To Ancient Egypt and Back Again (Part 2)
Peanut butter sandwiches and apples filled our bellies outside of the Dallas Art Museum. After lunch in the outdoors, we entered the glass doors again. Seeing the King Tut exhibit was not enough. I wanted to get the most out of our tickets.
A few steps down the hall my children veered into the interactive area. My son used cardboard to make a miniature pyramid. My girls “sewed” with strips of cloth and pipe cleaners. I kept glancing towards the exit. There were paintings upstairs I longed to see. The elevator finally enticed my youngsters away from the messy tables. We sped to the top floor.
Sunshine asked if the enormous canopy bed belonged to King Tut. Only a staircase separated the centuries between gilded statues of ancient Egypt and ornamental wood from an American plantation; her confusion is understandable.
I pointed out a few painting by Benjamin West, and my son recognized the style of Mary Cassatt. Then Sunshine stopped at a painting of a lady in a purple dress. Her brother announced the lady’s name with beaming pride. It was his sister’s name. My little girl spun around, “Really, Mama? This is me!”
The maze of galleries lead us through Europe and the Orient. The couches beneath Monet invited, but my children were tired, and my watch proclaimed the time to meet our friends. A sigh escaped my lips as my troupe stomped downstairs.
I remembered the first time I stood transfixed under paintings previously loved in books. I was nineteen. My children are only ten, five, and three.
Perhaps one day we will stroll through the canvases reflecting on techniques and colors. For now, it is enough to have enjoyed our day gathering a few special memories.
photo credit: mharrsch
Sounds like you all had a wonderful time. :)
I find your comment about being nineteen when this first happened to you very interesting. I did go on field trips to art and other museums when I was in grammar school, but got very little out of them because we were herded along in a group and too busy pushing and shoving each other to really pay attention to what we were there to see. And of course, if something did interest me, I couldn’t look at it for very long because we had to “keep moving!”
Once I started taking my children to museums, I loved being able to take our time and really absorb everything. Aren’t our children fortunate to be homeschooled?
Barbara,
I grew up in a rural farming area, so art museums were scarce. When I flew to Seattle to meet Dylan’s family, he knew right where to take me. There was a Thomas Moran showing at the art museum. I could have lived there. :)
And you are right. Sometimes I take the freedom of homeschooling for granted. I never considered what my children would have missed going in a large group. My girls wouldn’t have even been there.
It was such a blessing to tailor the experience for their interest and level of understanding!
I enjoyed ‘touring’ with y’all. How fun! I hope we can go to Atlanta next year to visit the exhibit. We have been reading about King Tut and have found it most interesting that his father-in-law Amenhotep IV worshipped only one god (albeit a sun god) called Aten and he hence changed his name to “Akhenaten – pious servant of Aten”. and King Tutankhamen’s original name, “Tutankhaten” reflected that. A year of two ago, we got a craft kit that allowed you to punch little holes on sheets of metal (copper, aluminium) to create pictures. My DD did one on King Tut on a sheet of copper and that looked so cool.
Miiko,
Thanks for mentioning your research. That was brought out in the displays. I pointed it out to my kids so we could wonder together if the story of Exodus influenced Akhenaten’s decision.
Your craft sounds wonderful! My mother-in-law just told me she has some papyrus sheets and reed pens for my kids. I know they will enjoy writing hieroglyphics.