Rachel Wraps Up our Time at the Museum!

As if a trip to "the vault," a sneak peek at Dale Chihuly's exhibit, and an invite to the show's official opening, where we had the chance to rub elbows with Columbia's elite all the while stuffing our faces with yummy finger sandwiches (but stuffing in an "artsy" way), weren't enough, the New Audience Road Show had one more treat for us at the Columbia Museum.

On our third visit to the museum we were treated to a private and guided tour of the permanent collection. The tour began after a very interesting talk on the business end of running a museum—where the funding comes from, how it's marketed, where it fits into the community (apparently much of the funding comes from the money we, the citizens, spend in the community—the taxes on things like eating out goes to funding the museum. So when I eat at a local restaurant, not only am I saving myself the hassle of cooking, I'm also becoming a patron of the arts. Bonus!).

After this talk, we broke into two groups, my group was led by the lovely and charming Leslie, and were given some inside scoop about the works in the permanent collection and some helpful insights that made understanding and appreciating the art easier.

Inside scoop: one piece by Remington had been totally stolen in a real life Thomas Crown Affair-esqe art heist. It was eventually recovered, obviously. Incredibly exciting and I never would have know that without this tour.

Interesting detail that led to a better understanding: I've been to the museum a few times and always loved the armoire with the wooden cat perched on the top. I had never noticed, however, that the inlay on the piece—moving from the bottom to the top—depicts a movement up the food chain. At the very bottom of the piece is a grasshopper, further up are some birds, and topping it off is the cat.

We also talked about details like framing a piece—or "marrying" a frame to a work of art. You want the frame to enhance/match the art without distracting from it. I'd never given this much thought but knowing that even this detail is considered really gave me a deeper appreciation of just how much work goes into presenting an exhibit. They make it all so seamless.

And I have to thank our docent (museum tour guide) Leslie. Often when I go to a museum am I either too timid or too proud to ask for a docent tour, but this really showed me how worthwhile it is. I will definitely ask for the tour on all future trips to any museum

Of course there is much more to tell about our Road trip to the museum—but this is just a blog. If you want every juicy detail, you'll just have to Roadie yourself next time J

Can't wait to see what's in store for us next!