Cleveland Museum of Art

"... reimagine the possibilities for representing motherhood" - I had received an invitation in early October for the Thursday, October 14, 2021, preview of Picturing Motherhood Now, and started reading about and looking at photographs from the exhibition on the Cleveland Museum of Art's website. Based on what I saw, I developed a preconception about the exhibition, which I have to admit was not on target. You can't experience the depth of Picturing Motherhood Now by looking at photos on a website. You must see it in person to not only study the artwork closely, but also to read the messages that accompany the artwork. I know that I will need to return again to the museum to see the pieces I missed, and to look again at the artwork I found interesting.

I was also excited about being able to enjoy the art as part of a social experience -- being with other people at the Cleveland Museum of Art! The Picturing Motherhood Now preview was not completely part of a return to "normal life," since the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, but it is a great start. The following reflects the excitement of joining with others to enjoy the experience which is the Cleveland Museum of Art.

I enjoy attending the Cleveland Museum of Art's annual #CMAChalkFestival every year and sharing my favorite chalk artwork on my "Chalk Festival" blog posts. Therefore, I was very disappointed that a spur-of-the-moment trip south to take care of some family business prevented me from attending on Saturday, September 11, 2021.

I asked people on the Cleveland Twitterverse to share on Twitter their photos from the 2021 Cleveland Chalk Festival, so that I could at least attend an online version of the Chalk Festival.

I was rewarded greatly by the Cleveland Twitterverse and my son, Kevin F. Smith.

As I write this blog post, I am very busy preparing for an extended backpacking trip, but I still wanted to get this out, since I had such a great time at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I will let the photos in the tweets tell the story, and I invite you to learn more about this special Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition, Stories from Storage, . . .

As you view the photos we shared on Twitter, please note the incredible variety of artwork presented. We highly recommend seeing the exhibition in person, since photos can't capture all the details.

My mother joined me on my return visits on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, and Tuesday, April 27, 2021.

In 2020, our first adventure out to a public space during the coronavirus crisis was to the Cleveland Museum of Art's #WelcomeBackCMA Reopening. The spaciousness of the museum, along with their coronavirus protocols and site-specific safety measures, allowed us to feel safe while enjoying the artwork.

Now, in 2021, our first excursion of the year was again to the Cleveland Museum of Art. We had not expected to still be social distancing and masking, but here we are, writing another blog post in our "Social Distancing" series.

After the initial reopening in June 2020 for the summer, the Cleveland Museum of Art closed again in fall 2020. On January 18, 2021, the Cleveland Museum of Art reopened again with modified hours of Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. With the 2021 reopening, we learned of a special exhibition created by "the Cleveland Museum of Art, with love," called Stories from Storage.

In 2019, I wrote that it was a special year, since it was the 30th year of the Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival. As the coronavirus crisis raged on over the summer of 2020, I wondered if the 31st anniversary of this wonderful event would need to be canceled as we entered September.

On September 1, 2020, I saw the Twitter announcement "Cleveland Museum of Art’s Chalk Festival goes virtual," stating that the event would take place with people sharing their art only on social media on Saturday, September 12, 2020, and Sunday, September 13, 2020.

It is now with mixed feelings that I gather the #CMAChalkFestival drawings for this blog post about the Cleveland Museum of Art's 2020 Virtual Chalk Festival: Love Your Community with All Your Art. While it is very sad that everyone could not get together this year, I am very pleased that the museum encouraged people to share their chalk drawings on social media.

I am glad to continue my annual tradition of creating a blog post with photos from the Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival.

O - p - e - n - i - n - g - !

Yes, Ohio is slowly opening in the year of the coronavirus crisis, but can only do so with social distancing and other safety measures. As we approached the end of June, we heard that the Cleveland Museum of Art was reopening following "rigorous safety procedures that adhere to the guidance set forth by state and local officials, as well as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)."

We decided to make this our first adventure out to a public space by getting tickets, but the day before we were going to order our online tickets, we received an invitation from Communications and Media Relations Manager Kelley Notaro Schreiber to the Cleveland Museum of Art's Reopening Media and Influencer Welcome Back! We accepted her invitation and decided to be one of the first to go to the public reopening of the Cleveland Museum of Art on Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

There is much happening both onsite in the museum galleries and online at the Cleveland Museum of Art. While the online resources are extensive, we do have to say that the absolute best way to truly enjoy the museum's art is in person, visiting its galleries! Thus, we were very excited to attend the Cleveland Museum of Art's #WelcomeBackCMA reopening!

On February 7, 2020, we attended the PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet opening at the Cleveland Museum of Art. This opening coincided with the #MIXatCMA party that we enjoy attending the first Friday of most months. There was so much to see at the exhibition that we returned to see more the following weekend (Sunday, February 16, 2020).

We enjoyed the PROOF opening so much that we wanted to share it with our son, Michael Smith, on our return visit. We wanted to show him the items we enjoyed on our first visit, and to see the photographs that we did not have time to see. PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet is the type of exhibition that warrants more than one visit.

I am a very lucky man! In October and November 2019, I was very fortunate to attend many great events. I am publishing seven blog posts today because I really want to thank the organizers of these events. With so much happening, I have not been able to publish my blog posts on a timely basis, but still wanted to recognize and recommend these organizations.

In the interest of time, these are not my usual full blog posts, so I encourage you to click on the links and watch the videos in the tweets to learn more:

• Cleveland Museum of Art "Michelangelo: Mind of the Master" - MIX: Anatomy & Pop-up Drawing Lounge
  MIX: Anatomy - Cleveland Museum of Art on October 4, 2019.
  Pop-up Drawing Lounge on October 23, 2019.
  I have written several blog posts about Cleveland Museum of Art MIX events -- they are always a great time!

I am truly grateful to all those who made these great events possible.

This whole year, I have been looking forward to the Michelangelo: Mind of the Master exhibition, so imagine how excited was to I receive an invitation to attend the Media & Influencer Preview of "Michelangelo: Mind of the Master."

Once I entered the exhibtion, I found it interesting to see people interacting and learning about the exhibtion. I also greatly enjoyed talking to others I knew at the preview, and sharing impressions with people who I met for the first time, as we enjoyed the drawings.

On the same evening as the Michelangelo: Mind of the Master preview, I attended the last hour of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Think & Drink with the Extinct event. It was a great way to end the evening in University Circle.

I am grateful to be able to attend many great events as a member of both the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History!

2019 is a special year! Congratulations, Cleveland Museum of Art, on celebrating the 30th year of the Chalk Festival over the weekend of September 14-15, 2019! We were able to continue our annual tradition of creating a blog post with photos from the Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival.

Every year, the chalk art created at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival is outstanding! Please take some time to see the chalk artwork by reading our blog post!