Wickeds, rounding out “the best” Wicked Wednesdays this month, tell us about your best trip to a museum, gallery or other exhibition. It could be art, furniture, crafts, technology, or something else. Why was it so memorable?
Liz: One of my favorite museum trips was to the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C. It was the coolest place for crime junkies like us, taking visitors through the most famous crimes in history as well as crime through the ages, from way back in the days of the wild west – and pirates. I remember walking into the lobby and seeing Jeffrey Dahmer’s real VW bug – it was creepy and fascinating at the same time. Sadly, it closed down about two years ago. But the Newseum, also in DC, is a close second for awesome museum experiences.
Photo by Sibila Savage.
Edith: What would we do without museums? Liz, I saw the Newseum last week and took pictures of the rows of daily newspaper front pages – what a beautiful thing – but we didn’t go in. I have to say the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore was one of the most fun museums I’ve ever seen (I googled “Baltimore museum of weird stuff” to get the right name…). We saw a ball made of donated bras of all sizes and colors that was as tall as me (see the creator Emily Duffy’s web site). A huge sailing ship made of toothpicks. Odd bird’s nests and body parts sticking out of the building’s outer walls. A magic schoolbus. And lots more. The experience was part Gaudi, part Dali, part whimsy, and all delight. I highly recommend a visit to AVAM.
Jessie: I recently took a trip to the International Spy Museum in Washington with two of my kids. It was such fun to see the buttonhole cameras, recording devices and propaganda posters from other eras. I loved crawling quietly through the ductwork of a pretend office building ceiling as part of an immersive experience. Probably the most interesting to me personally was a photograph of a WWI era pigeon. Why was that, you ask? Because pigeons are part of the fun in the next Beryl and Edwina mystery, Murder Flies the Coop!
Sherry: Jessie, I love that you are using pigeons in your next book! I grew up in Davenport, Iowa which had a wonderful museum and art gallery. In fourth grade they loaded us up on a train and took us to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. It was amazing. A heart that you could walk through and listen to it beat. A coal mine. Model trains. But best of all an amazing fairy castle doll house — the story of it is fascinating. Sigh. I’ve always loved doll houses. I was lucky to have parents that indulged my sister’s and my curiosity so we visited lots of museums as we traveled around the country. And now I live outside of Washington DC with its amazing selection of museums.
Julie: I have a museum date with one of my nieces on Thursday–we’re going to the MFA in Boston, one of my favorite places on earth. I’ve been blessed to go to museums all over the world and in this country, and have many happy memories. But my favorite? I always dreamed of going to Egypt, and nine years ago I realized my dream. To be in Egypt, and to go to the Cairo Museum where treasure are laid out all over the place–that was a treat on so many levels.
Barb: I had trouble picking the “best” with this question as I did all the others. Gun to my head, I’ll go with the David Hockney exhibit I saw with my husband and daughter in 2012 at the Royal Academy in London. Kate was there getting her Master’s degree and Bill and I came over for her spring break. I happened to read that there was a Hockney exhibit that would end while we were there. The exhibition was so popular our tickets were for 10:30 on a Tuesday night. I love Hockney and I love, loved the show. You can read what I wrote about it here. Second favorite: The Gee’s Bend Quilts at the Whitney in 2003.
