Tag Archives: Portland Museum of Art

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PF: Night at the Museum

It’s been a school year. All 55 days of it. I keep telling myself I’m growing as a teacher. I’m learning a lot. I tell myself that on repeat. (There’s some other looping self-talk going on, too, but I’m not going to share that right now.)

Trying to be proactive, I’ve been adding things to my weeknight schedule, deliberately creating some time out of the vortex of school. I noticed an upcoming event at the Portland Museum of Art and planned to attend, registering for a free one hour ekphrastic poetry class.

I called my daughter, Lydia, and asked if she wanted to meet for dinner and go to the museum beforehand. My husband opted to join us, and I looked forward to the event all week. A little breathing room.

Then I had one of the worst teaching days of my life. Enough said. I was desperate to escape into an evening out; however, by the end of that “terrible, horrible, no good very bad day”, I had no bandwidth for participating in a class. None. The idea of listening to someone talk about, well, anything, and then putting myself out there with some strangers was, in that moment, horrifying. It wasn’t an option.

So, after dinner, we walked over to the museum. I touched base with the volunteer at the desk to free up my space in the class in case someone else wanted to join. I, then, breathed a huge sigh of relief.

While Kurt wandered, Lydia and I decided to check out the erasure poetry center set up in the museum’s Great Hall. They had supplied printed pages and pencils. We reached through the crowded area to the materials, randomly selecting a page each, then settled in to create our poems. Here’s what I came up with:

When A Country Discards Empathy

no hint of human
empty
still and silent
distance visible
dissolving fidelity

©Molly Hogan

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully at her blog, Salt City Verse.

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Art in Bloom!

Every April the Portland Museum of Art dazzles spring-craving senses with “Art in Bloom”. They invite local florists to interpret works of art with floral designs. Each arrangement has a placard that lists the inspiring art work and includes a written statement from the florist. There’s also a list of materials used to create the piece: flowers, vines, bark, stone, etc. Ekphrastic floral design!

This past Friday afternoon while a solo violinist played in the background, I wandered through the museum with my friend and one of my daughters. I had debated attending, as doing anything on a Friday night feels challenging to me. After making plans a couple of weeks ago, I’d been looking forward to the event, but I’d also second guessed myself time and again. And again! The lure of an early evening at home is always strong. Still, I’d made it!

We meandered along with no particular plan, following the flow of our random footsteps, enjoying each piece as we came upon it. As we walked along, sometimes tendrils of scent would beckon us forward, and sometimes it was a splash of color. The hum of other voices filled the galleries, along with the sweet strains of music from the violinist.

As we approached each piece, we’d examine it, trying to figure out from shape, color, materials, etc. what piece of art work inspired it. Sometimes it was quite obvious, and at other times it was tricky to determine. One piece was inspired by a brooch! It felt sort of like a treasure hunt, and I found myself stepping faster as I approached each gallery, wondering what we’d find there.

To be honest, even without special exhibits, museums can overwhelm me. There’s so much to see and absorb! Sometimes I began to wander through a bit superficially, floating on the sea of sensory input, enjoying myself, but not fully connecting with each piece. Sometimes I found myself distracted by watching the people, or listening in to snippets of conversation. As we moved along, at one point I overheard a woman exclaim:

“No, stop! Don’t educate me. I don’t want to be educated!”

I had to laugh, but I could actually relate to that sentiment. It was tempting to immerse myself in the pool of creative energy around me and simply revel in the energy and buzz of color, scent, sound, shape, etc.

At one point, though, my daughter drew my attention to the artist’s statement for the sculpture below, The Dead Pearl Diver. Reading about the florist’s process drew me in to study the duo more carefully, and it quickly became one of my favorites. The florist talked about how they were drawn to the white marble and wanted to focus on playing with texture in this piece, rather than color– “…each flower gives the eye another dimension to look through.” They deliberately chose smooth larger blossoms to evoke the draped limbs of the pearl diver, and rougher petalled flowers to evoke the stone upon which he lies. The more I looked, the more I appreciated the nuance of this pairing.

Here are a few more pairings for you to enjoy.

There were 20 pieces overall, scattered throughout the museum, and we’re pretty sure we saw all of them. It was a wonderful chance to escape the chilly April weather (more snow was forecast for Saturday morning!) and enjoy a hint of spring. The evening was a feast for the senses and an immersion in creativity. I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and I’m so glad I went!