50 Days of Gratitude: Day 4

I don’t remember my first visit to an art museum, but I’m fairly sure that I was an adult. Museums are part historical record, part sacred space, part community gathering place, and part cultural collection.

Today Bruce and I visited the Getty in Los Angeles, which has long been a favorite of ours. This amazing place is free and open to all, with excellent docents to guide visitors along the way, although we generally just wander through on our own. Today we spent most of our time there with the stunning temporary exhibition: Daywoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue. Both of these artists, whose medium is photography, do incredible work on their own; their combined work is extraordinary.

It was a bonus for me that I was able to view these pieces with a photographer! Bruce could explain much about the mechanics of some of the photos (for instance, very large Polaroids, which he has also worked with) as well as the nuances of the composition.

Later we made our first visit to the Getty Villa, which was a delight, even on a cool Los Angeles spring day. We were mesmerized by the gardens and the lush outdoor spaces.

Art tells stories. Stories of our world and stories of our souls and stories of our hopes and visions. It captures both beauty and terror, sometimes in the same work.

I am so grateful that there are spaces where the work of artists known and yet to be known can be shared with others. For artists and benefactors and all who appreciate and wonder/wander at their work, I give thanks.

Take a moment with a cup of tea and visit www.carriemaeweems.net