While we planned many fun activities for our New York trip over the weekend, the actual reason we went to New York was to see Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. My kids love Van Gogh. I know that sounds strange. It probably began with a little book of Van Gogh paintings Meg's godmother gave her. Then we read Katie and the Starry Night by James Mayhew. Van Gogh was discussed on Meg and Clare's favorite show Creative Galaxy as well as on a kid news show the girls like to watch. At some point last summer, they became absolutely obsessed with Van Gogh and Starry Night in particular. During our travels one day, they asked me where the original Starry Night hung. I told them I didn't know but that I imagined it was in Paris or Amsterdam. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Starry Night was in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "We can go there," the girls quickly deduced. And so we did.
We have a print of Starry Night in our basement. Meg declared a week before our trip that she would not go into the basement and look at the print because she wanted to fully prepare herself for seeing the original. When we arrived at the fifth floor of MOMA, she was prepared. She pulled out a sketchbook and borrowed a pen. She gently worked her way to the front of the crowd that stood around Starry Night and then sat herself on the floor and began to sketch the masterpiece to the best of her 6-year-old ability.
We have a print of Starry Night in our basement. Meg declared a week before our trip that she would not go into the basement and look at the print because she wanted to fully prepare herself for seeing the original. When we arrived at the fifth floor of MOMA, she was prepared. She pulled out a sketchbook and borrowed a pen. She gently worked her way to the front of the crowd that stood around Starry Night and then sat herself on the floor and began to sketch the masterpiece to the best of her 6-year-old ability.
Four-year-old Clare soon joined her with pages ripped from my journal. Clare took her work seriously. She was soon stretched out on the floor attempting to capture every swirl and every star. Again, they were doing all of this in front of a huge crowd of people who were there to see Starry Night. I was not at all sure how this crowd would react to my girls and their sketches. The crowd's opinion soon became clear. With smiles, people were pointing out the girls to others. One onlooker attempting to photograph Starry Night soon was on the floor attempting to capture a picture of Clare sketching Starry Night. Strangers made a point to tell me how precious my children were. Never doubt a crowd of art lovers will in fact fully encourage the love of art in a child.
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