As a parent, I marvel at the achievements of my little guy. Blake turned two a few weeks back, reminding me how much he’s changed since my first blog post about him in January 2009.
(See: A Museum Baby Grows in Wausau)
Above: Blake as a “white owl” for Halloween 2010.
Throughout the last two years, Blake’s been a regular at the Woodson Art Museum – starting with Art Babies, attending preview parties and exhibitions, various artist residencies, two OctoBIRDfests, and of course, Art Park.
This fall we made multiple visits to Art Park and Birds in Art. During our strolls through the galleries, Blake would share his sightings of owls, eagles, ducks, and birdies by exclaiming their names and associated calls.
When we looked at an artwork with a crane, I asked Blake, “What’s this?” Without skipping a beat, he replied, “Kevin.” My puzzlement soon transformed into belly laughs – Blake was making a connection between this bird and the character “Kevin” from the Disney/Pixar movie, “UP.” See the comparison below:
Left: “Kevin”
Below: Bernd Pöppelmann, Crane Dance, 2010
In Art Park, we watched birds, drew them, created several sculptures, used the chalkboard, and so on. Now, almost every time I pick up Blake from childcare he says, “Go to Museum!” “Play toys downstairs.”
My child demands visits to the Museum, and now that we’re open until 7:30 pm the first Thursday of every month (starting this Thursday, December 2), when he asks we can go even more often!
