I think it’s sad that most people zone out when I talk about the arts. In New York, when I said I was going to the ballet, everyone asked where. Ummm, the Lincoln Center where it always is. Cmon people! When I talked about the galleries, it was like I was speaking in tongues. It’s not just a lack of interest by New Yorkers, this is an American epidemic. Travel is not just about seeing the sites like the Statue of Liberty or Times Square or ice-skating at Rockefeller Center. It ain’t the Golden Gate Bridge or Fisherman’s Wharf or dangling off of the Powell Street cable car. It’s the complete experience which includes local food and wine, the arts, theater, and the sites. Explore, enjoy, experience. Goodness, there is a whole world out there and it’s not about visiting the Eiffel Tower but also taking advantage of what your own locale has to offer. If you spent some time discovering, you will be delighted. Which is why I do not think San Francisco is boring! We have so many new gallery exhibits, a plethora of cutting-edge modern dance, theater beyond what’s playing at the Orpheum, and a shitload of food and wine festivals.
No I do not just take advantage of everything because I happen to be in NYC on vacation. I do that at home too.
Next time someone talks excitedly about a certain event, clue in, and venture out of your Netflix queue. Our own backyard is a vacation!
Yes, there’s a dearth of art education in American schools. Canada, too.
The president of an art gallery here compared it to Europe, where he said galleries were part of the daily fabric of life. When he was a kid, they routinely visited them.
We don’t do that in North America.