Ariel is the founder of the art fashion blog @artfullyawear in which she shares her visits to art exhibitions and events while dressed in matching ensembles inspired by artworks.
Your secret art venue when you seek peace and quiet
The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The Rubin is such an oasis, and they even host midday meditations! I love their Tibetan Buddhist shrine room, and they recently had a sound installation of Himalayan Wind in the exhibition Sacred Spaces. Ahhh.
The best food experience in an art space
The Garden Café at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Healthy and vegetable-focused, it is a far cry from the typical cafeteria food I usually expect in a museum. I also love the “home cooking” at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, also in DC.
A museum gift shop that you never leave empty handed
Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany. Everything is design-focused, which means that you can find more hip versions of things you use every day, and I love their stationery.
Your museum with a wow-factor
Victoria & Albert, London, UK. I can spend full days at the V&A and still feel overwhelmed by how much there is to see. I also adore their Rapid Response Collection, which elevates modern artifacts while they are still timely.
Please share with us a special personal memory related to a museum experience
I planned to visit Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul on my last weekend in Mexico City, the highlight of my trip. I built up the experience throughout the trip, and bought tickets to the museum ahead of time, hoping to avoid any chance of disaster when the day finally came for me to visit Frida’s house. When I arrived at the museum on the date and time of my ticket, I found that they were closing early due to a holiday – and that I would have 15 minutes, at most, inside La Casa Azul. Manic, I rushed through the space, missing many opportunities that I would have taken to linger over objects and read wall labels.
Soon after I arrived, the guards began ushering attendees out of the exhibition halls and into the central courtyard. Resigned, I slowly walked toward the exit, stopping every few feet to take photos. Moments passed, and many attendees left the museum. But then something miraculous happened. Inexplicably, the guards allowed me to remain. In fact, no one approached me, or said anything at all. They just stood guard by the entrance as every last person left the museum. I slowly meandered through the courtyard, marveling at how quiet and serene it was, now that I had the place to myself. I reveled in the experience of spending peaceful, uninterrupted time within the walls of Frida’s abode – and I can’t imagine a better way to connect with the art and with her spirit. I ended up staying inside for nearly an hour after the museum closed – an hour that I will treasure as one of the highlights of my visit to Frida’s homeland.
