Art museums are a holy place for me, like good book stores and record stores. Little bubbles where we curate our attempts to communicate, to make others feel something. Or, simply, to create.
Art museums are where yesterday and today meet, and the dead tongues and hands of our past selves live again for a moment. Stand here, look. Gaze into someone else’s heart and mind for a time. If humans have a purpose, surely art is a crucial part of it.
I’m thinking about this today because we spent some our afternoon at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Can’t remember the last time I set foot in an art museum, but it must be more than three years. That must be the longest stretch between museum visits since the 80s. It was something I desperately needed, even though I didn’t know it until I was standing in front of the exhibits.
Coincidentally, I spotted this post by Allen Pike on the orange site when I got home, “Humans Need Play.” It’s a good reminder that we’re not merely here to fill our bank accounts (or others’). We need art and play to really exist in a meaningful way. At least, I do, even if I’d forgotten that for a while.
