And then on Sunday, meli and I drove to San Antonio to see the exhibits at the McNay Art Museum. Part of the museum used to be a beautiful home with a gorgeous courtyard. The rest of museum was built in the last few years.

First exhibit was Miró: The Experience of Seeing, an exhibit of Joan Miró’s paintings and sculptures. I’ve seen his paintings before but the sculptures were new to me. They were playful and grotesque and humorous and sometimes referenced his paintings. Some of his later paintings were large white canvases with just a few lines drawn on them representing landscapes. Those were my favorites. There was a playroom for children and adults where you could create your own Miró type sculpture.

The Extraordinary Ordinary: Three Installations was really fun. Tom Burckhardt created an artist’s studio with cardboard and black paint. There was everything you’d expect to see, including a bathroom.

Ernesto Pujol placed a black robe in the center of the room and surrounded it with photos of a robed figure in a cemetery.

And most fun was Sandy Skoglund’s cocktail party made entirely of Cheez Doodles. It was supposed to be animatronic but the figures weren’t moving. The guard didn’t know why it wasn’t moving and was confused. Later we found out that the museum had decided not to turn it on that day. We were disappointed.

Picasso, Braque, and the Cubist Legacy: Prints and Drawings from the Collection had wonderful examples of Cubism. There were three women artists included and it’s such a shame that my first thought was, “Look at all the women they included.” For only three women.

Also at the museum was a beautiful El Greco painting of Head of Christ. Story of the conservation is here.

We walked around upstairs to see modern American paintings and some lovely older European art. There were some beautiful landscapes. And there was a room full of New Mexico santos.

We took the highway home but for the drive to the museum we took some more rural roads (which included a washed out bridge) and it was really a gorgeous ride looking at some of Texas’ hill country.

By Carene Lydia Lopez