Checking out the New Trout Museum of Art

 The Trout Museum of Art moved to a new location on College Ave. It was closed for a few months while they moved. Danielle and I went to the closing exhibit at the old location so it was fitting we would go to the opening of the new location. 

The official opening was at 10 am and we both said that was way too earlier. We decided to head there after lunch. Thanks to Boldt Construction, admission to the museum is free for the first year. We parked at the library and walked. I hate parking downtown and really loathe parking ramps.

The museum itself is nice and bright. It is very spacious with high ceilings and multiple galleries on the first floor. I love the brightness of it.

The art was art. I'm beginning to realize how not an art gallery person I really am. I just found all the art to be completely random. Don't get me wrong it was very museum worthy art but each exhibit was just very random.

The fiber arts were definitely more my style even though I didn't quite get the point of some of it.

The Home Rules exhibit by Michelle Grabner was definitely my favorite. It was all very random but it was fun to look at. I like art that is fun to look at. 

The glass pieces were also my style and I enjoyed those. 

So maybe I am not just a painting kind of person. 

I did like it was a bit more interactive and made you think of the art by giving you questions to answer.

If you are in Appleton, definitely take some time this winter to go check out the new Trout Museum of Art. It has more space than the old museum and can have larger exhibits. It is worth the parking hassle and admission is free.

A visit with Roger Rabbit and Daffy Duck

I picked up a FAN pass to see the Roger Rabbit Exhibit at the Trout Museum of Art. I knew Danielle really wanted to see it. I'll be entirely honest, I'm not a big Roger Rabbit fan. I could never get into the movie.  However, the exhibit sounded pretty good even if I wasn't a fan of the movie mainly because you got to see the actual artwork from the film.

Let me tell you, I appreciate the movie a whole lot more. Some of the animation cels were very details while others were quite simple. It all depended on the scene. We only saw a minute portion of the cels but I can't even fathom how many thousands of cels had to be created to make the full length movie.

I either didn't realize it or forgot how many other cartoon characters were in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was like Disney and Warner Bros both wanted to leave their mark on this mixed media film (live action and animation). Being able to see the cels of both Disney Characters and Loony Toon Cartoons was unexpected but it totally made the trip even more satisfying. 

The movie was playing upstairs and I'll be honest the part we saw (the bar scene) was very amusing. I might just have to go to the library pick up a copy sometime just to see if I can watch the entire thing without getting now I know how it was made.

Besides the Roger Rabbit cels, the second floor contained Loony Toon animation. This alone was worth the price of admission. I may be a Disney girl at heart but I still love my old school cartoons. Just to be able to see some of the cels from the cartoons of my childhood was priceless.

This was one of the better exhibits I've seen at the Trout -- ranking right up there with the Dr. Seuss exhibit. I would have totally paid the $7 admission charge to see the exhibit if I didn't have the FAN Pass. The exhibit runs through the end of August so if you are in Appleton and want to check out old school cartoon animated cels, I would highly suggest a stop at the Trout Museum.

Origami Masterpieces

Stephanie showed us a origami cactus at book club last month saying it was done with one piece of paper. She said it was part of the origami exhibit at the Trout Museum of Art. It sounded cool and decided I wanted to check it. As luck had it, I stopped at the Menasha library to see if they had any FAN passes and admission for four to the Trout Museum was one of the FAN passes available. Guess Danielle, Gavin, and I were going to have an adventure.

We headed to the Trout Museum this morning. I forget how small the Trout is. It is only two floors and really eight walls and one floor of exhibit space. The origami exhibit is the only exhibit at the museum. The exhibit features origami creations by Robert J. Lang. It is only at the Trout Museum until the end of the month.

Yes, that's all one piece of paper

Despite the small space, there is plenty of origami creations of varying sizes and themes. It is tough to keep a 6 year old excited with folded paper but luckily there were origami bugs. I was surprised to see how in depth some of these pieces were. All of them were created from a single sheet of paper folded hundreds if not thousands of times to create masterpieces.

I personally loved the butterflies since they reminded me of Costa Rica.

I did not care for the video they showed about origami and nature. I really didn't need to see the intricate details of ladybug folded wings and the folds of my brain. Because of these aversions, we did not watch the whole movie.

After wandering through the museum, which probably took about 15 minutes, we attempted to create our own origami masterpiece to add to the community art project. Danielle successfully made the swan. I made it to step 5 of the paper crane. That one was challenging. I always wanted to make a paper crane after reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Well I still haven't made one yet.

The steps to make a paper crane and I only make it to step 5

Gavin made a puppy since he made one in school earlier in the week. So if anyone wants to know why there is a dog and a cat in the mix of swans and cranes... that's why.

I probably won't pay $6 to see this exhibit, or any exhibit, at the Trout Museum because I don't think the museum is worth it but I will be glad to visit if I get another FAN Pass. It is a nice, small art museum but I'd like to see more art for my price of admission. Maybe I am just frugal but I just don't think it's worth it. However, don't let my frugalness stop you from enjoying this small art museum.