A while ago, I wrote a post called "Art Smart." This is sort of a part two to that post. I had mentioned a book, called "The Art Book for Kids," of which, there is a book one and book two. Recently, we read about the artist, Salvadore Dali, and his painting of warped clocks. He was inspired by melting cheese. Personally, when I see melting cheese, I'm inspired to throw it over broccoli or slap it onto a cracker. But, perhaps that's why I'm not featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It's also probably why I could stand to lose a few pounds.
Anyway, this post is not really about cheese, but about the surprise I got when I saw my kids amazed over the link between reading about something, and then actually seeing it. Honestly, I thought that we would spend about a half hour at the museum at the Dali exhibit, they would see the clocks painting in real life, and then they would be whining to leave. But, that's not what happened.
Instead, we spent over 2-1/2 hours there. We found paintings by many artists that were in the "Art Book for Kids!" They were so excited to try to find Pollack's signature in his paintings and to take a picture in front of the one in the book. My son started trying to pinpoint Picasso's from a distance. We also saw Matisse and some Van Gogh. It was funny when my daughter couldn't remember which artist cut off his ear. She kept saying, "Oh, yeah. He's the guy who cut off his ear!" enough times to draw laughter from other visitors. One time, they were told to move back from a painting by a nervous guard. Typically, I would have been as nervous as the guard, but I could see they weren't going to touch anything. They just wanted to get a better look at the nuts, bolts, coins and nails hidden in one of Pollock's paintings.
Anyway, my point is, it's impossible to show kids everything the world has to offer in real life. That's why books are so special. However, when you can show them the stuff they saw in a book in real life, it's hard to decide what's more interesting...the subject matter, or their faces experiencing it.
Which brings me to another point: It's really sad how expensive museums are these days...especially in Manhattan. The MoMA actually turned out to be a real deal. $20 for an adult, but children are free. I feel I really got my money's worth. But, try to take the kids to the Museum of Natural History these days and it's quite a different story. As if suggested admission isn't enough, you have to tack on more for special exhibits, and parking. Sure, general admission is "suggested," but if I give less, I wind up feeling like a schmo.
