The Symphony and The Library

I went, as a chaperone, on a fieldtrip with Julianne's class yesterday. Abravanel Hall, to hear the Symphony, was our first stop. We were late. Bus problems. So we were sent to the 3rd tier. 125 kids climbing those steps all the way to the top, giggling and chatting as they went. But when the usher opened the door and the kids got their first look inside the actual hall.... The giggling stopped and I could hear hushed exclamations of "Wow!", and "Look at the chandeliers!" and other such comments. And I thought, yeah, Abravanel Hall is rather opulent looking. I've been there numerous times....as a member of the audience and as a performer on the stage. It was rather fun looking at it through the children's eyes. Oh, and the music? Yeah, that was pretty good too.

Then we headed to the Salt Lake City Library. Have you ever been there? If not, honestly, you should go. It's so amazing! I had been there once before but it had been a LONG time ago when it first opened. I remember being impressed then and was impressed again now. At one point we stopped in front of a room that was an art gallery. Our tour guide told us how different artists locally could showcase their art there, how it changed every few weeks. The kids asked if they could go in and look at the art up close. I was impressed. The tour guide looked impressed also and said yes. I was glad. I wanted to look at the art too. There were ceramic sculptures and also paintings on the wall. I saw a group of boys standing in front of a particular painting. One boy was gesturing with his hands all around the painting. It was clear he could see something there in this modernistic piece. Again, I was impressed. I walked closer to hear what he was saying. I could see him pointing to specific things, sweeping his hands in the same direction as the paintbrush strokes as he shared his interpretation with the other boys around him. They were all nodding their heads and pointing. They could see it too. And when I got close enough to hear, I realized that these boys thought this painting looked a lot like....
a basketball court. "See? Here's the hoop! And over here? Here's the backboard. And right here is the free throw line!" I laughed and laughed. Was I expecting something more profound? These are 11 year old boys after all. And really, the fact that they wanted to look at the art, and took the time to actually interpret it was something to be admired and encouraged, I thought.

So it was a day full of music and books. Two of my very favorite things. And yet, what I found myself thinking about the rest of the day was more the architecture of the two buildings and all the little details that I saw fresh and new through the kids eyes. It was a neat day.