More and More Art-Venturous: An Additional Visit to the Taubman Museum of Art

One wintery afternoon, Kim, Elijah, and Gwen decided to head to the Taubman Museum of Art just to see "what was new."  We always begin by walking the upstairs galleries.  These galleries change frequently and often feature both contemporary and more traditional art, so they make for good discussion with small children.  On this trip, Elijah particularly enjoyed Motomichi Nakamura's "monsters," an collection of art including animation of bold creatures in red, black, and white.  Motomichi was at the museum preparing for weekend events, and he even stopped and said hello to Elijah!  You can say hello to Motomichi yourself on Twitter: @motomichistudio. 

As always, we spent a fair amount of time in Art Venture, the museum's first-floor children's space.  With free admission and a plethora of art and play supplies, Art Venture is one of the best deals for families in Roanoke.  Today, we noticed there were additional toys for younger kids, including several that were accessible to our infant-daughter Gwen (even though it is important to note the space is designed for ages 2-13).  There are many types of blocks, gears, and puzzles for kids of all ages to explore as well as stations for creating art to take home.  There's also a "stage" and many puppets for dramatic play, and recent additions included creations made by a 3-D printer.

If you go, know that there is a "new" nearby surface parking lot a block away that hosts free weekday parking for two hours or less.  It's maintained by the City of Roanoke and is close to a private paid parking lot near Beads Indeed, a fun make-your-own jewelry store, and Nawab, Kim's favorite Indian restaurant.  Read more about one of our previous museum visits here for more information.  If you are not accustomed to visiting art museums, know they can feel, well, a bit pretentious.  Make yourself as "at home" as you can within reason, and at the Taubman, I recommend engaging the security staff upstairs in conversation.  They know the collections well and are always approachable.