Today is my daughter's 7th birthday. Having worked at the Nelson-Atkins for 6 of those 7 years, she is quite familiar with "my museum." She loves to take classes in the Ford Learning Center and eat in Rozzelle Court Restaurant (and the new Cafe).
I'm proud to say that I think she likes looking at the art the most. She is a big fan of the contemporary collection. With so many great paintings such as Thiebaud's Jawbreaker Machine and Mound Magician by Radcliffe Baily as well as tantalizing works like Duane Hanson's Museum Guard, Deborah Butterfield's Horse and Six Secret Places by Anish Kapoor, what kid wouldn't be?
As we were walking through the new contemporary galleries last week, she told me she wanted to show me her favorite painting. She took me around the corner to show me No. 10 (above) by Ad Reinhardt. She said she likes how if you look at it closely, you can't see the pattern of boxes but when you move back, they appear. As I read the label I was impressed to see that Reinhardt agrees. He said "Looking isn't as simple as it looks. Art teaches people how to see."
I can only hope that she continues to keep learning "how to see" and in the process, teaching others to do the same.