Field Trip: The Ohio Statehouse and The Columbus Museum of Art

We spent Friday in Columbus.  Rob had to report to the corporate office on Friday morning to fill out paperwork for his new job.  We decided to go along and see some of the sights.  Since Rob needed to be downtown we decided to stick close by.  We've been studying history from 1830 to the present day this year.  A visit to the Ohio Statehouse was perfect for our purpose.

We spent about an hour in the museum learning about Ohio, how laws are made and what each branch of government does.  There was a lot of reading but the museum had enough interactive exhibits to keep everyone's interest.  After the museum we enjoyed a private tour of the Statehouse.  The tour took us to the house and senate chambers.  It was informative and just the right length.  Our tour guide did a lovely job of engaging the children.

When our tour was over we headed down Broad Street to the Columbus Museum of Art.  We started our time at the museum by having lunch with Chihuly.  At noon, we joined a tour of the Rothko exhibit that opened on February 1.  It was nice to see that exhibit with a guide.  She gave us an overview of the museum engaging the children completely.  As we began looking at the Rothko exhibit she had all of us slow down, look closely, and think our own thoughts.  She also encouraged us to share our thoughts and ideas about the paintings.  Seeing art with someone who is trained in art was a treat.  Rothko isn't the kind of artist that is easy to appreciate.  It was good to look closely with direction instead of being allowed to quickly discount blobs and rectangles. 

On our way to the Rothko exhibit we'd been forced to bypass some other wonderful exhibits.  After the Rothko tour was over we made our way back through the museum to take advantage of other opportunities.  We enjoyed a Lego display that featured a model of Columbus and the OSU Stadium along with clouds and flip flops.

We enjoyed playing with various artistic mediums and being creative in different ways. 

I did take the children into the more traditional part of the museum to see the carvings of Elijah Pierce before we left.  Other than Pierce and Rothko we spent our time with our hands and minds on art.  It was an excellent way to spend the afternoon.

We arrived back at Rob's office building a little bit early to pick him up from work.  We went into the lobby to wait, expecting to get a snack at the cafe there.  Unfortunately, the cafe was closed.  A few minutes after we settled ourselves in the lobby seating a woman came out of the cafe carrying the cookies they had left over after the end of the day.  She was pleased to offer one to each of the children and they were pleased to accept.  There's nothing like an unexpected cookie to make a good day even better.