Resnick Pavillion opens! Go to LACMA Oct 2! Free Admission

The weekend of Oct. 2 and 3rd,  the Resnick Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will open to the public. The single-story, 45,000 square foot structure is the largest purpose-built, naturally lit, open-plan museum space in the world. The collection features 18th century art including Peter Paul Rubens Click here for free tickets.
While you are there, check out the newly installed Matisse recently bequeathed by Frances Brody.  It is a magnificent work  located in the Ahmansen building.
The museum has a great sculpture garden for kids to run around. Make sure you visit the welcome center to pick up a family guide to enrich your children's experience. LACMA is one of my favorite museums. It contains examples of at least one significant western artist from the 19th century to present day. This is a great museum for teaching art history from that period to present day.

Go to The Getty on Saturday!

A reminder this coming Saturday, September 25, is Museum Day.  Visit your local participating museums for free. Just click museum day to get your entry ticket for two and find participating museums. My suggestion. Go to the Getty Center in Los Angeles! After 5:00pm, parking will be free and the crowds will be gone.  Go to the West Building to see an impressive array of impressionists painting including Van Gogh's, Irises (see what $75 million dollars looks like!)  I suggest getting the audio tour. Enjoy!

What's the Difference!!

Whats the difference between fine art and contemporary art?  To an adult it's visually obvious.  But to a child knowing the difference is a little confusing.  After all, when a child views something they can create (and indeed their are children selling  art for thousands of dollars) heralded as fine art, what makes art valuable?  To a younger child viewing contemporary art is an experience, and that experience is the art's inherent value.  Bright colors, broad brush strokes, shapes, all these elements combined create sensations in a child's mind that touches them emotionally, mentally, and hopefully, spiritually.  To an older child, the experience is the same, however, some historic background on the individual artist makes the experience richer.  For example,
to see Pablo Picasso's works go from this:

To this:



is in itself intriguing!!  What made him change his style from realism to a style called "cubism"?  The answers are as interesting as the works themselves!
Art takes you on a journey that is emotional, psychological, and (hopefully) spiritual.  That is the value of Art!

5 Steps for a Great Museum Experience with Your Child

 We know the importance of Arts Education for children. Now  how do you make a museum fun and interesting for your child?  Here are five steps for a great time with your children.

1.  Focus on one painting during your visit and open a discussion  .  You can choose a painting  while your walking through the musuem or most museums have web sites featuring their permanent or temporary exhibitions. Before your visit, pick one that you deem interesting or important. For children 5 and under focus on shapes, colors, and the subject matter in the art. Children 5 -10, focus on brush strokes, medium(that's the material the artist used, and the artist him or herself. Children 10- 18, focus on historical background of painting, artist, and why the work and/or artist is important in history.

2. Make sure museum has open spaces for play.   Most museums have open inside or outside space where a child can unwind. Take frequent play stops between art viewing.

3. Make sure restaurants, a snack bar, or a sack lunch from home is allowed and/or available.  Hungry and thirsty children have difficulty staying focused. Bring water to drink.

4. Visit museum shops and buy!  Lets be honest, one of the greatest and most memorable part of going to an amusement park or event is buying a trinket.  Reinforce a positive memory in your child by buying a trinket at the museum store.  Most museums have trinkets ranging from a couple dollars on up. Let them know a museum holds special treasures they can own.

5. Have fun and be inspired yourself. Children pick up on their parents emotions.  If you are inspired, excited, intrigued, and having fun.  They will too.

San Diego's New Children's Museum a Delight for Adults too!

It's a joy visiting a museum and find inspiration. Especially in a museum focused on children. A children's museum inherently contains rowdy kid's playful energy along with tired, hungry toddlers needing naps and attention. A visit can be distracting as well as exhausting.  Yet, this museum offers a bonus transcending distraction .  It features artists who stimulate and interest the adult mind as well as a child's.

While your kids are running around enjoying the children's venues, take a moment, read the displays about the artists.  It will add depth and breadth to an adult's experience.  The  museum's web site has a wonderful link giving info on each  artist while explaining their work in detail. (click artists)

 My favorite installation is by featured artist Mungo Thomson titled B/W. You hear his artwork as you enter the museum. You are greeted by the sound of chirping birds. Once inside, you hear whale song. But strangely, what you are really hearing is the opposite of what you thought. One track of b/w speeds up vinyl recordings of humpback whale song 16x until they resemble birdsong; the other track slows down birdsong recordings on vinyl 16x until they resemble whale song. It's an transcendent experience. Your mind grapples with reality hearing opposite of what you know to be true. This created perception distortion is the perfect brain expander enabling one to erase preconceived ideas as you enter the museum and experience other artists and venues.click the "talk back" box

The museum itself is a wonder.  Towering three stories, spacious, and utilizing the newest green technology, the building itself  is breathtaking. The museum has wonderful kid friendly activities including painting and clay venues, places to run, jump,as well as hands on creativity, and a wonderfully decorated rock climbing wall. There are special toddler spaces and bubble making. A DJ was there on Sunday adding a fun party atmosphere to the entire museum. It is enormous, yet not overwhelming. It can be explored in two hours so for those with toddlers and pre-schoolers on nap schedules, a wonderful morning or afternoon outing.

 The museum offers a "teen" section.  An area where teens can have privacy in an exclusive section of the museum including a sign stating "only 11 and over allowed".

 Target stores makes this museum free every second Sunday of the month.  Otherwise, it's $10.00 for adults and children, babies under 1 are free. Pretty pricey for a family of 4 as it is also $10.00 to park in the museum's garage. My suggestion, pay to park in the garage, go the second Sunday of the month for free admission. Arrive after 12:00pm when most of the crowds are gone.  The 2:00pm to 4:00pm hours are the least crowded. The museum also features a snack bar with Peet's coffee and delicious items from Whole Foods.  On the 1-4 Museum Mom scale, this whimsical, thoughtful, beautiful museum space get a rousing four exclamation marks!!!!

Free Target Sunday, September 12, The New Children's Museum

This Sunday is Target Free at the New Children's Museum in San Diego.  The museum's hours are 10:00am-4:00 pm. I suggest going after 12:00pm when  toddlers are at lunch or have to go home for naps! This is a "hands on" studio for ages toddler to teen so you can bring the whole family. A trained artist facilitates the studio so your kids have guidance while creating.  Great for introducing your children to art. There are good family restaurants nearby. They'll give a discount when you present your entrance receipt. I'll see you there!Click here for New Children's Museum

Grandparents Day at Orange County Museum of Art

This Sunday is Grandparent's Day at OCMA as well as Target Free day!  The program starts at 11:00 am.  Click Here OCMA for more information and event times. Admission is Free! So bring the family and have fun!

What's so important about Art?

What is the importance of art?  Discussing which discipline was more important, art or medicine, a doctor arrogantly told an artist that art just didn't seem important. "Medicine saves lives." said the doctor. The artist simply said," What are you saving them for?"
 Art historians, Bruce Cole and Adelheid Gealt explain. "From the dawn of civilization to the present day, our art has been ever present and essential.  It has served as a physical and spiritual bridge between mortals and gods, has helped men and women understand the workings of the human soul, and in times of anguish and sorrow has offered solace and helped reconcile us to life. As in all cultures and at all times, art is not a luxury but a necessity without which we would be vastly impoverished."
 Art creates inspiration unreached by any other means. I encourage people to visit art galleries, go to museums, attend  art shows.  You might find nothing interesting at one particular time or art venue. But on another day, at another venue, you will see something that sparks your imagination, touches your spirit, soothes your mind, creates understanding , or more incredibly, heals your soul.
  Great contributions to society have been inspired by works of art. Thomas Moran's "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" was pivotal in establishing the National Parks. Moran's artwork was presented to members of Congress by park proponents which helped inspire Congress to establish the National Park System in 1916.
 Artists are inspired by artists. David Franzioni was inspired to write and produce the epic 2000 film Gladiator after viewing the 1872 painting by Gerome, Pollice Verso. Worshipers are inspired spiritually by great cathedrals, stained glass windows, and religious icons. And many a politician was affected deeply by the political cartoons of Paul Conrad. Art inherently cuts to the truth. About human nature, beauty, the spiritual aspirations of mankind, about what is beautiful and ugly, inspirational or abhorrent.
Art is vital to living an inspired life. A painting by Van Gogh, Goya, or Leonardo Da Vinci won't feed you, clothe you, you can't eat it. (unless you own it and sell it) Yet viewing them, you instinctively know you are experiencing something wonderful.

Today is "Ask a Curator Day"

Today, September 1, 2010 is "Ask a Curator Day" at museums worldwide. This is your chance to ask a curator, (that's the person who runs the museum, knows the art, and knows the art world!) any question about their museums and the works held within. This is an international event. Museums including the Van Gogh museum in the Netherlands, the Tate in London, along with notables like the Chicago Museum of Art are among those participating. Locally, the San Diego Museum of art is answering questions.  This is a wonderful opportunity for children to ask questions about their favorite art works, about what museums are and why they are important, or to ask curators about what they do and why their work is important.Ask a Curator Day