Recently: Museums
Even though I work in a museum, I don’t tend to get out to them very often– often because it’s difficult to shut the work brain off, even when in another museum space. I’m always looking at labels, how things are hung, lighting. Even though I write labels for a living, I almost never read them. I hate going on organized tours. When we went to California, we didn’t go to any museums at all ( partly because I’ve seen them all a few times over the years and partly because we had other priorities). So it’s quite funny that in the last 2 weeks, I’ve been to 3 different museums (2 work trips, one personal), all lovely, inspiring, and highly recommended.
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
A new museum for me, this museum has a diverse collection and a beautiful building, redone in the past few years. This was a field trip with our tour guides and I tagged along. I especially enjoyed an aboriginal art exhibit that had both historic and contemporary pieces.
Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT
I visited this museum a few years back as part of a friend’s 30th birthday celebration when she wanted to paint on the grounds by the river for the “Make a Painting Sundays”. This trip was for work and was part inspiration visit for our next year’s exhibit. It was a gorgeous day and it was great to walk the grounds and have lunch outside. At my last visit, we didn’t go into the museum or historic house that once housed an art colony at the turn of the 20th century, so I really enjoyed this part, particularly since Impressionism is one of my favorite periods of art. The dining room of the house is definitely one of my favorite historic rooms that I have seen, featuring painted panels done by the various artists who stayed there over the years.
I visit the RISD Museum once or twice a year, often to see their special exhibitions or to attend a lecture or program. They are a world-class art museum in a small city and I always enjoy my visits there, whether for personal or professional reasons. This visit was with my Mom to see the Todd Oldham fashion exhibit that is currently up. If you’re anywhere in the Northeast region or even planning a visit to the area, I highly recommend the show. It’s glitzy and splashy, but also has a great personal view on the fashion and production because Todd Oldham was personally involved in the exhibit design and choosing each piece for the show.
Life By Kristen 