Americas

Back in November Leyre, Amy, and I headed to the MFA to see the Avedon exhibit. It happened to be the opening weekend of the new Americas wing, but we passed on checking it out because it looked super crowded. I am a very lucky person because I can show my work ID and get into the museum for free, so I knew I could plan a day to come back and dedicate to exploring just the new wing...and it only took me four months to do it!

So the new wing...I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I also should have grabbed myself a map, because the new wing has a lot of nooks and crannies that make it easy to get turned around and skip over large chunks of the gallery without realizing you're doing it. I'm much more interested in modern and contemporary art, so of course I rushed through the lower floors and then absolutely loved every second of the top floor. I'm pretty sure I'll start at the top next time I'm there.







The new wing is, itself, a work of art. I love the contrast of the modern wing attached to the original building. They did an amazing job integrating the two buildings. I think some of my favorite parts of the new wing are the hallways along the exterior where you get peeks of the downtown skyline (and there are a few benches and couches where you can get comfy and enjoy those peeks) and peeks of the atrium-like spaces where the original building and the new wing meet.

The courtyard between the two spaces is also pretty awesome, and there was some pretty fun live music that the kiddos were loving. There is also a restaurant in the courtyard, and I would imagine that it's a nice place to eat and soak up the energy in the heart of the museum. There was also a huge Chihuly piece installed in the courtyard (see above) - one of the first pieces of an upcoming exhibit to be installed. It happened to be in my second favorite color, so of course I enjoyed it!


After I made my way through the entire Americas wing, I had to visit my Buddhas. I get cranky when I head up there and find other people...but they usually leave before I've had my fill and I can get some peace and quiet in there. And when I had my fill of peace and quiet, I headed back home and snuggled with this guy: