I love going to museums. I love experiencing not only the architecture of the building that the artwork is housed in, but also discovering new talent, experiencing classics in person and also rediscovering popular artists that I might have only ever seen in print. This love of art and museums is something that I really want to pass on down to my kids. It doesn’t matter if they are in the art industry or not as an adult, I think having that appreciation not only broadens their world view but it also gives them insight to the inner souls of people in general.
Easier said than done. Trying to instill this appreciation into your kids is a monumental task. How in the world do you do that? Growing up in West Los Angeles, my school field trips were spent going to a lot of the L.A. museums, but my kids just don’t have those opportunities anymore so it’s up to us to show them. Starting when the kids were young, I tried my hardest to take the kids to at least one new museum a year hoping to spark an interest in the artists and art that I have grown to love. That not only includes the traditional art museum, but also science and historic museums. Everything from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and Ground Zero Museum in New York. Luckily we live in Southern California so we are surrounded by local art galleries but also amazing museums in the heart of L.A. Going to local art shows and galleries sometimes just doesn’t compare to traditional museums though; the depth of historic art, the balanced collections and the international reach. This year, we took all the kids to The Broad in Los Angeles.
Interior architecture
Wow, from first site I was awestruck with its modern architecture. The clean lines and interesting shapes followed us inside the building. This was a great start to our visit. Since this was a new experience for the husband and the boys (who didn’t grow up going to L.A. museums) I wasn’t sure how it was going to go over. But, after stepping in to the museum I was happily surprised that they stayed engaged and interested for the majority of the time. A few things that helped were giving our camera to the youngest, Logan, so he could stay interested by taking photos of the art. The oldest, Analiese, is an art lover by nature so we had no trouble there, plus, she brought her own DSLR camera. The two teenage boys, Jordan and Grant, were the ones that were the toughest crowd. After talking to them a bit about what they saw, I realized that they just didn’t understand what “art” was all about. So, I started talking to them about what makes art interesting. They style and application of art, the artists point of view, and possibly surrounding circumstances or historical happenings might have affected their art in some way. Once we started talking about it, I could tell that it was starting to click and they started paying more attention and looking at pieces for longer. It’s all I could ask for. By and by, this was a great visit.
Below, are some of my favorite shots from the day.
Takashi Murakami
Jeff Koons
El Anatsui
Thomas Houseago
My favorite! Andy Warhol
And, I just couldn’t pass this one up. My husband and I have a running joke about Norms and their fine eating. When I saw this piece of art entitled “Norms, La Cienga, on Fire” I had to take a photo of it!
Ed Ruscha
Unfortunately, the wait for the famous Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama, was about 5 hours long and we didn’t have time (or the patience) to stay. So, I am definitely going to have to go back with Analiese (who was probably the most disappointed out of any us), we’ll have to make a girls day out of it and most likely, I’ll have to take her to another favorite place of mine in L.A., the Original Farmers Market.
All in all, this was a great trip. After the museum we went down the street to Little Tokyo and the kids were transported to another country. Only in L.A.
How do you all feel about museums? Are there any favorites that are must sees?
XoXo
Priya