Culture anyone?

Pissarro
Bergere rentrant des moutons

Renoir

Les Roses

Van Gogh

Portrait of Alexander Reid

I decided to take the kids to be exposed to a little fine art and culture today. What was I thinking HA HA. It was family day at the local art museum. It is a really nice museum with some very impressive paintings and sculpture. Priceless works by Degas, Van Gogh, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec. They are all here to be viewed and appreciated.

As soon as we got there Kay vomited sour milk all over both of us. It is a little hard to enjoy good art when you smell like bad cheese. We had to walk about 3 blocks from where we parked (and I forgot the stroller) so I guess the heat made her feel a little ill.

As soon as we walked in the door the security guards were all over us like a cloud of locusts. I talked with the kids before we went in about looking with eyes and not touching anything. They usually do really well. I think the security people made them nervous because pretty much as soon as we got there Cam started asking to leave even though he had been really excited to go.

So we took a quick tour of some of the main attractions then headed down to the class room for art activities. Cam wanted to paint. Kay wanted to scream. She painted for a moment then started crying and would not stop. I really didn't want to go back through the main art gallery with her screaming her head off so I tried to convince her to stop. I finally got her to calm down and we decided to get the heck outta Dodge. We found an elevator and cut out of the nearest exit.

Kay the artist

Cam the artist


On the long walk back to the car the wind picked up and blew Cam's art work out into the middle of the street. I grabbed the back of his collar to keep him from running after it and getting hit by the approaching car and he burst into tears. I told him I would get it but he had to stay on the sidewalk. So I am running after the paper while trying to hold the baby and the wind keeps blowing it further down the street. A very nice man saw my plight and said he would get it so I could go back to calm Cameron down. He chased it down the street caught it and returned it to us. What a nice man. Once Cam had his masterpiece back he was fine.

We made it back to the car in one piece and I was relieved to get back home. Maybe they will appreciate the art museum more when they are a little older. I know I appreciate it more when the people I attend with don't cry and vomit. Oddly enough I think they still had a fun time.

Collection of Mexican masks

Kay and Cam with Luis Jimenez Mesteño sculpture. It is a bit scary. At night the eyes glow red. We always joked that this sculpture was evil. Ironically it seems we were right as one like it fell on and killed the artist.
Something close to this was the last thing he saw. Very sad.

Luis Jiménez was killed on June 13, 2006, in his studio, when a large piece, a mustang intended for Denver International Airport, fell on him. The sculpture was based on the eight-foot-high sculpture Mesteño (Mustang), now on display at the University of Oklahoma.

Kay Rules

Cam and Kay with sculpture of Native American woman

Kay and Cam visit an old phone booth