Today we took the boys to the Nevada Art Museum because they had an original Raphael painting on display that is leaving in just a week, and we didn't want to miss it. Amy and I both studied a lot of Art History in High School and College, and just because we can't remember a thing about it now doesn't mean that we don't appreciate a good masterpiece when we see one. We were just a bit apprehensive taking the boys into an art museum, as the whole value of our personal wealth right now lies in a seriously troublesome negative state, and the retail mantra of "you break, you buy" would be clearly beyond our means if we were to, well, break and buy. I didn't fear for the painting, but there are plenty of other artsy objects and sculptures there well within the grasp of a cunning and creative two-year-old. To our bliss, they behaved as nearly perfectly as one would expect of a two-year-old. They didn't cross any ropes, didn't touch any antique quilts, didn't yell and scream, and we made it out of there free of any bill for damages.
The painting was incredible, and I often forget that no reprint or digital image can live up to seeing the real masters in person. Upon entering the dark room where it was displayed I immediately had to pick Grayson up so I could secretly wipe away my stunned tears on the back on his shirt under the guise of responsibly keeping my small child under control. Luckily when I looked over at Amy, she was having nearly as hard a time as I was keeping her wash of emotions hidden, and I didn't feel quite so dumb, though I still felt pretty dumb. Ben and Grayson weren't so impressed, and shortly ran off to go watch a video they were showing about the life and work of Raphael. It's probably a good thing we had them to move us along, or we would probably still be standing there in front of that painting.
The highlights of the trip for Ben and Grayson were the four flights of stairs they got to walk up and back down again, getting to walk outside on the roof into the sunshine where they could tell we wouldn't say much if they were running or yelling, and an alcove of swarming Mormon crickets made out of unpainted clay and wire that coated the floor, ceiling, and walls. Ben also enjoyed saying hi to every person he passed as he very slooooooowly and carefully made his way down all of the 100 or so stairs to the ground floor exit.
All in all it was a nice outing in a museum just their size, and we made it back in time to get some grocery shopping done and still hit nap time before melt-down. As an added bonus we get to pat ourselves on our mommy backs for exposing our children to culture and the arts. We rock.
That is so cool, what an opportunity! I've never seen anything like that in person - kudos to you for not letting that opportunity go by.
Posted by: Corrie Chase | March 23, 2010 at 07:33 AM