Tuesday, December 16, 2014

back to the museum i go ...

I am currently in the docent training program at our local art museum, the Norton Museum of Art. I have been taking part since October, and have been enjoying it immensely. It's actually quite a rigorous program, but that is one of the things about it that I like the most. We have been learning the collection, and reading lots of articles on museum education.

It's like going back to art school and it couldn't have come at a better time for me in my life right now. I have been a little out to sea since my mother took a fall a year ago. Transitioning from a full-time caretaker who also was trying to work on her own creative writing to a part-time — what, exactly? Between shuttling between my mom at the nursing home and daughter's schedule and my own quest for personal improvement, mentally and physically — I wasn't exactly concentrating on any creative projects.

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My first "practice tour stop" was on this exquisite jade carving from the museum's Chinese art collection,  "Figure of Mulan on Horseback."

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Adding the Norton to my schedule should have pushed my over the edge, but actually, I think being back in a museum environment and looking at art and talking about it with like-minded people has actually helped my focus even more on my own work and health. At least I hope so. Change is hard, but I have always believed that it is good. And getting to immerse myself in art and ideas for me is beyond good.

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