Tag Archives: museum

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

July 19, 2021Arizona, Expats and TCKs, Uncategorized, United Statesmuseum, Phoenic, Scottsdalebreanamjohnson@gmail.com

With the heat of an Arizona summer in full force, our hiking trips have ended until September. However, Phoenix has a lot of budget experiences to offer besides its many outdoor offerings! Did you know that Phoenix-area residents can visit many of the Valley’s museums for free? The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) is one of these.

How to Visit for Free

When we lived in Detroit, I could walk in to many museums without paying just because of the address on my drivers license. Although this isn’t the case in Phoenix, you can still find ways to get tickets without swiping your credit card.

There are two ways I know of to get in to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art for free. One is to go on a Thursday or the second Saturday of the month. I believe that at the time of writing, you are supposed to make a reservation. I can see why– it was pretty busy the last time I visited, even though the museum is still practicing more social distancing than most of the other places around town.

The other way to get in free is to snag a Culture Pass at one of the libraries in Maricopa County. If you’ve never used a Culture Pass, these are red laminated strips displayed near the door of any library in the county system. You have to take the Culture Pass strip to the front desk and have a librarian activate it for you, and then you take your receipt to the museum within seven days for entry. Each Culture Pass is worth admission for two. Depending on the time of year and the attraction, Culture Passes go quickly– so plan on arriving when the library opens if you want to be sure to grab one!

You do need a library card to get a Culture Pass. This means you need to have residency in Maricopa County. If you’re just visiting, the free days are your best bet!

Visiting SMoCA

The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is located in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona. You can park for free in the garage behind the museum. Thank goodness for that– parking in the sun at this time of year makes getting back in the car feel like climbing into an oven!

It had been about five years since I’d been to SMoCA, and I was excited to see what had changed. I was also excited to show it to my friend Jenny, a New Zealander who recently moved here after nine years mining gold in Mongolia.

(Yes, her life as is cool as it sounds– you can check out her travel blog here!)

SMoCA is a small museum with just a few galleries, but it does change exhibits frequently. The first time I went, several years ago, I was unimpressed by a display of American cheese squares laid out in a grid. Come on, people. American cheese is barely food, much less art.

This time, however, the museum displayed beautiful and thought-provoking modern art as well as contemporary twists on traditional art forms.

SMoCA Exhibits

During our visit, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art showcased several cool exhibits. Our favorite was a fantastic weaving display featuring human-sized baskets and a modern take on traditional tapestry weaving. The artist, Diedrick Brackens, was inspired by the Biblical story of Moses to create baskets that people can float in. It included videos of the artist trying out his beautiful basket boats!

I’ve never seen tapestries like this done on a traditional loom. It must take a lot of skill to take photos, edit them into monochromatic computer images, create a weaving pattern, and execute the design flawlessly. So cool!

Things to Do Near SMoCA

After our trip to the museum, Jenny treated me to a lunch at Los Olivos, a delicious Mexican restaurant next to the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. The building of the restaurant is also a work of art, with interesting stained glass windows bathing a room all in blue, fish tanks bubbling in the corner, and unique architecture.

Since SMoCA is located in Old Town Scottsdale, there are also many other places to dine, drink, and dessert. One of my favorites is Sugar Bowl, an old-timey ice cream shop once frequented by Bil Keane, creator of Family Circus.

If you’re looking for something to do on a hot Arizona day…

…then the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is a great place to go! You’ll be sure to enjoy modern art infused with emotion and meaning from creators in the Southwest and all around the world.

Day at the Museum (of Natural History)

September 13, 2016International Travel, New York, Uncategorized, United StatesAmerica, American Museum of Natural History, central park, city, museum, New York, NYC, travel, united statesbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Night at the Museum is possibly one of the best family movies of all time. I know we loved it, at least, and were super excited when my parents, sister and I got to visit the Museum of Natural History in New York again and look for all our favorite characters.

I was surprised to find that all the displays aren’t exactly like the scenes from the movie. I guess I had mingled my real-life experiences from ten years ago with the footage from the film. We did find a few of the characters, though, and the rest of the museum was way better and bigger than I recall.

It’s amazing how much you think you know until you come into a museum like this. I’ve spent so much time in my life reading about different location and cultures, and still I learn tons of new and novel things every time I visit a museum.

It was especially interesting to me to learn about the history and culture of the Masai and other Nilotic or Bantu tribes in the Tanzania/Burundi/Kenya area of Africa, since that is where Ben grew up.

The South American exhibit was also fun to walk through. There were so many terra cotta statues, like this dog. It’s pretty cute…. for a chihuahua.

The ocean exhibit was also cool. Last time we were here, we missed it because we ran out of time. This time, we took our time through it. Even though I took marine biology in high school, I’ve become so much more educated on ocean life since I live near one. I recognized a lot of the creatures in the exhibits.

It’s tough for me to pick and choose which photos to feature and which displays to highlight; I guess if you want to see them, you’ll have to go check it out for yourself! It’s well worth spending a few hours at the Museum of Natural History.

Welland Canal Locks

August 18, 2016Canada, Guest Posts, International Travel, Ontarioboat, canada, canal, fun, Harriet Tubman, kid written, kids, lock, museum, Ontario, Ship, St. Catherine's, welland, welland canalbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Locks are cool! Our little league team has spent a good amount of time discussing canal locks during homework time over the past few months. So we were pretty excited to see a real one in action. During our team trip to Ontario, we stopped by the St. Catherine’s Museum and Welland Canal Center. Here’s a quick account from Lewis, a teen on our team.

We went to the Welland Canal.

“We saw the locks in action.” -Theo, 14

We went to the museum.

“I saw some of the classic weapons of World War I.” -Adonis, 12

There was so much to see and do at the museum, including St. Catherines’ history and the Harriet Tubman story. Of course, the most interesting display for the kids was a lacrosse game.

Then we saw a boat and the water drained.

“It takes 45 minutes to move up and down and its really amazing to see it up close.” -Tre, 14

We watched as the lock slowly drained. The crew carefully steered the ship as she sank lower and lower into the narrow canal. Finally, the doors of the lock opened and the boat floated out into the next level of the canal.

Subscribe (right sidebar) for more articles from these kids from Sint Maarten! They love it when you read their writing.

Read Tre’s article on camping

Read Theo’s article on Safari Niagara

Read Tristan’s article on Harriet Tubman

Read Adonis’ article on the Ontario Science Centre

Read Skijlaar’s article on Niagara Falls fireworks and magic

Read Big King’s article on Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist boat ride

Ontario Science Centre

August 15, 2016Canada, Guest Posts, International Travel, Ontariocanada, explore, fun, kids, museum, Ontario, Ontario Science Centre, science, travel, trip, vacationbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Twelve-year-old Adonis was impressed by the Ontario Science Centre. There was so much to see and do! Here’s what he had to say about it in his travel journal, plus a few words from his friends.

Today we went to Ontario Science Centre.

“The first thing that caught my eye was the dinosaur.” -Big King, age 14

We went everywhere in the Science Center even to the bottom of the Science Center.

“The best part was the 6th floor because everything was interactive.” -Theo, age 14

We saw a t-rex from Jurassic World, Bumble Bee, camel made of so much things, Dr. Frankenstein [Einstein?] made of bread, shrunken heads.

“I liked the tall man.” -Puppy, age 6

Then there was a “grab the jewely.” The jewely was a hologram.

“The best one I like was grab the jewel. It was a hologram.” -Little King, age 11

After that, we watch an Imax movie called “Beautiful Planet.” It was about an astronauts in space watching earth. Watching it at night and morning.

“Me and Tristen got shocked.” -Skijlaar, age 12

I’ve been to a lot of science museums and trust me: this one was exemplary! I think that the museum is best summed up by one final quote:

“There’s a lot of cool stuff.” -Tré, age 14

Pin Me!

Be sure to comment and let the kids know what you think!

Read Triston’s article on Harriet Tubman

Read Theo’s article on Safari Niagara

Atlanta and the Importance of Art

March 14, 2016Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Uncategorized, United Statesairport, art, artists, artwork, atlanta, atlanta airport, ceramics, ceramix, georgia, museum, pottery, travelbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Who are more important, engineers or artists? My answer: yes.

There are few things as abysmally boring as being stuck in an airport layover in the early hours of the morning. For this reason, I am thankful for airport museums. Currently, I am sitting in the E terminal of the Atlanta airport, following a wonderful hour-long art excursion through each hall.

The wandering visitor will find the Atlanta, Georgia airport a wealth of culture. My personal favorite display here is the Ceramix series, which is disbursed throughout the terminal. Click on the photos below for information on each piece.

Jasper Ware Teapots by Eileen Braun. “These pieces were all wheel thrown, altered, stacked with additional hand built elements. The “sprig” leaves are the only molded part of the work.”

Ted Saupe’s work tells his personal narrative

Kyungmin Park’s art is inspired by childhood

Christina West created this to reflect our limited ability to know other people’s interiors.

Georgia folk pottery, Michael and Melvin Crocker

“New Town-New Home.” Mark Errol. Represents the artist’s move from the city to a rural area

“King Snake Jug,” Michael and Melvin Crocker

“As an immigrant-refugee the statue of liberty is a symbol of hope.” Mario Petrirena.

There is also a fascinating series on the African-American experience in Georgia. Some things cannot be explained in words; only in art.

I also found a variety of other art displays, ranging from flying vegetables created by (you guessed it) an Iowan artist to what appeared to be African tribal Jedi light sabers.

People to People International’s Global Youth Murals

I think these are African tribal Jedi light sabers.

Michael Ehlbeck’s drawing of downtown Atlanta

The presence of these displays reminded me of a children’s book I flipped through the other day. Frederick by Leo Lionni is about a little mouse who seems to do nothing important. While his friends gather food for the winter, he gathers sunshine and colors. Everyone thinks he’s a little crazy– until winter comes. Then, everyone is sad, hopeless and hungry. Leo gives everyone hope by sharing his sunshine and colors in vivid descriptions of summertime. The message behind the story is that art is important. It sometimes seems entirely impractical, but the reality is that our souls crave art and beauty. Without it, we shrivel up inside.

FullSizeRender (5) — “Dad of the Day Award” goes to the man teaching his four-year-old to appreciate art

Some of us are naturally gifted to solve math problems, and other of us can create fantastic worlds with a paintbrush. Some of us have the guts to save people from burning buildings, and others of us have the heart to coax forth music from ivory keys. “Let each man pass his days in that endeavor wherein his gift is greatest,” said Propertius. Even if that means inspiring others with giant mosaics made from business cards! This is exactly what John Salvest has done. His Atlanta display is a giant two-panel rendition of Propertius’ quote.

Our culture tends to highly value the sciences. This is good and beneficial for our society, but we cannot forget to also value art. This morning, scientists give me the gift of flight. Artists give me the gift of joy. I thank God for both. Use your gifts, whatever they are!

Breana's Blog

A writer's adventures around the world