Welcome back once again to Adventure Couple. On this adventure, the destined choice is a museum. Which one? Well, there are many kinds in many places and we think you should choose which fits your situation best.
Museums have many fine qualities about them. The obvious attraction to a museum comes from the beautiful art; however, there often is more to these repositories of history and beauty than one may have ever considered.
Art is a journey through history, culture and the ideas of humanity. Many museums, such as the Getty, contain artifacts which date back to the B.C. millennium. These works of art allow give a glimpse into the psyche and development of humankind and play on your own knowledge of history.
Aside from being able to show off to your partner, the knowledge you will gain and associations you will make from learning about the art will help in school and many other endeavors. There are also many exhibits which show the art of different cultures such as the Museum of Latin American Art and the Skirball Cultural Center. Learning about other cultures is both rewarding and pleasurable and art is a wonderful lens to use to see how other cultures perceive the world.
The calm museum environment itself is also a reason to visit. People at museums are quiet and contemplating, the architecture is always original and intriguing, and there are ceaseless creations of the human mind all around you. Although you may think that museums seem boring, but they really are an adventure. The images may be static and some might even say stale, however the ideas are vivid and the talent is inspiring and if you can see that aspect of art it will captivate you.
In a museum there is always something to talk about as well. Art challenges the mind and evokes a response. Even if you don’t like a painting it forces you to ask yourself why. The inward reflection that art generates allows vulnerability to creep in and your true self to show which, if you’re wanting to get closer to someone, is just what you want.
Art takes many shapes, forms, styles, mediums and, as a testament to humanity, art is extremely diverse. Even within our own American culture in the last century there have been innumerable numbers of art movements and each takes a different view of the world in some way. The advantage to going to a museum, or even art festivals and fairs, is that all the art is chosen for a reason and is quite valuable, so you and your partner will be experiencing quality and the art you see was probably influential in some way.
If art museums are so amazing and are worth so much, aren’t they expensive? Well they are, but here at Adventure Couple we have our ways. To the right is a very helpful chart (link here), provided by Museum Marketing Roundtable, www.museumsla.org, which organizes museums across the L.A. and Orange County area by the days they are free. On this list is a slew of museums. However, having not been to a fourth or even a fifth of them, it is impossible to say which is the best.
We have been to both the Getty Center and Getty Villa and these museums are top class. The Villa offers an extensive classical collection of Greek and Roman artifacts. The Center offers mostly western art from the fifteenth century to the early twentieth century. The plus side is that entrance is free to both of these museums everyday that they are open, and the art is some of the best you’ll ever see (Van Gogh, Gericault, Manet, Monet, Titian, the whole lot). LACMA keeps a more contemporary collection of art if you and your partner are into the modern versus the classical.
The list of museums given is wide-ranging and even contains the California Science Center and The Huntington Library which has large-scale and beautiful gardens along with an art collection of its own.
As always we here at Adventure Couple hope you and your partner or group enjoy yourselves wherever you may go.
Here is a link to the pdf which provides the free days of the museums.
Here is a link to a map with all the museums in the greater LA/OC area.
