National Gallery of Art

Vivian has been curious about abstract art lately.  This is probably because, like her mother, she doesn't have much in the way of artistic talent, so splattered paint on a canvas seems approachable.  She and her best buddy were talking about abstract art last week, and since the mom and I are friends, and we both like art, we decided to take them to the National Gallery of Art today.  I knew they would need some kind of activity to keep them engaged, so I brought along a little notepad and a pencil for each of them.  It turned out to be a great idea.  They were so excited, they didn't even make it in the door before stopping to analyze one of my favorite Henry Moore sculptures.

They were equally delighted with the first few sculptures they found, and each girl worked on her own personal interpretation.

We were all ready to go into the galleries, when we noticed that everything on the main floor was closed off.  The stairs going up were also blocked.  Vivian, being the bold child she is, walked up to an employee who was probably on her way to lunch and asked her why we couldn't go upstairs.  Luckily, she picked someone friendly who explained to us that all the modern art galleries were under renovation until 2017.  I'm still a bit in shock about that, since it seems like a REALLY long time, but we moved on.  The walkway to the other building helped.  The girls loved the display of moving lights and the waterfall, so we spent quite a bit of time there.  This is them trying to draw the patterns while being carried along.

There was a jewelry sale at the gift store, and some of the necklaces and earrings received just as much careful analysis as the famous pieces of art.  We finally got them through, and up into the rotunda which they liked a lot.  

We walked into one of the galleries, and noticed that some of the paintings had numbered signs under them that said children's tour.  That sounded promising, but the girls were getting hungry, so we decided to feed them first.  There's a cafe with a buffet lunch right under the rotunda, and kids are only about $10, so that seemed like a good bet.  Vivian actually ended up eating roast chicken, grapes, bread, and vanilla ice cream, so I felt like it was money well spent.

After lunch, we went to information to ask how much the audio guides cost.  It turns out, they're free! Apparently, someone gave a grant to make sure they were free, which is awesome.  Vivian discovered her love for audio guides on our trip to Chiang Rai, and she was extolling their virtues to Kaitlyn, so both girls were excited to get them.  They went from gallery to gallery, searching for their children's tour numbers, and then listened intently to what the guide had to say.  I'll have to get one myself next time.  The girls smiled and giggled every so often, so it seems like it's a pretty good tour.

By that point, we had been at the museum for a few hours, and the girls were getting tired, so we called for our ride, the awesome Safta taxi service.  Both girls fell asleep on the ride back to Virginia, but they both also wanted to go back to the museum another time.  It makes me so happy that I can share my love of art with Vivian.