Art Education

We thought this was so funny with the nudes in the background - little did he know.

Over Christmas we took the boys to the Art Institute of Chicago as much for our enjoyment as to introduce the boys to some of the most amazing and important pieces of art in the world.  I love this museum.  I have been there many times with different groups of people, but this is the first time with the kids.  I learned that the whole basement floor is geared towards children. You can try on armor, make crafts, re-create a piece of art with blocks, and sit in the reading room with all the picture books and little pint-sized nooks and crannies.  The best part, however, was the audio guide for kids.  I listened to a bit of it and it was fantastic.  Jack learned who Abraham Lincoln was from the guide, and of course from the pretty incredible sculpture of him.  

For those of you who have read Freakonomics you know the authors' opinions about the value of taking your kids to an art museum:  they aren't getting as "cultured" as you may have hoped - just stay home and read together.  I have to believe that showing the boys Seurat's gigantic "La Grande Jatte" up close will teach them about pointillism (in a very basic way), or coming eye-to-eye with the sculpture of an open-mouthed, roaring lion wrestling a Roman god will teach them about stone, movement, and emotion, all far better than looking at a book of art on our laps.  Can't I hope for maybe a love and respect of art?  Perhaps a burning desire to study art history?  I'm not really that idealistic, but maybe they will actually sense from Christian and me our love of the art we saw and remember that aspect of the trip.  But, who am I to go against pages of research?  Just a mom - and moms always know best!  So...who's up for round two?