Lotus List Update: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
On this here blog, there have been quite a few Lotus List updates, no? Yes.
Destination number three for Lotus List Item #87, Visit every museum on the Hennepin County Museum Adventure Pass Program, is The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
For this adventure, I organized an outing for the Minneapolis Mamas and a total of six Mama/Baby pairs showed up! It was an awesome stroller parade! I should have taking pictures of all of us Mamas and Babies. I should have taken a picture of the MIA's awesome Family Room. I did neither of these things because I was so into the experience that I did not think to pull out my camera until Lotus Bud and I were alone again.
The MIA is very family friendly and we Mamas hung out mostly in the Family Room, eating lunch, feeding our babies and chatting about Motherhood.
Eventually, we did make it to the 3rd floor of the MIA and I quickly realized that we needed to spend many more days to take it all in. To be honest, the museum experience was a bit overwhelming, but only because I wanted to see it all. There are three floors and dozens and dozens of gallery rooms on each floor. There were all sorts of art pieces from canvases to sculptures to whole room displays and video presentations. There was pottery and photography and prints and textile designs. The list goes on and on and each floor is packed full of it.
The first room we entered was all that really registered in my mind. To me, it was the best way to begin because it contained several Twin Cities related subjects. I went back after all the other Mamas had left because it was then that I realized photography is permitted in the MIA.
How awesome is that?!
This piece caught my eye because I am interested in weather related things. I noticed the tornado before I realized that this was a painting of St. Paul.
This is a painting of the St. Anthony Falls before the dam was built. In order to build the dam, the project required removing the Falls. This is in NE Minneapolis, right near my home. Every time I walk by the dam, I try to picture the Falls, so I recognized the location in this painting right away.
One of the Mamas was an art history major in college and she said she practically lived in the MIA during her undergraduate years. Me? I had never even been here and did not realize that Minneapolis had such an enormous collection of such beautiful art.
Everything about the MIA was incredible. The construction of the building was smart and included a perfectly framed image of the city of Minneapolis. I was stunned. I gazed upon this view for quite a while, letting the other Mamas get ahead of me. Silly, now that I think of it as I should have paid more attention to the art. But, it was by this time that I was overloaded and felt I could not appreciate the art in the way that all the art should be appreciated.
It seems the MIA was not above poking fun at itself and the whole business of art. In an exhibit entitled An Embarrassment of Riches, there was a video loop of a Sotheby's art auction with an auction called "Strip the Auctioneer." His sock sold for an obscene amount.
Being a museum curator here would be a freaking awesome job, wouldn't it?
Many of Mamas expressed a desire to come back here, perhaps meeting twice a month instead of just once. This would allow us to visit the MIA once a month and explore a new destination at the other meetings.
I didn't want to leave. After the other Mamas left, Lotus Bud and I went back up the 3rd floor galleries and found a couple of benches where we could sit and soak in the color. Many of the rooms were empty of people. There were a few quiet, thoughtful moments.
There were huge, enormous, vibrant paintings to gaze upon. I am always amazed by the determination of painters. I imagine it must take a tremendous amount of courage to start a 20x20 ft. canvas, to make the first mark, to paint the first stroke.
Eventually, Lotus Bud well asleep and so, I started my way out of the museum and to the Jeep. While leaving the final set of doors, an elderly gentleman held them open for me and looked upon Lotus Bud and proclaimed that she was "Sleeping Beauty." How incredibly sweet. It was the perfect moment to end our outing to the MIA.
Sleeping Beauty with perhaps a little bit of Red Riding Hood in her.
Destination number three for Lotus List Item #87, Visit every museum on the Hennepin County Museum Adventure Pass Program, is The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
For this adventure, I organized an outing for the Minneapolis Mamas and a total of six Mama/Baby pairs showed up! It was an awesome stroller parade! I should have taking pictures of all of us Mamas and Babies. I should have taken a picture of the MIA's awesome Family Room. I did neither of these things because I was so into the experience that I did not think to pull out my camera until Lotus Bud and I were alone again.
The MIA is very family friendly and we Mamas hung out mostly in the Family Room, eating lunch, feeding our babies and chatting about Motherhood.
Eventually, we did make it to the 3rd floor of the MIA and I quickly realized that we needed to spend many more days to take it all in. To be honest, the museum experience was a bit overwhelming, but only because I wanted to see it all. There are three floors and dozens and dozens of gallery rooms on each floor. There were all sorts of art pieces from canvases to sculptures to whole room displays and video presentations. There was pottery and photography and prints and textile designs. The list goes on and on and each floor is packed full of it.
The first room we entered was all that really registered in my mind. To me, it was the best way to begin because it contained several Twin Cities related subjects. I went back after all the other Mamas had left because it was then that I realized photography is permitted in the MIA.
How awesome is that?!
This piece caught my eye because I am interested in weather related things. I noticed the tornado before I realized that this was a painting of St. Paul.
This is a painting of the St. Anthony Falls before the dam was built. In order to build the dam, the project required removing the Falls. This is in NE Minneapolis, right near my home. Every time I walk by the dam, I try to picture the Falls, so I recognized the location in this painting right away.
One of the Mamas was an art history major in college and she said she practically lived in the MIA during her undergraduate years. Me? I had never even been here and did not realize that Minneapolis had such an enormous collection of such beautiful art.
Everything about the MIA was incredible. The construction of the building was smart and included a perfectly framed image of the city of Minneapolis. I was stunned. I gazed upon this view for quite a while, letting the other Mamas get ahead of me. Silly, now that I think of it as I should have paid more attention to the art. But, it was by this time that I was overloaded and felt I could not appreciate the art in the way that all the art should be appreciated.
It seems the MIA was not above poking fun at itself and the whole business of art. In an exhibit entitled An Embarrassment of Riches, there was a video loop of a Sotheby's art auction with an auction called "Strip the Auctioneer." His sock sold for an obscene amount.
Being a museum curator here would be a freaking awesome job, wouldn't it?
Many of Mamas expressed a desire to come back here, perhaps meeting twice a month instead of just once. This would allow us to visit the MIA once a month and explore a new destination at the other meetings.
I didn't want to leave. After the other Mamas left, Lotus Bud and I went back up the 3rd floor galleries and found a couple of benches where we could sit and soak in the color. Many of the rooms were empty of people. There were a few quiet, thoughtful moments.
There were huge, enormous, vibrant paintings to gaze upon. I am always amazed by the determination of painters. I imagine it must take a tremendous amount of courage to start a 20x20 ft. canvas, to make the first mark, to paint the first stroke.
Eventually, Lotus Bud well asleep and so, I started my way out of the museum and to the Jeep. While leaving the final set of doors, an elderly gentleman held them open for me and looked upon Lotus Bud and proclaimed that she was "Sleeping Beauty." How incredibly sweet. It was the perfect moment to end our outing to the MIA.
Sleeping Beauty with perhaps a little bit of Red Riding Hood in her.
We are so lucky to have a museum like the MIA here in Mpls that is free! We love to wander around it & discover new things every time
ReplyDeleteYes, you're so right! I imagine it will take years and years to see it all so I'm sure there are lots of surprises.
ReplyDelete