Thursday, February 21, 2008

Chicago's Art Institute

Last Saturday, 4 1/2 yo C (here on referred to as "Urban Kid 1") and I ventured down to the Art Institute. Urban Kid 1 has been doing an art class at a wonderful place called The Paintbrush lately, where she's learned about lots of famous artists. She now recognizes Monet's "Water Lillies," Grant Wood's "American Gothic" and several others. AIC is having Free February, and Urban Dad could stay home with Urban Kid 2. So while we didn't relish the crowds, you take your opportunities where you get them!

We used the Art Institute's website to make a list of what we wanted to see. UK1 loves Mary Cassatt's "The Bath," so we made sure to include that on the list. The printout included thumbnails of the art as well as locations. Once we got there, after a loooooong wait at coatcheck, we grabbed a map and planned our tour.

I had a Proud Mommy Moment when UK1 looked at one painting and said, "it's from Pablo Picasso!" The guy next to us just stared at her. When I asked, "Why do you think that?" he physically bent at the waist to hear her. I think she said something like, "It looks like a person, but doesn't really." She did the same in another room when she recognized a Jackson Pollock. Rock On, BabyLove! Rock ON!

So yeah, The Paintbrush is my Shameless Plug this week for any fellow Chicagoans. Check them out at http://www.thepaintbrush.net/.

Oh! We even saw a marriage proposal! Not a dry (female) eye in the room!

A sidenote -- UK1's last two haircuts have been well...BAD. Poor little cutie has been sporting a near mullet lately! I realized that we were just two short blocks from my fantastic hairdresser, so I boldly called her. She had time just as we were planning to get out of AIC! So we waited for several days to get our coats back from coatcheck, then dashed over to State & Monroe. Lee fixed her up in 5 short minutes and told us to never take her back to whoever did this tragedy of tresses! God love 'er, she wouldn't even charge us!

Days like this brighten up winter. For a moment, I stop asking, "why do we live HERE?" like I tend to do at this time of year.

2 comments:

Jenni said...

That sounds like a wonderful day! Kudos to your kiddo:o) This is one thing we certainly miss not living in a large city. Wichita is nearby, but I'm afraid our art museum would not compare. Oh well, we take what we can get.

Hen Jen said...

wow, sounds like a great art day! I'm a little jealous of your proximity to such a nice art museum!

I've had days like that where the kids have blessed me by being so smart, like remarking on an opera we've studied...but I've also had days like standing before the librarian and having an older child ask.."what month is this?" you kind of die. and you wonder why they asked, because they surely knew...

enjoying your blog, thanks for visiting and commenting at mine!