Why we visit art galleries.featured

I’ve received a few questions recently about how we plan for trips and what we decide to do in cities with children.

Of course what we do depends somewhat on the city, but the two places we consistently make a point to visit are the art gallery and the cathedral. Since art books have made up about ninety percent of our recent reading requests, I thought I would start there.

We make a point to expose the girls to art as often and enthusiastically as possible.

Many people are surprised that we take our girls to art galleries since they don’t seem like an obvious venue for loud, rambunctious children.

We have on rare occasions had a fellow visitor not-so-kindly remind us of the children’s area in a museum, and I try to politely smile and let them know that we’re aware of its existence rather than launching into a tirade about the ridiculous notion that art is only for adults.

I think in many ways children are able to respond more genuinely to art than the most cultured patrons. I also flatly reject the idea that children’s experiences should be limited to sound-proof rooms and objects that someone somewhere has deemed appropriate for them.

One kind docent, probably sensing our awkwardness after one of these encounters, told us that children who visit a museum at a young age are exponentially more likely to continue visiting when they were older, and he applauded us for making the effort.

Molly’s first exposure to art was the National Gallery of Art at ten weeks old, and we were floored when she responded to certain works. We had visited for ourselves, assuming she would sleep in the carrier the entire time, but she was alert and especially loved large-scale, graphic works.

Emma’s first memorable experience of art was in Italy at four months old. I can’t help but wonder if her current preference and love of sculpture stems from the fountains in Rome and the David in Florence.

It fascinates me that at such young ages they not only responded to art but had specific preferences that have endured as they grow older.

Another reason we love galleries are the bookstores.

At the National Gallery we bought as many of the Mini Masters series as they had. They have remained some of our favorite childrens’ books, and every trip we plan has us searching the last pages (where all of the works are conveniently listed with locations) in the hope that we can find a piece that is now familiar to the girls.

On an Island with Gaughin is the primary reason we visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

We have also found wonderful books that allow us to connect artists or works to historical or fictional stories.

Molly fell in love with Jacob Lawrence in the City which made us seek out his works at MoMA and buy Jake Makes a World, unlocking more of the artist’s story and inspiration.

She deeply loves Picasso, and since buying Painting with Picasso, we have expanded our collection to include Picasso and Minou and Pablo Picasso: Meet the Artist!. We took time in Paris to visit the Picasso museum, which was nothing short of thrilling.

She is able to talk about his blue and rose periods as well as cubism because she is genuinely interested in his story. She recently made a connection between a Picasso sketch of a bird and a story she remembered of Matisse’s beginnings with cutouts.

Emma is thrilled any time she finds a sculpture, especially one she can interact with. It took us twenty minutes and many tears to pull her away from the buffalo in downtown Denver.

And almost every trip to Chicago includes a visit to Calder’s Flamingo and “The Picasso.”

We are intentional about exposing the girls to art. One of my favorite days in Europe last fall was spent seeing and experiencing Vermeer’s View of Delft, which has been my favorite work of art for many years. We began the day by seeing the painting in person at the Mauritshuis gallery in The Hague:

And ended it with finding the setting of the painting in Delft:

We do our best to encourage their interaction with art even when they aren’t able to touch it. Whether it’s a dance with daddy:

Or one onstage like a Degas ballerina:

We have learned that children find almost anything interesting, especially when we are excited about it. The entire world is new to them, and they are acutely aware of beauty in a way that we seem to have lost.

They will naturally find an interest to latch onto; our hope is that by surrounding them by works of beauty and stories of cultural and historical significance, they will deeply experience and value creativity in themselves and others.