A Day at the Museum

Today was the grand opening celebration of the Stuart Wing of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.  I've been pretty excited about going and the heavens actually aligned for all of us to be free on this beautiful Fall day!  Off we went to the OU campus to search for a parking space with all of the other alumni families wanting to relive their college days (or something like that).  On the way across campus we came across a favorite statue and had to stop and tickle some enormous toes.  Luckily they didn't wake him up!

Once inside the museum, we had to take a quick tour through some old favorites before checking out the new stuff.  Truly, the new wing is a work of art itself.  It is simple, modern and soothing with large wooden stairways with hand-carved details and a three-story wall of slim cables reminiscent of a waterfall.  A short video we watched explained the architect's vision of tying in elements from the earth such as wood, sky, water and air.  And it absolutely works!  One of my favorite parts is the glass wall of pottery through which you can see classrooms in the art school.  It is an important reminder of the true purpose of this wonderful university.

The museum houses an extensive and diverse collection, including modern, Native, and ancient art along with an astounding impressionist collection and many sculptures.  In the Stuart wing, there is space to showcase some of the museum's extensive Native art and artifacts collection.  My daughter loved the stained glass on the wall and I hear that it is truly something to see driving by at night.  Between that and the crazy-eyed mustang, it's a wonder there aren't more wrecks on Boyd!  

You must see these colors in person!

For extra fun, there was a professor playing native flute music and a visiting artist in one of the galleries demonstrating pottery staining.  I'll have to admit that my little ones had the occasional crying, "falling on the floor" moment at being asked to just wonder around and look with eyeballs instead of hands but overall they did really well.  This is a museum I highly recommend.  If you are slightly attention-span-deprived like me this museum works because each gallery houses something completely different than the last.  Whatever your particular art tastes may be, you will find something representative of it here.  Plus, admission is only $5 most days and is free every Tuesday and on many other days throughout the year (like today).  Get out and check out your local museum!