spring break art style

today we went to the nc museum of art. i had such high hopes for this excursion, especially because of the boy's interest in art.

first we saw modern art. mmmm, yeah, the kids didn't get that so much. this was a challenge for me because i don't "get" a lot of modern art either but some of it is very cool. the boy made comments like, 'i could do that,' (which i've often thought myself) and 'i don't get it,' (to which i tried to tell him that's the great thing about art, especially modern art because it can be whatever you want it to be). that made things a little better because then he started seeing things in the pictures.

the girl was less enthused. she said this wasn't her thing. the egyptian and roman sections brought other comments. there were statues and pots and reliefs, etc. the first nude statue they saw was quite humorous. the girl walked by shielding her eyes. then neither of them could resist closer inspection. it was a male and anatomically correct, well, except his penis had broken off. so they laughed at that. then their was the female statue and the boy had to walk around it and exclaimed that they even put butt cheeks on her. the girl said showing the breasts was soooo inappropriate. i just shook my head. they were growing bored.

the hubs found some impressionist paintings--even a monet. not one of the more well known ones, but a monet nonetheless. it was beautiful. the boy was mildly impressed with that. there were also some andrew wyeth paintings, also lesser known ones, but still impressive to me. the boy said overall it was ok but he thought we were going to see famous paintings. he's still stuck on the mona lisa.

then we went to the outdoor exhibits. these had more interest for them, at least a little. we were outside, they could get close to them. plus i gave them the video camera by that point so they were doing their own walking tour of the grounds. here are a few of the things we saw.

yes, that is a butt and legs and yes, they thought that was pretty funny too. i think that maybe when the museum has a travelling exhibit that has more "famous" things in it we'll go back, but until then i think we'll stick to more hand's on museums.

the hubs and i realized that this is the first time we've been together in a museum since i was in high school (in germany) and he took me to paris for senior spring break. we visited the louve, among other places.

so, despite the gas it took to get there and back, the 75 cent post card i bought of the monet we saw, the lunch on the way home and the yard stick of gum from the outlet stores on the way home, it was a relatively inexpensive day and, though they weren't thrilled with the art, i think the kids did have a good time.

(sorry no inside pics--they weren't allowed.)