Beltane Emergence Moon
After meeting Becky yesterday at the MIA, I left. I had planned to stay a bit, wander in the 
galleries, visit old friends. But an unremembered aversion pushed me out the door. The place was packed. Lots of school kids and lots of Friends of the MIA for the Friends’ lecture.
Back in the now long ago and halcyon days when continuing education was rich in content and held on Mondays, the museum closed to visitors, going in for continuing education had the flavor of a monastic retreat. There would be an hour plus of wonderful thinking about art, followed by private contemplation in quiet galleries.
An understandable desire to get numbers through the doors has made visiting museums during high traffic times a much different experience. This is edutainment. Minds young and old soaking up the kind of information and experience that enriches their lives. That’s a big positive. But for those of us who visit the museum for a one on one moment with Song dynasty ceramics or Baroque masterpieces like Poussin’s Germanicus, not so much.
