Chrysler Museum of Art — Attraction in Norfolk

Beautiful artwork but.....odd feeling going there after being gone for a decade or two. The Chrysler Museum of Art used to be some place you could take a date, go hear a classical music concert or take a workshop, feel safe and know that the works of Picasso and Renoir were taken seriously and valued.

When I went to the Chrysler years ago you paid to get in, there'd be someone playing a harp in the courtyard area, classes and workshops in a theatre, security guards politely recognized members of the public and were noticable by wearing cleanly pressed business suit uniforms. You paid to get it but did so proudly as a night on the town before or after a dinner date.

Now, security is gone, replaced by teenage customer serivce representatives who are oddly all teen white girls and one or two unshaven sloppy young white teen males with bellies hanging out from too-small t-shirts.

When I first entered I was approached by a woman wearing a floppy t-shirt hanging out of her pants and hanging loosely over her belly. She looked like she could just as easily be taking orders at a McDarnold's or clerking at a local CVS given her dress and demeanor. Instead of trying to be even moderately pleasant, she began lecturing me in how the Chrysler doesn't permit entry with backpacks (which anyone with a functioning cortex would expect). She then proceeded to tell me how I'd have to put it in a locker somewhere or check it at my own risk and so forth. She seemed to totally lack any experience in interacting with the public or speaking with others in a calm manner a mature adult would possess. I told her I understood and it wasn't a big deal.

Cameras loom overhead but gone are the days world-renowned paintings are guarded by actual guards and the "Museum" feels more like an informal, casual art exhibit or second-rate art gallery than a world-class art museum.

As we walked throughout the Museum I noticed several customer service reps / mock-security staff wandering around seemingly without any sense of direction often stopping to stare. One man stopped at the reception desk and openly stared directly with his mouth open and clearly enjoying his stare not trying to hide it or practice adult decorum.

If you wanted to rub your hands on a Renoir, or tap a priceless piece of Tiffany glass, light up a cigarette, a camera might capture the video but odds are no guard would be anywhere nearby to caution you away or tell you to put your cigarette out right away. That lack of concern was odd, on top of the zero diversity.

The lack of diversity in staffing is striking. There are literally no people of color in the gift shop, at the information desk, in the "customer service" / mock security staff when I visited and no mock security staff over the age of 25 were visible. Classism, a clear caste system, ageism, all were in place in my estimation.

The art collection is still great but gone is the care to presenting the museum as an inclusive, diversely-staffed institution that values and protects its masterpieces of art. Now it feels like I"m going to a art gallery moderately and occassionally somewhat monitored by young college students with mild interest in the collection they don't guard but every once in a while saunter past while on their way to something else. And the glaring absence of any mock-security staff with a gray hair or dark complexion also speaks volumes.

I still and always will love the art. No cost-cuts, lack of perceived value or lack of elevated conciousness or value of the art housed within can cancel that. But that same lack gives the Museum a shallow and vapid consumer hollow feel to visiting it now. It's no longer a Museum and is now a big gallery that just happens to have great art nobody seems to know is...

I absolutely love this museum. In the 8 years we have lived here I just can't get enough. I always try to bring visiting friends and family because it is such a delight for me and I like to share my happy places with friends and family.

My most recent visit was a two fold affair. One of our local Geocaching members was hosting an event and doubling as our docent. Having a guide really pays off. From our guide:

"Chaos and Awe: Painting for the 21st Century" is a sweeping survey of contemporary art from international artists who explore an array of modern-day forces, including globalism, technology, and mass migration, which create overwhelming feelings of wonder and fear. The exhibition features 50 paintings and painting-inspired videos by 35 national and international artists and includes 7 intertwined themes: No Place, Shadows of History, Collisions, Interzone, Virtual Worlds, the Boundless, and Everything. These themes connect the history of the sublime from 18th century landscape painting and literature to contemporary society and the future.

Contemporary art is not for everyone. I enjoy art of all kinds. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes you have to open your mind and heart to new adventures or run the risk of become stale and one dimensional.

Props to our guide, John. Aka Episcodad. Thank you for showing us so much!

The glass exhibits are my favorite, the cafe has some good food (albeit a tad overpriced but it is a museum after all and the Louvre gift shop was pricey too). I always hit the gift shop up for their 50% off table for good finds. Matter of fact, I don't think I've ever not bought something when I visit.

The following pics are from the Chaos and Awe visit.

Thank you to all the curators, volunteers, artists and art owners for sharing your time and art with us. We are...

I loved every single art thing about this place.

Every room, besides the cafe, was better than I even expected it to be. But guy, eat before you come here! The cafe is deceptively open and fresh looking, but it’s just vending machine fare with a comically high price tag. I spent $26 (plus tip) on a soda, a protein bar (that was the most offensively meh thing I’ve ever had) and the very dry, very chewy, shadow of what a scone once was. Oh and a really good individually wrapped chocolate covered Oreo cookie. The Oreo was 5 bucks. Isn’t that fun? It was good tho, and my coke was in a glass bottle with cane sugar so I genuinely enjoyed my snack, sans scone, sans bar anyway.

Also, if you carry a backpack purse, as in, a purse sized purse that mimics a backpack in shape but not size with 2 straps instead of one so your arthritic, scoliosis havin ass can distribute weight evenly and carry things without undue pain or discomfort, somehow you will become VERY well informed of their policy- if it’s shaped like a backpack, you must carry it on just one shoulder, like you’re AC Slater, just swangin, hanging off one side, strap flapping in the wind, so it’s as uncomfortable and in the way as possible- and if your body corrects that for you when you’re not paying attention, via muscle memory, and your other arm goes into the loose strap that is hanging there empty so as to wear your purse properly, one of many very polite goblins with no doubt an advanced degree or two will jump out of a cupboard and recite: Your curse, this purse, if you wish to hold chapstick, wallet, and other treasures untold- Wear it weird and unwieldy or as we foretold Leave it in the car, make that...