Monday, February 22, 2010

First Trip to the Art Gallery of Alberta with Baby!


Well, it took my husband and I months to decide, but we finally have a stroller! We chose a Bugaboo Bee in hot pink. I just love it. It's small and light, which was essential for me, since I live in the city and love being able to take the LRT without too much hassle. It also handles beautifully and navigates through narrow places with ease, and I love that the seat is reversible. My only complaint so far is that the locks on the swivel wheels are a bit stiff, but otherwise it's perfect!

Last Tuesday, my mom and I took the baby for her first outing in her new stroller. We decided to make the new Art Gallery of Alberta our first destination. After a quick lunch at Da Capo near the University of Alberta (they have really great pizza there, by the way), we took the LRT downtown. We got off the train at Churchill Station, and arrived at the new Art Gallery in minutes.

The newly opened Art Gallery of Alberta was gorgeous. The building was designed by Los Angeles architect Randall Stout, and forms a beautiful and functional space for the gallery. Mom and I had a wonderful time visiting the exhibits. I was able to take my time to enjoy the Degas sculptures (baby was napping), but I had a bit harder time with the Goya exhibit (baby was awake at that time, and a bit more noisy--perhaps she was debating the significance of Goya's socio-political commentary?).

While Goya and Degas were fabulous, I must say that Karsh's photographs blew me away. It doesn't take long to realize that truly great photography requires every bit as much artistry as the other fine arts. My photos are about as far removed from Karsh's work as my sketches are from Da Vinci's.

Now that we have a family membership to the gallery, I can't wait to return and take in these exhibits in more depth!

5 comments:

Acornmoon said...

lovely to hear that mum and baby are doing well and enjoying day trips. Slowly but surely life gets back to normal! I hope you enjoy every second because babies grow so fast.

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

Congratulations. My wife and I have regulary taken our girls to museums from the time they were just a few weeks old and we were able to continue doing this right up until the present (now 17 and 19). Of course, we always had to take into consideration their needs, attention span and interests, but the idea that museums are or should be off-limits to kids does not have much currency in our family. As long as we did not overdo it, they were always well behaved and actually enhanced my appreciation of the art work we saw. Nothing like a child's fresh view of the world to make one see anew.

Hels said...

What an excellent idea.. start the baby on a lifetime of pleasure from galleries and museums.

I don't blame her for not responding well to the Goyas, by the way. His vision was very harsh. Perhaps start her on more gentle images, like the Impressionists :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on the outing..to see the building and also for the baby. The stroller is beautiful, when I had the 2 girls, they were 11 months apart, I remember the chaos we had to go through whenever we travel :) Have a great week with the baby..hugs/M

Margaret said...

Yes, I definitely think it's important to get out and enjoy museums and the like with the baby. I'm sure she'll love it as she gets older. I love what Hels said about the Goya, though. Too true! Maybe the Impressionists would be a better place to start!