H’s been doing the camp program at her school, but it’s only Monday to Thursday mornings. So Fridays have been our field trip days. My mom was watching my niece Grace one Friday last month, and the four of us took a drive out to Grounds for Sculpture.
Tag: Art
Last week was an absolute BEAR. I came home Monday from work and got sick, and I stayed sick through Friday night. In between bouts of thinking I was better before getting sick again, we had a blizzard. And H and I played in the snow. AND, for the umpteenth time this winter, we snow painted. Which was so incredibly good for my soul.
My fabulous and amazing mentor Dee sent this out today, and I love it. Zazzle is now selling prints, tees, bumper stickers with this Burning Through Pages graphic (in addition to some other equally outstanding book nerd goodies). I support everything about this.
Read more on I Want One For Every Classroom Everywhere Ever…
My mom, the sprout, and I went back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday. I was off for Rosh Hashanah, and the museum was closed. So Meredith took us around for another couple of hours to see some more things and get some fun photos of H.
They were tending to a lot of things when we there, so we still didn’t make it to William the hippo. And the Arms and Armor room, always one of my favorites, was also tricky to get to. But we saw lots of sculpture, European paintings, and I made lots of docents and guards nervous when I spread H out on the floor to take some photos. I mean, how many kids get pictures of themselves in the empty Met? I’m pretty sure I was horribly embarrassing, and my mother told me my mission for the day was clear–H photos. I swear we looked at art, and that’s why we went, but I’m also all about preserving cool memories. So here are my favorite photos from the whole day. The sprout photos are towards the bottom, I really did appreciate the art.
As close as we could get to the Arms and Armor.
But still very cool from above.
H, my mom, and I packed into the car and headed into Manhattan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. It’s the first Meredith Monday of summer 2012, and I plan on taking complete advantage of Mere’s access this year, mwah ha ha. There are rumors that the Met will start opening 7 days a week later this year, and if that’s the case this will be the last summer that we can take over the museum together when it’s closed. So H and I will definitely be going again (and I think my mom is on board for another round, too).
This is second only to watching the Thanksgiving parade balloons blown up as my favorite New York City thing to do. I even took my fancy camera and borrowed Adam’s favorite lens. I’ve been to the Met when it’s closed a few times now, once or twice in grad school when I took a class there and then a couple of times with Meredith. And she is by far my favorite buddy for this kind of stuff. An empty museum, time with a great friend, and lots of art. It’s like being in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler but without the hiding and pesky brother.
We took it easy today since it was H’s first visit, and I think we got it down to a science. At the museum by 12 & out of the museum by 2, we avoided traffic on each end and basically avoided an overtired baby. And we didn’t keep Meredith away from her office TOO much. We went through the Costume Institute’s Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. Baz Luhrmann directed several vignettes starring Miuccia Prada (as herself) and Judy Davis as Elsa Schiaparelli, just talking to each other about fashion. I loved the juxtaposition of their philosophies and Schiaparelli’s clear influence on Prada’s clothes. Very cool, and of course my mom commented several times, “I bet I could make a knockoff of that!” No photos allowed there, but H loved the clothes. Or she loved getting out of the stroller while Meredith carried her, not sure which. Either way, this exhibit was incredible.
It’s February 1st, a month and a day from the start of my maternity leave. And things at school have kicked into high gear since New Year’s while I wind down my school year and try to fit everything in with the kids before I go. I’ll be back for 2 weeks in June, but really this is my end-of-year in a lot of ways.
Last month my mom and I went to the opening of Brian Selznick’s “Wonderstruck in the Panorama” at the Queens Museum of Art. It was an incredible exhibit with a great talk from Mr. Selznick about the time spent studying and capturing the Panorama, a huge presence in Wonderstruck. And I was thrilled to go, I’ve sponsored buildings on that Panorama through the museum.
On Monday Meredith and I went to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met. They’re opening on Mondays just for this exhibit, and you can pay more for a ticket but avoid the now infamously long lines. So worth it, the exhibit is incredible. They don’t allow photos at the exhibit, but check out the link to the exhibit’s blog: there are some excellent photos and videos of the exhibit highlights. Two of my favorite pieces are shown in the “Romantic Gothic and Cabinet of Curiosities” post, the wooden boots (with the leather top) and the spray painted white frock. I loved the stories behind those, the audio guide is a must.
Yesterday my mom and I went to this show at the Park Avenue Armory, and it was one of the coolest installations I’ve ever seen. Joanna S. Rose has loaned her 651 red and white quilts for a free week-long exhibition in conjunction with the American Folk Art Museum. Thinc Design did the installation, and they’ve managed to make an exquisitely modern experience out of a traditional American craft. Modern quilting at its coolest and most accessible. Incredible.
Read more on Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts…