Philadelphia Orchestra – Happily … after retirement

I am loving my travels on Google Arts and Culture – at artsandculture.google.com.

I read about this wonderful Google website from the blog Library Lady Travels. Her post Don’t Miss This introduced me to hours and hours of education, entertainment and culture.

I started off by taking selfies using my phone and have seen them through the eyes of other artists. You might enjoy this one.

Inspired by self portrait of margie.merc van gogh style - Detroit Institute of Arts

I’ve visited murals in New York City and for the heck of it traveled further down the street where the mural is painted to check out the neighborhood.

There’s are links I can click and visit art masterpieces and see them really close up. Way closer than if I were in a museum and had to stand behind that stupid line on the floor or roped off area.

When I click the three black lines to the left of the words Google Arts & Culture (TOP LEFT OF SCREEN) I am able to locate topics that mattered most to me. This shortcut gets me to places quicker and make my wanderings more strategic. Not to say I still don’t spent tons of time exploring!

There’s an entire section of videos too. There’s a site called 360 videos. Videos such as the Hubble Control Center, Step into the Orion Nebula (where stars are born), Meet a Prehistoric Sea Dragon, and Carnegie Hall featuring The Philadelphia Orchestra. Every time I view something, I click another link and go deeper into this vast library of sights, sounds and images. I can increase the size of a photo and almost touch the paint strokes from art found in the Louve. The only thing I’m not able to do is to smell the art.

Being stuck indoor isn’t such a trying ordeal when there is so much to read, learn and see. It’s all so awesome.

The other thing … as I head down one corridor or into an auditorium or classroom or arena – I find something that I think my son would like. Or I want to contact my sister or friend or neighbor and tell them to check out this link. It takes me to other realms. Truly.

I am able to enlarge works of art by Van Gogh and others and look closely at their work.

Project by Bryon Summers is powerful, insightful and as he says, “It’s bigger than us…” There are 1000 photos of black males with captions that explain the project. One photo has these words, “The We Love You project is a simple but powerful reassurance to our black boys and men that even though it feels like they are being murdered and destroyed constantly, they are still a part of a larger community that loves and supports them.” The photos are inspiring.

Another section titled We Wear Culture has links to The True Cost of Fashion, Who Invented the Sewing Machine and Wedding Wardrobes. How about Art in the Streets, Face to Face with Rembrandt, or maybe Step Inside Italy’s Museums. If there’s extra time on your hands now… it’s a great place to go. I mean, since you can’t go to a library (museum, bookstore or anywhere else) you can easily get lost in the vast pages of Google Arts and Culture.

It makes me want to start an Art & Culture club where my friends and I all go and visit the same exhibit and then meet later to discuss. Who needs a book club anyway?

Or maybe I set up a Mornings with Margie every Tuesday at 9 am (MST) where retired people from my community can meet up, learn and discuss all via the web. And then, most importantly of all, come together late for coffee, tea or maybe a mimosa to discuss our findings.

Mornings with Margie