The B-Lo, part 3, the one about the art gallery...

Our boys missed 5 days of school for our trip to the B-Lo. You can get these days "excused" when you ask, in advance, and have plans for "educational" time. Normally, I really don't concern myself with the worry of "unexcused absences." I hardly think that, when applying to college, they are going to pull Lincoln's 3rd grade report card and say, "Well, you were a shoe-in until we saw those 5 unexcused absences from 3rd grade. We just can't allow that kind of behavior in our institute of higher learning." However, since this year we had already missed days for sickness, we decided to do it.

I think next time I will risk the college rejection.

This piece of pop-art captures my feelings well.

First off, Emerson... he is NOT a fan of homework normally, so to make him stop whatever he is doing at "Gramma's House of Indulgence"... well, that just makes him all the more enthusiastic about it. All he had to do was his regular 20 minutes of reading, with a sentence about what he read, and a daily journal about what we were doing. You would have thought we asked him to read War and Peace and give a chapter by chapter summary. Typed. In french.

On the plus side, I affirmed that I should never homeschool.

One of the educational highlights of our trip was to go to the Albright Knox Gallery. I remember going there and loving it as a kid. There was this awesome room made of mirrors, and a "sculpture" of chewed gum in various colors. My mother was not appreciative when, as a kid, I bought gumballs with my birthday money and tried to replicate it by leaving my chewed gum on my bedpost at night. Some people do NOT appreciate the arts I guess...

Anyway... we took the knuckleheads. Now, here is where, in retrospect, I think... WHY? Why did I think it was a good idea to take three young boys, hopped up on sugar from Gramma's House of Indulgence, to an ART GALLERY? You know, where there are PRICELESS works of art, hanging, out in the open...

We paid roughly a small fortune to park and view the art. After informing the boys they could not, in fact, test out their "echo" voices in the long hallways, we set out. Oh, I put my best teacher foot forward, and we looked at the first few Renoir's and such. My children failed to grasp that "do not touch" also meant "do not stand so close your breath will touch". Then we entered a hallway with some sculptures. There was one of a nude, in bronze, but completely smooth... meaning, no discernible body parts. So Emerson chooses that moment to violate the no touch order, and pokes it in the crotch asking, "Hey! Where is its Unit?" Really? We are looking at priceless art, and my child is concerned with the "Unit" (or lack thereof) on a statue.

It was the beginning of the end. Here, in list form, are the rest of the highlights...

1. The awesome mirror room and gum sculpture? On LOAN to a museum in NYC. Great...
2. A new exhibit arrived, it was a series, a BIG, NEVER ENDING, series of nude drawings by Picasso. I just moved the tribes quickly through that room, because, unlike the bronze sculptor, Picasso did pay attention to detail. A lot.
3. This was our favorite display:

I had to tell the boys we were NOT allowed to borrow any spoons though.

4. A bunch of wood chunks on the floor in a circle, this does not equate "art" to a six year old. It screams, "Walk on me! I am a fun wood bridge!". (educationally speaking, after snatching him off, he did notice the AB pattern of said wood.)

5. Standing in front of a ginormous Jackson Pollack and discussing how some people either love or hate his work, will in fact prompt your 8 year old to make a paint brush swishing motion in the air and declare, with disgust, that he could paint this same thing. Please note, this will not garner happy glances from the snotty art lady with her fancy sketch pad and hand hewed jewelry.

6. A canvas covered in all red, yes, simply a totally red canvas, that will make that same 8 yr old declare, "What? This is NOT art! Its just RED!! Alden could do this!" Then while you explain that it is melted lipstick, you realize, he is right.

7. The boys were not sure why there was a "TV room" at the art gallery, and never could grasp the explanation that even video images can be art. They just thought someone put some soccer videos in to make them happy.

In the end, just admit you may not be an art gallery family (yet?), and praise God that the Cinema Mummy was not loaned out to NYC...

Here are everyone's picks for favorite piece of art...

Alden loved Cinema Man.

Lincoln liked this wire display. Perhaps his love of electronics, and disassembling them influenced his choice?

I was surprised that this was My Micah's pick. He really liked it though.

I have always loved this painting, its been my favorite since that first childhood visit. "The Marvelous Sauce."

Guess who? Hadji, of course...

My mom's choice for favorite.

And a few bonus photos, placed here because I cannot figure out bloggers new edit mode for the life of me.