Family Documentary Photography

Digital Detox.  This my friend is my wee effort to pull my family away from their screens.  Do no confuse this with a lesson in art appreciation.  It’s not.  It’s my attempt to expose my kiddos to something outside their comfort zone.  And by comfort zone, I mean their sofas and laptops and Xbox.

To encourage engagement, I searched the interwebs for a good museum scavenger hunt but nothing seemed to fit our age group.  I would have liked something specific related to the art on display.  Improvising, before entering the museum, we all choose one random thing (must be unusual but possible to find) microphone, basketball player, rubix cube?, ice cream, photographer, a blob of red, an older Native American woman.  First exhibit we saw: Ball Player Effigy.  Boom.  DJ had specifically said Lebron and we said basketball player was more “findable”.

The Latin American Masks on the top floor were a hit.  And my little clay artist, Eliya, loved the Mexican Clay Art.  Follow my personal instagram @joannajoyphoto to see her wedding cakes, apple cores, poodles etc!  New work everyday – this little artist is prolific!  We did find a clay photographer in this section so bonus points for me!

Our group must be pretty traditional because the Poetic Minimalism Exhibit was a bit of a misunderstood miss.  It was interactive – we were asked what song the exhibit made us think of and they played the music shortly after we provided feedback.  Both girls were pleased with that.  Eliya literally lit up when she saw that HUGE yellow painting – that photo is not posed – that’s her huge smile!  Not sure what tickled her fancy but something did!  A few different reactions “looks like giant Tetris pieces” and “that’s one big caramel” from the man denying himself carbs lately.  The favorite?  The shotgun blasts into a sheet for metal by an artist in the 1940s.  Way ahead of her time!  2016 Election coverage inspires that type of art.  Totally impressed Mr FFA.

My personal favorite.  The one with the hair titled “My Life”.  Beautiful.  When my mother visited, she with the hair to her knees and the ever present bun, her favorite was the brightly painted 3 women in the Southwest Gallery.

Thank you Tucson Art Museum for hosting Free First Thursday! Play Happy Hours @ TMA – not sure our crowd of littles and bigs was the best fit – singles you might be interested in attending this event – families, make note TMA also hosts Second Sundaze with Picture This! Art for Families.   As with all cousin outings, ours included ice cream.  Highly recommend the Hub Ice Cream Factory downtown, or the Cashew Cow on the east side if your non-dairy.