Art Lesson #10: The Getty Museum - Los Angeles, California

The Getty, Photo by Krenda

When you combine stunning art, architecture, and gardens, the beauty amazes the senses.  I recommend you visit The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.  Patricia Schultz, author of travel book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, also recommends the site.  She describes the museum as a "futuristic shrine to the art of the past" and describes the buildings "the hilltop citadel is a work of art itself, done in gleaming off-white travertine marble and glass.

You could spend the day just exploring outdoors because of the multiple gardens and beautiful views of the Santa Gabriel mountains, Pacific Ocean, and Los Angeles city.  Everything has a grand scale.  The Central Garden uses 134,000 square-feet to house over 500 varieties of plants.  My photograph shows the Cactus Garden which has quite the view.  Also walk through two sculpture gardens - Lower Terrace Sculpture Garden and The Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Terrace.

 The buildings within the $1.3 billion Center have such striking, modern lines and curves.  The building itself is art.  From a distance you can tell it has grand scale.  When you take the tram up the hill and immerse yourself in the campus, it is even more impressive.  Architect Richard Meier designed the campus to encompass nature and culture, using 16,000 tons of travertine stone from Tivoli, Italy.  He designed the rooms to let natural light show off the paintings.  You can see it from my photo.  Sunshine outdoors and bright, light rooms make you feel sunny.

Exploring inside could take many visits including four pavilions:

1) North Pavilion - paintings up to 1600, Medieval and Renaissance, sculptures

2) East Pavilion - 17th century Baroque art, including Dutch, French, Flemish, and Spanish

3) South Pavilion - decorative arts and furnished rooms

4) West Pavilion - sculpture and Italian decorative arts and Center for photographs

If you feel pressed for time, don't miss the famous Vincent Van Gogh painting "Irises".  I stayed until the last minute, also providing time to watch the sunset over the city and the campus to light up in the night sky.

Free admission, but you need to consider parking and whether you need to purchase food.  If I visited again, I'd take advantage of their parking special - one fee ($20) for both Getty Center and Getty Villa when visited same day (except Mon. or Tue.) and confirmed at information desk.  I'd begin at the Villa to admire ancient world art, drive to a restaurant for lunch, and drive the 20-45 minutes to Getty Center.   Besides saving on the parking, the timing could save me from expensive museum meals.  Other Getty Center parking deals include $15 after 3PM or $10 after 6PM on Saturday.

Language & Theater: Blue Men Communicate Without Words

You can find different percentages on how much communication is verbal vs. non verbal.  Consider the 55/38/7 rule of personal communication:  55% of communication as body language, 38% tone of voice, and 7% actual words spoken.  Consider the 60/40 rule:  60% communication as facial and 40% vocal.  Either way, we know that we tell stories through movement, not just words.  We watch facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, and touch.  That explains why artists can create an entire show without spoken words and have a great hit.

We took our kids to the Blue Man show at the Briar Street Theater in Chicago.  They didn't know the show's history, so they didn't know it was an award winning show which began in New York City in 1987.  They feared mom was just taking them to another show.  They loved the show!  Who couldn't love a show that integrates Cap'n Crunch, marshmallows, and Jell-O with humor and expression.

The Blue Men show has three blue men as the stars.  They have talent as percussionists and mimes.  They use non-traditional instruments like plastic pipes to create music.  They comment on contemporary life, science, and technology without using a word.

Clearly the audience had repeat customers.  They knew how to interact with the show before it even began.  Enthusiastic theater attendees wore ponchos in the front rows, anticipating splattered liquids like paint.  Audience members can get pulled out of their seats to participate in a painting skit or dinner serving Twinkies.  After the show, the Blue Men appear in the front entrance for photos.

The blue men represent outsiders to the rest of the world with surprised reactions to modern world items.  Yet the Blue Men have become part of the world beyond New York, performing in 15 countries.  They performed twice at the Latin Grammy awards.  If you want to see a show, look for performances in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, and Orlando.