Art Appreciation at the Crocker Museum

" Wow. There are alot of artistic people. Lots of artistic people.", my friend said in all seriousness as we were inside the third floor elevator waiting for the descent.

Myself and another friend laughed at this. Then paused. Then laughed again.

We were in an art museum.

By the time we stepped outside, daylight has gone.There was Salsa and Merengue music playing at the courtyard of Crocker's Museum and people were dancing up on stage.

Earlier that day, my friends and I went to the grand opening of Crocker Museum in Sacramento, CA. It's just a few blocks from the yellow bridge. I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I did. They couldn't have picked a better time to open :10-10-10. Another great thing : free admission, for that day only though.

We walked past car-art and Greek Folk Dancers in beautiful velvet dresses, vests and "harem pants". .

We marveled Asian and European Art and fabulous stone ware collection. The older stone building houses the Asian and European Art. Beautiful wood panels are by itself an exhibit of it own, even though it was part of the interior of the older building. The ceiling itself are adorned with golden embellishments. The wooden staircase has rook-like banisters and knob-like adornments underneath it.

What got me the most excited is the California Collection in the newer building. Each brushstroke a labor love, I am so grateful that these artists were generous enough to showcase their work. The ones that stood out for me were the artworks of Susan Adan - with her black, white and halloween theme, tic tac toes and dog.

The next would be Majia Peeples-Bright's Some Echidna's Everglade. The brightness of the colors, the thick loving layers of oil on canvas and the unexpected animals on every partition of the painting - dogs, cats, ducks, porcupine, flamingo, snake etc etc.. The black and white of the Zebras balanced the other colors of piece. At first glance, I thought it was an african Savannah with a herd of Zebras with tree branches on the foreground. But upon closer inspection, painted between bumpy borders of thick oil paints of what I thought were tree branches are different other animals and flowers.

If I ever find out who did this mosaic art, I will put their name on here to give them credit. Looking through the different tiles and how each tile depicts an image may it be from the hole of Christ's feet from Pieta to the ruins of Baghdad, then collectively forming an image of George W. Bush created a very strong statement.Other tile images are skulls, ears, barbed wire, Abu Graib and a mushroom cloud.

Walking a few more feet, I came to gaze into the sorrowful eyes of a soldier in a salute with crosses as grave markers surround him. The image almost looked like a scarecrow with not clearly defined arm muscle or leg muscles but the coat and the uniform gave it away. The face, though in shadows could not hide away the pain in his eyes. I find that there were also tears in my eyes and I find myself saluting back at him. To all the heroes of the campaign and their families - I hope you find peace and thank you for your courage. This piece is by Luis Cruz Azaceta

 

 "Guess what time it is?", my friend asked me as I stood fascinated by another art piece, deep in wonder. I struggled to reach the surface to pay attention to her question.

 " I don't know..(glances outside), could it be 8pm?", I said. And indeed it was.

Reluctantly we left the gallery and headed for the elevators. We stepped in with a woman and her child and a young man who stood further back. We pressed the floor number, listened to the metallic sliding of the door and the sharp elevator ring. There was no elevator music to fill the silence.

 " Wow. There are alot of artistic people. Lots of artistic people.", my friend said in all seriousness as we were inside the third floor elevator waiting for the descent.

Myself and another friend laughed at this. Then paused. Then laughed again.