The WONDER exhibit exudes a playful atmosphere throughout the newly renovated Renwick Gallery. Surely a cultural playground for young DC locals and tourists alike.
I am a DC native. Born and raised in the suburbs of Southern Maryland, I spent my elementary school years touring the many museums and monuments scattered across the historic capital city. I have gone museum hopping on the National mall more times than I can count, viewed the unveiling of the first baby panda (and now the second) at the National Zoo and have strolled the paths of the Tidal Basin during the cherry blossom festival almost every year to date. As lucky as I was to view these great public works throughout my upbringing at my leisure (and for free, courtesy of the Smithsonian endowment) I began to see attendance of popular sights as too touristy during my high school and college years.
Despite my refusal to partake in large crowds and long lines of tourists, I made an exception for an art gallery on Pennsylvania Avenue (ever heard of it?) which was special enough to renew my sense of love and pride in exploring my home city.
The Renwick Gallery, located a short, walking distance from the Farragut North (red line) metro station and the McPherson Sq (yellow line) station is basically within arms distance of the White House. From the outside, the gallery resembles a red brick mansion, while inside, rooms boasting high ceilings and chic white walls are spattered with modern surprises.
The Renwick Gallery reopened November 13 after a two-year long renovation. The museum’s current display, the WONDER exhibit, which is set to close mid-April, appears to be the result of artistic engineers who were given a room with unconventional materials and were told to create something spectacular.
As I voyaged through the WONDER exhibit, I realized nothing was as it seemed. I don’t mean this as an existential view on art and life or the need to stand 10 feet away to view a painting's full effect. Quite clearly, nothing was as it appeared to be made from. From the pretty pink room painted and decorated completely with insects (a horrifying medium I might add) to the Pink Floyd-esque rainbow made of string and the room of teal-green marbles climbing the floor and walls to resemble the Chesapeake Bay, the WONDER exhibit left me speechless at every turn. I constantly questioned if what I was seeing was real, If I was real, if anything was real. All jokes aside, the art was purely captivating in its three dimensional and interactive form. I felt as though anyone could take a picture of anything and become Instagram famous within seconds due to the pure originality of it all.
In all seriousness, the Renwick Gallery changed the way I view attendance of popular sites in DC. As I noticed the crowds of young, high school-age girls and boys (obviously locals) sharing the same pillows and staring up at the upstairs light show, I felt thankful for the Renwick gallery’s sense of playfulness. Teens and 20+ year olds in the area, no longer had to endure the mundanity of the National Mall to experience a cultural adventure. Attending an art exhibit no longer meant viewing paintings of past presidents or pretending to be interested in a couple lines on a piece of canvas. At the WONDER exhibit, art could be touched, photographed laughed at or screamed at. A sense of freedom, creativity and connection flowed throughout the building and reverberated within me leaving me inspired and elated.
Before leaving, I stopped for a quick photo opp of the largest nest in the final room of the exhibit as I seriously questioned moving in. Really, how much would one of those nests cost to rent?
Despite my refusal to partake in large crowds and long lines of tourists, I made an exception for an art gallery on Pennsylvania Avenue (ever heard of it?) which was special enough to renew my sense of love and pride in exploring my home city.
The Renwick Gallery, located a short, walking distance from the Farragut North (red line) metro station and the McPherson Sq (yellow line) station is basically within arms distance of the White House. From the outside, the gallery resembles a red brick mansion, while inside, rooms boasting high ceilings and chic white walls are spattered with modern surprises.
The Renwick Gallery reopened November 13 after a two-year long renovation. The museum’s current display, the WONDER exhibit, which is set to close mid-April, appears to be the result of artistic engineers who were given a room with unconventional materials and were told to create something spectacular.
As I voyaged through the WONDER exhibit, I realized nothing was as it seemed. I don’t mean this as an existential view on art and life or the need to stand 10 feet away to view a painting's full effect. Quite clearly, nothing was as it appeared to be made from. From the pretty pink room painted and decorated completely with insects (a horrifying medium I might add) to the Pink Floyd-esque rainbow made of string and the room of teal-green marbles climbing the floor and walls to resemble the Chesapeake Bay, the WONDER exhibit left me speechless at every turn. I constantly questioned if what I was seeing was real, If I was real, if anything was real. All jokes aside, the art was purely captivating in its three dimensional and interactive form. I felt as though anyone could take a picture of anything and become Instagram famous within seconds due to the pure originality of it all.
In all seriousness, the Renwick Gallery changed the way I view attendance of popular sites in DC. As I noticed the crowds of young, high school-age girls and boys (obviously locals) sharing the same pillows and staring up at the upstairs light show, I felt thankful for the Renwick gallery’s sense of playfulness. Teens and 20+ year olds in the area, no longer had to endure the mundanity of the National Mall to experience a cultural adventure. Attending an art exhibit no longer meant viewing paintings of past presidents or pretending to be interested in a couple lines on a piece of canvas. At the WONDER exhibit, art could be touched, photographed laughed at or screamed at. A sense of freedom, creativity and connection flowed throughout the building and reverberated within me leaving me inspired and elated.
Before leaving, I stopped for a quick photo opp of the largest nest in the final room of the exhibit as I seriously questioned moving in. Really, how much would one of those nests cost to rent?