The other day
we had to go to the library
so I could pick up a million poetry books
for kids to read
at writers workshop.
This would have been fun enough!
('Cos we love love love the library…)
But right near our downtown library
is our
city art gallery.
It's small-ish and in an older building
without the chrome and high high ceilings and huge spaces
of the big modern galleries
that seem to scare my girl.
It's a place we love
and because
we are homeschoolers
and because we can make anything of our days, any time…
we
went…
and stayed for three hours.
It was bliss!
I'd read about a kids' exhibition that was on 'til May.
I thought it might be fun to check it out…
I had no idea how much fun! :)
There was a kitchen, fully equipped…
with little cafe tables beside it…
There were walls of colour…
and art to inspire.
There was a wire sculpture…
with pipe-cleaners at the ready
for those
who wanted to make and make…
And afterwards, you could put your creation up on a shelf for all to see.
There was a beach picture
made with lots and lots of patterns and rocks and dots and colour…
with a table nearby
(of course!)
stocked with good paper and ink and stamps and rocks and coloured pencils
to make your
own beach picture
with patterns and dots and colour…
Which you could then put up on the wall, for all to see!
my girl
my (awesomely talented) friend
me
(and the beautiful thing was, they said to write our names and email address on the back of the paper—when the exhibition is done in May, they'll contact us, and we'll come and pick up our art. Win Win!
I think that could only be possible in a smaller gallery, and it makes me love my town even more than I already did)
Meanwhile…
the kitchen
had to be used
by a boy and his friend
who decided to put on a cooking show for each other
while the rest of us drew.
They laughed and laughed and laughed,
which was so catching, the two others had to join
to cook and laugh with them.
And my friend and I kept sitting at the little tables,
with our heads down
(and up sometimes, to watch the show!)
and we kept
on
arting :)
We were in our happy space
for sure.
Plus there was weaving
which could go on the wall…
And flower drawings
which could go on the wall…
And there was a light table
where,
inspired by this,
we could arrange our own metal sculptures…
for all to see!
(Of course my boy
decided they were all having a mighty battle…
(what kind of pacifist is this kid?!) )
And then…
a woman
came up the stairs and said
"We're closed."
But that was okay.
Because
the beautiful thing
about being there
with friends who knew to call
just as
we were heading off to the gallery
(with me saying, "you must have felt the vibe!" and
my friend saying, "I can smell art from miles away")
on a day
that was all ours
and totally open and
totally free
(which makes me love homeschooling so much I could burst…)
…the beautiful thing,
was there
was still more
to see!
So we'll
definitely
be
back.
:)
Can I I ask where this gallery is?
ReplyDeletefantastic! Unfortunately my local regional gallery is all the crome and modern type things you described, and their kids exhibitions are never that good. Jealous!!
ReplyDeleteMrs Mc, lovely to see you/read you! I've put a link in my post now—if you click on it, it'll take you to the gallery's website and a blurb about the exhibit. PLUS, there's an exhibition called Just Imagine starting in Feb, where kids are invited to write a creative response to one of the artworks, and submit it—if it's selected it gets displayed next to the artwork. I love the idea of combining the creative arts—writing and art, music and art, writing and music. Yum!
ReplyDeleteThanks T_Y! You should come on a road trip and check the gallery out—you and your girl would love it, I think, and it'd only take you, oh about 5 hours to get here! :) Big modern galleries aren't bad—they just sometimes overwhelm my girl. I do love the ones that really think about young people and their input. They're my favourites...which probably isn't a surprise to anyone! :)
Ooooh! I was all set to make a trip to your gallery just to check out that awesome artwork I see there, VERY much up our ocean alley at the moment. But that is quite the hike south for us! For some reason I pictured you further north. LOL.
ReplyDeleteSo are the roads any improved on the way down? They used to be a shocker years ago. Very narrow, windy roads with big trucks!!!
We ARE planning to go the Sydney though this Thursday to visit the Maritime museum. The Shark exhibition calls for my boy!
I love friends who can smell art from miles away :)
ReplyDelete~nikole
What a fantastic day! I think mine would be much more interested in ours if they were hands-on like that!
ReplyDeleteI love your art museum! What a wonderful place to lose yourself for hours.
ReplyDeleteI love the wall of color and the wire and metal sculptures. I love that it is so hands on. What a perfectly lovely day.
That just sounds so fantastic! I am happy and jealous!
ReplyDeleteKarisma, you should still come on down! It would be lovely to have you here:) The roads are MUCH improved—big ol' freeway all the way to town. It'd be awesome to join you at the Maritime, except for the fact my boy can't bear sharks, can't even look at pictures of them! Another time you're going to Sydney though, and you'd like to meet up, please email! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Stephanie, wouldn't it be so wonderful if all galleries did this, and on a regular basis? Think of how wonderful those places could be, filled with young laughter, and all that magical energy…
Thanks Karen! It WAS a lovely day. Just scrumptious. I know you and Kei would have loved it too.
And thanks, Deb! The invite is always there to have you join us :)
Oh thats a shame lovely! I think our next trip down is going to be to the aquarium and wildlife world. Probably in March sometime. Maybe you could come to that and skip the shark part?
ReplyDeleteI have a little something that your boy might like. In my de-cluttering I discovered a complete "learn to speak Italian" course that I bought many many years ago. In my fashion I learned the first cassette and then stored it away never to be seen for years (like 23 years to be exact) LOL
Anywho Im not sure how to get it to you, its a little heavy to post and may get broken and of course he would need an old fashioned cassette player but its is a really good learning tool if you want it. My email is karismatwo@yahoo.com.au, Im sure somehow we could work something out.
As for the roads, I forgot to mention I don't drive! Would love to come down but even going to Sydney is a good 2 1/2 trip for us.
Karisma, that sounds like a fine plan, coming to the Aquarium in March. Let's do it! (And we'll skip the sharks, if we HAVE to :) ) The Italian tapes sound amazing. I'll contact you!
ReplyDeleteNikole, somehow I missed thanking you for your comment! I didn't mean to—how rude!!! I am sorry. I agree so much with what you wrote—the friends who can smell art from miles away are very very precious—glad to hear you have some of them in your life :)
You have inspired me to get out and find more awesomeness in my neck of the woods. It can be so easy to get tied down to our "schedule" and taking the time to get out and explore gets pushed aside. Tomorrow we are taking the day to visit my Aunt. I am going to work on planning more outings, especially once the weather is better here. I have a bookmark of all the fun things to do in Connecticut that I have never done. Seeing things through the eye of a child just makes everything that much better!
ReplyDelete