Wonder at The Renwick with Stinger

Stinger and I broke out of Pre-K and hit the Wonder exhibit at The Renwick this week. I've been trying to go for months, following the #renwickgallery hashtags on Instagram. I don't think I can accurately express how excited I was to spend the day with my littlest god daughter at a museum. I packed a bento box filled with raspberries, little wheels of cheese with the red wax and a tiny ham sandwich to eat on the way through town. Bento boxes are seriously so much fun for kids.

We parked across the street and she asked why there were so many people around. It was lunch time. We didn't step on one crack crossing the plaza. Four year olds are the best.

The show is set up in eight installations. It was incredible going back to a museum I fell in love with in college. I remember Game Fish, in the permanent collection, made out of baby dolly pieces and bottle caps. The Wonder exhibit opened after a two year renovation.

Please read here for details about each instillation. 

Stinger in the stacks of index cards.

Stinger and the rainbow string.

Her favorite.

I remember first seeing Patrick Dougherty's pieces at The Phillips Collection.

They always remind me of the woods on Glenwood Hill.

Stinger in the sticks. The joy in her eyes says it all. Thank you Patrick.

It was like playing in the woods, inside.

Stinger and the stars.

The rooms with the things we could touch were the most fun. 

We almost set off the alarms checking this room out. It is wild. The bugs actually make the "wallpaper". 

Maya Lin made the Chesapeake Bay out of marbles. I asked Hastings what she thought it was and she thought it looked like ice.

When you go, don't forget to look up.

We looked up a lot.

Don't forget to look inside things too.

You may need to turn upside down a little to check everything out.

We went on a Wednesday and lucked out. 

We had lots of room to observe.

I brought a travel coloring pencil set and we crashed under the nets in the "pretty room" and rested here for an hour. An HOUR with a 4.8 year old. It was the most magical place. 

The colors changed slowly. We camped out on a bean bag after a beautifully dressed Asian woman got up from a full on nap. 

She drew the pretty room with the tree trunk in the other gallery. Truly gifted this one.

We drew pictures, and took pictures.

Stinger loved the shadows on the back wall the best. Look.

It was more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. Back in the day you walked up the stairs and saw rows and rows of paintings. It was such a dramatic, gorgeous difference. 

I can't wait to watch this little one grow and see what's next at The Renwick. 

Thank you Stinger for such a fun day. Thanks Marge and Scott for letting me break her out of PreK early. Thank you Renwick for being brave and awesome.