Museum-Going Through a Child's Eyes

Growing up, I have a number of memories of visiting museums and galleries, both on family outings and on school field trips. And, I am grateful that I have continued to seek out museums on my own, both in my local community and during trips outside Southern California.

Unsurprisingly, my attitude going into a museum visit has changed dramatically since my elementary school days. I have studied history and art history, allowing me to place a museum's collection in context and making the pieces more immediately interesting. And, naturally, I have more patience and a greater attention span, allowing me to more fully contemplate a museum before I've had enough.

However, even if my understanding or interest was more limited during childhood, the interest had to start somewhere, and my first exposures to history and culture through museums (and even more lowbrow sources such as television) gave me something to hang on to when these subjects were formally introduced in school.

Yesterday, I met up with my friend Amanda, her mom, and her 5-year-old son Matteo in order to visit the Getty Villa, and got to relive the experience of visiting a museum as a child. Naturally, he dictated the itinerary and the pace of the visit, flitting from room to room, running around the courtyards, and directing us to parts of the Villa that were sometimes surprising. And, naturally, this visit included a long sojourn in the kids' activity area, where there were urns to draw on and foam weapons to handle.

So, while this visit to the Villa was very different, and much less thorough, than the one I made last year (accompanied by my grown-up friend Nick), it was nonetheless a valuable learning experience. It is always exciting to see a small kid become engaged with something new (even if the thing he or she focuses on is a tad unexpected), and, over the course of the visit, there were many moments where Matteo became genuinely excited about the centuries-old statues, vases, and decorative items on display. I hope those moments of engagement, and the memories of the visit, stick with Matteo as he grows.