May 5, 2013: Getting Cultured

Garrett and Mark interpreting the sculptures
Today was the last day of our adventure (tomorrow is considered a travel day for me). We started our day sharing faith. I found a nearby Christian church. The irony was that after spending two days commenting on the large (humongous) sizes of the Texas churches, this one was small. A good fit for us and a great message.

I was given free reign on choice of our afternoon activities. I choose the Art District. The ever-planner, Garrett, wanted specifics on what we would be doing. I wanted to wing it. Given the amount of time consumed looking for parking and a lunch restaurant, some planning would have provided benefit. I will give Garrett that one. For future reference, the Art District spans nineteen city blocks.

We ultimately choose to park at the Dallas Museum of Art. Our first stop was across the street at the Nasher Sculpture Center. After a rough start (passing Jason's Deli and Chipotle in route), a hungry Garrett was happy with our lunch dining choice of Wolfgang Puck's inside the Sculpture Center. We enjoyed dining outside and conversed on the strange looking sculptures awaiting us. What exactly were they?

As we followed our guided tour maps and read the descriptions, we felt a bit out of our element. The group of headless copper-cast people were to give the mob feel. The "blob" of iron...represents the industrial revolution. Of course. As we toured the entire facility and went on to the art museum, it was clear to me the differences in our three personalities and how our eyes saw things differently.

Mark is the craftsman. With every piece of art, particularly the sculptures and the art decor pieces, he admired the products used and the work that went into them. He would look for details that Garrett and I didn't see and would explain the effort necessary to obtain the affect achieved. I saw a saying in the art museum "a craftsman works for the final product, but an artist works with no end product in mind".

I have an strong artistic side, but am not a full-fledged artist. I don't look at the world as a craftsman, although I appreciated Mark's feedback on the workmanship. I admired and enjoyed most of the pieces on exhibit, but was equally confused on many; especially the contemporary. I find myself drawn to pieces of history and art work with a human element and the telling of a story.

Garrett is an engineer and technician. He was pretty much unimpressed and confused with much of the sculpture and some of the art; especially the contemporary. His common comment to me was "are you culturing me yet?" I wish I was a better guide, but mostly read off of the pamphlets handed to me.

I asked Garrett and Mark at the end if they enjoyed our afternoon of culture. Mark stayed silent. Garrett answered, "I appreciate you culturing me. But only once a year." Yes, Garrett, the annual coupon has been used.

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