at a few more than four artworks. The oldest had a lot of favorite artworks, but I think his favorite-favorite was the hygrothermograph!
I found two favorites. First, a work on paper by Bethany Collins where she printed and erased definitions of the word “certain.” I could look at this series of her work for hours.
While my children were busy in another area, I scooted around the rest of the museum. Seeing art through the eyes of a child has changed how I look at art, and that’s why I literally laughed out loud when I saw Jaehyo Lee’s “Standing Donut.” My children would be instantly drawn to this artwork because it looks like their favorite food, the texture is alluring, and the chestnut logs are puzzling. I laughed out loud because I know the artwork would make them happy. But I also laughed because an artwork with the potential to make someone laugh was being displayed in a place where no one was laughing His studio website has some great photographs of his studio and artwork.
After walking through the main galleries, we found the hallway that led us to their children’s gallery or the place where you can touch the art! My next post is all about this fun zone. Admission to the Montgomery Museum of Art is free. Check out their family programs before you head over there.
