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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Critics’ Choice Award
You have to know that the best critics are the ones who are compelled to be honest. They are innately in tune with the idea that what comes out of their mouths is nothing but the god’s honest truth. We call them children.
That said, Museum of the Albemarle may well have received the best endorsement they’re going to get last Saturday when my three youngest children, ages 7, 5 and 5, took a break from the heat that was engulfing the art festival and went inside for a bathroom break. Yeah, I thought it would be short lived, just long enough to flush and grab a drink from the fountain. Could a museum really hold their attention?
Well the answer is a resounding yes. First there was the outboard motor display on the first floor. It was aptly set up with photos of boats the engines once graced and my boys were enthralled.
“Which one do you think was faster, Dad? This one or that one?”
And so it went from one old engine to the next. I have two motorheads to be sure.
But it was the main gallery that took me by surprise. I really have to hand it to designer Don Pendergraft and his staff for laying out the “Our Story” exhibit.
Think about this for a moment: When you walk in the first thing you see are Indians. Turn the corner and there are pirates, treasure chests and a cannon. Now, if you were a five-year-old boy don’t you think those things would grab you immediately?
Well, they did and they set the tone for the entire exhibit as my boys and I walked through each display, questions coming from the left of me and the right.
Now if that weren’t enough, the boys and I went looking for their mother and sister, but must’ve passed them because once we tired of searching, the boys wanted to head back to the exhibit and that’s where we found them. Now, my wife was standing in the doorway looking for us, but my daughter was intently studying the exhibits, reading information and slowly moving from one to the next, absorbing what she say.
I can’t be more thrilled about it all. It means that there are more museums on the horizon, something I enjoy. And to the folks at Museum of the Albemarle, take it what you think it’s worth, but you just got an A+ rating from several finicky, wild-eyed kids. A job well done.
