Philbrook Second Saturday Free

This was fun. We had heard about this program from Moneypenny who had sent us an email on it, and given that the Socialite is rather into art and such, we thought it would be a perfect visit for her. Not only do they give you a case and some free art supplies, but there were some activities and free admission to the museum and grounds and such as well. It was a lock, so following lunch on Saturday, we headed on over.

There had been a lot of changes to Philbrook since the last time the Queen and I had gone. We went to Philbrook when we were till dating, and I believe at the time, you still entered through the main front door, and the stairs up and down were blocked off, giving you one floor to peruse the artwork on. Or maybe it was available and we just never took the stairs. Who knows? 

Anyway, we entered into what was definitely a newer wing where there was a large rotunda and everyone is greeted there. We were given a schedule, told where to get our supplies, and encouraged to return at 2 for a "quickie tour." We grabbed our boxes (one for each child, so we got three), hung our coats in the nearby honor-based coat room, and headed off to see about snowflake snowmen. 

Snowflake snowmen are made using white paper folded and cut into the classic school room snowflakes and then glued onto a paper to create those layers of decreasing size. Other papers allowed for the scarf and hat, and there were wiggly eyes and pompoms for the nose and buttons. They each made their snowmen and proudly displayed them for the Queen to snap some photos (the Queen is quite snap happy with her new and cooperative 12 Mp camera. It's got an 8Gb card in it and she was down to 1900 pictures left at the end of the day. Oh horror!).

Once we had the snowmen, we decided to walk through the museum for a bit since we only had 15 minutes till the tour and we didn't want to start something else before the tour and have to end it early. We found ourselves in the old house portion and saw the original entrance, and we pointed it out to the princesses. We showed off some of the rooms to them, being sure to draw their attention to the paintings that adorn the walls and ceilings. Past the artwork within, Philbrook itself is a work of art in its architecture and interior decorations.

We only got so far as the light up floor (which was off when we got there) and we had to go back. I confirmed with the Queen about that floor, though, since I could swear it lit up. She thought so too, but for now, we had to head back for the tour.

The tour was pretty decent. The guide talked about how artists use lines to give feeling to their works. Horizontal is space. Vertical is height. Curves are comfort and softness. Jagged is fear and tension. Diagonal is motion. And a horizontal and vertical (think table leg) is stability. She pointed out a variety of painting and figurines of pets to demonstrate these principles, and it was really interesting.

The tour actually left off at the far end of the house part of the museum that we hadn't gotten to, so we picked up there and started walking back. We passed over that light up floor again, and I asked one of the museum people about it. We were right, and he lit the floor up for us. The princesses thought that was really cool. 

We went downstairs after this to check out the painting activity where they were supposed to draw and paint a pet. The Socialite looked like her brain wanted one thing, but her hand wasn't cooperating, and while she started drawing one thing, we eventually told her to just draw the horse however she wanted to draw it. She did, and she was happier. Rock Girl is actually drawing really well at this point, and Sassy Pants had more of a collage of color there at the end, but they all had fund getting there.

Leaving these to dry, we moved onto the galleries on the lower level, since that's where the studios for the painting were. Most of these were Native American paintings, tools, furniture, and pottery. It was kind of neat to see the wonder on their faces. We went from there up two floors to the upper level (that part where I'd never been before) to view the artwork there. There was one that was really strange. Someone had taken footage of a diver at the Olympics and set it to music, but it was really syncopated. When I looked at it, I didn't get it. I read the description, and while I understood the explanation, I didn't go back to see if I got it a second time. Maybe next time we come in.

The princesses were getting worn out, so we decided to head out to the gardens so they could check that out as well. With all the changes, the garden remains unchanged. The Queen took some pictures, of course, and once we got all the way out to the gazebo, she turned around and tried out a panoramic picture on her camera. It worked really easily and made a very wide angled picture.

They were done by that point, though, so we returned to the studio, picked up our pictures, and made for the car. This program goes every month (at least October through June, according to the stamp areas on the art box) on the second Saturday of the month, so we'll definitely be coming back so they can see everything there is to see there and know the place inside and out growing up. This is especially important to us since The Socialite is very interested in art and wants to be an artist.

So at this point, we have one interested primarily in Meteorology and the science thereof, though her dream is to go into space. We have one interested in art pretty heavily. She was all over those paintings. And Sassy Pants... Well, she hasn't locked onto anything yet, really, but given how much of an attention hog she is and how much she can over-dramatize herself, I fear she may want to be an actress. Perish the thought.