Cultural Event #5

I had the opportunity to go to the American Visionary Art museum when I went home for spring break. I live only half an hour North of Baltimore, so I've been to this museum before, but they had a new exhibition that I'd never seen before. The exhibition is called "Home and Beast," and it's all about artwork relating to animals and the concept of "home." There is also a permanent collection throughout the museum, some of which I've seen in the past. The thing I like so much about the Visionary Art museum is that none of the contributing artists have been formally trained in their medium. In fact, many of them are either physically or mentally handicapped, which makes the magnitude of their work all the more fascinating. I think that this is especially true for the Home & Beast exhibit. The idea of the "home" is a common theme amongst all people, artist or not, and I think this is the reason why it fits so well in the museum. Many of the exhibitions center on archetypal themes such as war, aging, the family, etc. The art seems to have more meaning when it's created by someone who wouldn't normally create art...to me, it makes it seem more special.