exhibition – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

Hello everyone!! The weather here has been absolutely dismal most days! What is happening? Isn’t it spring? Luckily we have had a few sunny days! I’m just really waiting on those spring flowers now!

We have been keeping busy though, and having adventures despite the gray skies.

Last Saturday we went to the Detroit Institute of Arts. They have a special exhibit that I wanted to see, called Painted with Silk, and I also wanted to wander the Dutch Masters area with Wyatt, as we are reading a book set in Holland for Language Arts. (The Wheel on the School)

We set out into the rainy icky day early in the morning, arriving at the museum just after opening. I like to get there early, especially on the weekend, and we got a great parking spot – something of an accomplishment in Detroit on the weekend! We found our way to the exhibit but not before stumbling into a room filled with the most vibrant, story filled modern works. This one is just stunning.

I can’t believe how impossible it has been to find the name of the artist, and of this painting – I should have written it down but I didn’t anticipate it would be difficult. I have found that the name of the artist is Titus Kaphar, and this painting is from his Exhibiting Forgiveness exhibit, but that is all I could find. If anyone knows the name of this particular work, I would love to add it here.

Wyatt was drawn to this one. This is Radical Openness by Stanley Whitney. I can see why he likes it.

After spending some time in this room, we wandered out into the hall to find our way to the Painted in Silk exhibit.

These pieces were exceptionally done, and amazingly, were made by children. 11, 12, 13 years old girls, a lot of them, and were completed between 1600 and 1800. They served as a diploma for the girls from wealthier families who could afford to send their children to school. The piece was a displayable symbol of the girl’s ” mastery of an important practical skill and the diligence and self-discipline that society expected of its more privileged members.” It was mind blowing and at the same time, incredible. I am sorry, the angle on some of these photos are wonky. This room, despite getting there early, was already full of people. I love that this was a popular room, and also to see so many people at the museum.

I thought these memorial pieces were beautiful. They were done in black and white purposely, and are called print works.

My favorite pieces were modern pieces done to represent an older style. They were all done by the same artist, Elaine Reichek. She uses this form to “question assumptions about gender, class, race, and ethnicity that the older works expressed and reinforced.” It was fascinating to see representations from two very different perspectives. We also learned that it is very rare to see a historical piece that depicts a Black person, or that was done by a Black person , although they did have a wall of a few.

I loved this piece representing Moby Dick. If you want to see much better photos, and more information on these makers and artists, you can view the exhibit online here.

I was in awe of this whole exhibit. My son, however, was a bit bored…

From here we moved on to the Dutch artists, which he enjoyed a bit more. He liked all the boats and windmills, and the hidden meanings in the paintings with what was painted. They also had I Spy games for different rooms which he enjoyed as well, which was like a visual scavenger hunt for objects in paintings.

That last photo was one I had to take because my brother’s youngest is giving her parents the business these days when they go out, with typical two year old trying to run away in places behavior. They were joking that they might need a leash for her. I saw this painting and was like, I guess this a very old issue, as this woman has her child on a leash.

We were starting to get hungry, so we left the museum in search of food. We ended up picking up sushi from The Goblin and chicken nuggets for Wyatt. Billy and I each chose a roll and then swapped half with each other.

Later that night we all sat and painted and colored. It was the perfect end to a rainy day.

The next few days we just went about our normal lives, appointments, work, school, etc. Then last night we had scouts! I wanted the kids to do something Earth Day related that tied into their advancements, so we worked on the Build It loop! The kids worked with Billy making bug houses out of wood, then stuffing them full of materials they brought with them or I collected, and they also decorated bird feeders made out of old jugs. It was really fun, and really busy! It was an all hands on deck meeting, with all the parents and grandparents pitching in to help the kids. Wyatt had such a good time, and I heard from other mothers that their kids absolutely loved it as well!