Does it Count If We Didn't Go Inside? (Just Another Museum Visit)

A couple weeks ago my cousin was married in Albuquerque, NM.  My family was feeling desperate to escape a long winter in Boston, so we hopped a plane and crashed the wedding (with an invitation, of course).  In addition to the fun family festivities and lots of treats, we sampled a bit of the charm of this town.  But can you believe it?  We did not visit one museum!  There is a fabulous children's museum, Explora, a hot air balloon museum, some fantastic art museums, even a snake "museum" (I wasn't sure it qualified as a museum as I am 95% sure it was not a non-profit organization, being in a tourist trap shop.  :) ).  And we went in none of these--this visit.  Our one foray into the local museum world was spending a lovely hour in the sculpture garden outside the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. 

There are a couple of different opinions about how art should be treated when it is not behind a rope or a glass box or a security system.  I've been told--at the same place--by two different authority figures not to touch/climb on the art for fear of breaking them, and by another that it was meant to be a tactile experience and was designed to withstand people interacting with it.  I can understand both viewpoints.  I suppose I think that unless an object outside is placed in an out-of-reach location (say, a heroic statue of George Washington in a public plaza) or has a sign saying "don't touch" the art/object is fair game.  Obviously this opinion is qualified by treating the objects with respect, as you would any property not belonging to you.  Plus, I figure that if a bronze sculpture, discovered under the ocean in a shipwreck from ancient Greece, is still in decent condition two thousand years after it was created, my five year old can hardly do much more damage to a recent art creation exposed to weather.  I assume that metal and cement are pretty hardy materials and can withstand my three-year-old and your three-year-old as well.

Oops, I didn't ask my mom's permission to post this picture of her!  I am including it because it illustrates one of the aspects of the power of art to simultaneously bring out the playful in us (whatever our age), as well as the deeply, quietly thoughtful.  Whether actively engaging with the art, pondering by ourselves in a separate space (for example, playing with the gravel rocks by oneself), or in conversation with other observers, the links between art and our perception of our world, our reality is sublime.  I sometimes learn the most from my children, sometimes from people who normally have nothing to do with art in their regular routine, and sometimes from learned scholars who study nothing but a single work in history.  Don't you just get tingles when you think of how much insight and beauty there is to be told or shown by those around us?  I hope it's not just me!

Finally for this pseudo-museum visit recap, my personal favorite was a piece that was reminiscent of a Native American sacred circle.  I climbed in and lay right down in the ground to look up through the rainbow-hued shapes framing the sky.  It was such a calm and peaceful moment.  I may even have closed my eyes for a moment to soak it all in.  Then all of a sudden I hear, "Mommy?  What are you doing down there?"  Quiet moment over, but sweet tender feelings overwhelmed me as I peered up at my children peering down at me all surrounded by a cozy space.  A space that could fit all of us together and eternity besides.

 

Do you count this little wander as a museum visit?  Have you explored a sculpture garden recently?  What are your opinions on touching the art work if there is not a sign explicitly saying not to?  Have you and your children felt broadened in spirit and in mind by interacting with art?  I'd love to hear all your thoughts on any of these topics!