My Experience at the Oakland Museum of California
| My Experience at the Oakland Museum of California | | Ma’Cherris Johnson | 3/13/2013 |
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I experienced this wonderful space for the first time, as my fiancé [Calvin] and I chaperoned my eight year old sister [Amya] and my seven year old cousin [Ta’mari] on a Sunday afternoon. We went this first Sunday for Free First Sundays. It didn't take very long to get tickets and start viewing everything the museum had to offer. We rode the BART from El Cerrito Del Norte (Richmond/Fremont line), got off at Lake Merritt station, and walked one block up the street on Oakland to 10th street which is near Laney College. The museum envisioned as a porous building with multiple casual entrances and exits instead of a grand front portal. Museum and park flowed together as a continuous public space, spanning the equivalent of five city blocks. Easy driving directions (if I had a car), easy parking, very convenient for public transportation and just a gorgeous facility and staff that greatly greet you at either entrance and direct you to either level. The eating area was one of the most creative that I have seen thus far –café chairs hanging from a black board. The restaurant was very welcoming and had a variety of things to choose from (although the food was a bit pricey for my taste).
I took a trip to the art exhibit because I knew this would be right up my alley. The art installations were fantastic, and explored the People, Land, and Creativity of California. The temporary glass work exhibit was my favorite. No photographs allowed (by the time I found out, I had already taken seven photographs) and its mature content so preferably no kids allowed. But to my surprise there were tons of kids. The first art work that truly caught my eye was Fortunato Arriola’s “Tropical Landscape” (1870.) The social realist painting consists of green and blue shades as the scene takes place at a river bend. The golden frame (which is 48 in HIGH x 76.75 in WIDE (121.92 cm HIGH x
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I experienced this wonderful space for the first time, as my fiancé [Calvin] and I chaperoned my eight year old sister [Amya] and my seven year old cousin [Ta’mari] on a Sunday afternoon. We went this first Sunday for Free First Sundays. It didn't take very long to get tickets and start viewing everything the museum had to offer. We rode the BART from El Cerrito Del Norte (Richmond/Fremont line), got off at Lake Merritt station, and walked one block up the street on Oakland to 10th street which is near Laney College. The museum envisioned as a porous building with multiple casual entrances and exits instead of a grand front portal. Museum and park flowed together as a continuous public space, spanning the equivalent of five city blocks. Easy driving directions (if I had a car), easy parking, very convenient for public transportation and just a gorgeous facility and staff that greatly greet you at either entrance and direct you to either level. The eating area was one of the most creative that I have seen thus far –café chairs hanging from a black board. The restaurant was very welcoming and had a variety of things to choose from (although the food was a bit pricey for my taste).
I took a trip to the art exhibit because I knew this would be right up my alley. The art installations were fantastic, and explored the People, Land, and Creativity of California. The temporary glass work exhibit was my favorite. No photographs allowed (by the time I found out, I had already taken seven photographs) and its mature content so preferably no kids allowed. But to my surprise there were tons of kids. The first art work that truly caught my eye was Fortunato Arriola’s “Tropical Landscape” (1870.) The social realist painting consists of green and blue shades as the scene takes place at a river bend. The golden frame (which is 48 in HIGH x 76.75 in WIDE (121.92 cm HIGH x