tourist in my city – memorial art gallery

Today I was a tourist in my own city and it was wonderful! I’ll admit, I often get so caught up in planning for the next adventure that I forget to focus on the here-and-now. Beyond that, I also tend to take my current city, Rochester, NY, for granted. Having been born and raised here, it’s easy for me to feel as though I’ve seen everything so I maintain a very “been there done that” attitude. I’m often the first to complain about Rochester’s weather and lack of things to do but in actuality, there are plenty of things I have yet to do here (I do stand by my weather complaints, however).

So this week while I was off of work, I decided to get inspired and visit the Memorial Art Gallery for the first time. As a lover of art, I can’t believe that I’ve never visited this museum before. After seeing how great it was, I’m disappointed it took me this long!

The museum is fairly small but is thoughtful with both the flow and the pieces included.

From October to January the museum has a borrowed Claude Monet exhibit featuring his series of the Waterloo Bridge. Monet is my favorite artist with pieces that I could stare at for hours. After examining each of the seven paintings within the Waterloo exhibit intensively once, I went through a second time. I had such a hard time pulling myself away, that I went back for a third viewing too! It’s hard to put into words why I love his art so much but his pieces are mesmerizing with their genius technique and detail and leave me feeling complete contentment.

It’s easy to overlook the places you pass every day, but I encourage you to be a tourist in your own city, wherever that may be!