When we asked our toddler if he wanted to go to the local science museum this weekend, he got really excited and said, “Yeah! We can press all the buttons!” This kid knows what he loves. It can be harder for adults to do that, to listen to that little voice that tells us how we *actually* want to engage with our environments. Museums can be […]
Read MoreI love getting up close and personal with a painting. At a distance, this painting of three cakes on display is simple, and quite satisfying in that simplicity. The artist Wayne Thiebaud came back over and over to this theme of commercially-produced Americana desserts over the course of his career (fun game: if you see […]
Read MoreThe Metropolitan Museum of Art wants visitors to work on their museum fitness. The Museum Workout is a 45-minute workout session covering two miles of the The Met before it opens in the morning. Two dancers, dressed in sequined dresses and tennis shoes, lead participants through group exercises and stretches, including yoga in the sunny [...]
Read MoreIs there anything more luxurious than slowly absorbing a sublime work of art? I can easily forget this. When I visit a new art museum, I can get in a manic state. I don’t want to miss anything, so I am tempted to methodically make my way through every gallery. And by seeing everything, I see nothing. So, when I gave myself three days to retreat in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I made a conscious effort to [...]
Read MoreIf you’ve been following along this month, you know that Imaginibus's museum theme for August is PLAY. Today, I’m excited to (re)introduce you to Nolwenn, a dear friend from Paris and fellow blogger. I sent her a MusEmvelope and asked her to play in a museum. I’ll let Nolwenn take it from here [...]
Read MoreIt was 9:50am and I was freaking out. The Metropolitan Museum of Art would open in ten minutes, marking the beginning of my three day visit of its galleries. But I had absolutely no idea where to start or how to structure my time in the museum. I felt blocked like an artist in front of a blank canvas. That's when I decided to tweet [...]
Read MoreI was really into masks last year. After I learned how to make papier-mâché masks for Halloween, I started to see masks in every museum I visited. The obvious reaction? Copy them in papier-mâché! My first museum-inspired mask was based on the deliciously grotesque horror masks of French 19th century artist Jean-Joseph Carriès. The project really helped me take in [...]
Read MoreThe Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has a great collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings, from Gerard ter Borch’s satiny skirts to Rembrandt’s moody lighting. On a recent visit of these galleries, as this month's creativity theme is CELEBRATION, I considered how best to celebrate these marvels. I [...]
Read MoreSome heritage is meant to be inhaled. Empress Joséphine’s roses at Malmaison are a prime example. Visually beautiful, yes, but their real power lies in their luscious perfume. Stick your nose in one of the enormous blossoms and you are instantly, and forcefully, transported. Certain blossoms were almost the end of [...]
Read MoreThis is part of Museum User Guides, a series with ideas for how to “use” museums. The activities suggested here propose a fresh way to understand and experience a particular collection. Sometimes you just need to stop what you're doing and have a cuppa. This is especially true after a visiting an exhibition. Museum fatigue is [ ... ]
Read MoreThis is part of Museum User Guides, a series with ideas for how to “use” museums. The activities suggested here propose a fresh way to understand and experience a particular collection. Life in Paris can be exhausting. From the agony that is a daily métro commute to the overall grumpiness of [ ... ]
Read MoreThis is part of Museum User Guides, a series with ideas for how to “use” museums. The activities suggested here propose a fresh way to understand and experience a particular collection. Choose a day with moody weather–a cloudy day in October, for example–and make the trek up to Montmartre to the [ ... ]
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This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.
IMAGINIBUS is a blog about playing in museums, with a focus on imagination and creativity.
This blog is a place to be inspired to use your imagination around artworks—and to see the art of your daily life.
When we engage creatively with art, museums can become playgrounds and laboratories to experiment with attention, mindfulness, and imagination. Interesting things happen when we use that museum gaze to look at our daily lives like a work of art.
Find more inspiration for playing with new ways of paying attention to your daily life here.
Hello! I'm Marina Gross-Hoy, a writer, Museum Studies PhD candidate, and mother currently living in Quebec. I take playing in museums very seriously.
Read more about the blog here.
Check out my newsletter on Substack to be inspired to see the art in your daily life.
