Bruce R.
Yelp
Shucks, what can I say. I have loved, loved, loved this place, I want to love this place, and I don't want the current management to make it increasingly more difficult to love this place.
We recently went to the members opening of "Be not still: Living in uncertain times, Part 2". So let me give you the opening quote that the director chose from James B. Comey, "We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized and unethical behavior is ignored, excused or rewarded."
OK, so I think, maybe this guy, Robert Sain, the executive director, gets it. He gets that Rene would have been distraught by what's going on. And he wants to use Rene's collection to speak to that bewilderment. But Rene's collection is not just a collection, it's a culture. So maybe Robert gets it to the point he is going to use the whole culture.
Meanwhile-back-at-the-ranch, as outrageous and larger-than-life as Rene was, he knew that you caught more of what you wanted to catch with honey than vinegar. And what was Rene's honey, his culture? Humor & the love-of-life-Joie-de-vivre!!!
So we arrive on the scene and the valet parking is nice, the sparkling wine was nice, and we even got a second glass when we asked for it. Now we are in the first, smaller gallery. It's interesting, there are really smart people there, mostly well dressed, some very well dressed, but not over-dressed, all well behaved. We proceed, and are abruptly, rudely, stopped and told we can't take our flute of sparkling wine forward.
Thinking that this might be part of the "installation" that there is someone trying to make us feel "uncertain", and I am supposed to "be not still living in un-certain times" I think for a moment, I should tell her that I am certain that I respect art, am in full control of my motor abilities, and I am taking this glass forward. Uh-uh. She was serious. I looked up and saw uniformed security guards. (Not gentle people in blue blazers.)
My God! I've never seen 'cops' at di Rosa.
Slightly disoriented, because there ain't no honey here, we proceed to the back door where I figure we can catch the tram to Gallery 2, the larger one. I'm stopped at the door by some one that has caught the opposite culture of Rene. He says, the trams aren't running. OK, can we walk? He says, "No! We are going to have 700 people here, go back and have another glass of wine." But my wine glass has been confiscated....
Now, not disoriented, but aghast, all I can think about is that if I were part of this event I would run those trams so all the patrons won't have to stand in line and get less patronly.
Why is it that people systematically take the fun out of a place?
That is the bottom line of this review! And! I can say, I am not still. Dear Management, reverse your path. There are very, very, very few museums that are fun, you are killing the fun, and apparently getting excused, rewarded, and ignoring what you have inherited.
Pogo...
(OK, somebody is going to say, but he never talked about the art. So just so you know, we have all been disappointed about the removal of the carneros in Carneros. And replaced with what? Dry grass on a reservoir is not a blank canvas, but a heartless removal of an icon that we all thought we owned. And when Veronica's family asked where the sheep went, our local newspaper said they did not get a straight answer. So we are talking about family. She did that sculpture, and Rene did "Field Hands". I was shocked to see his sculpture had been relocated to the top of the earthen dam of the reservoir. It is eerie there. It reminded my bride of, "A spooky, dark graveyard. Hands begging for help. Not in a field where you were seeing them from above. It was a surprise to see them there, but not a good surprise. I did not feel invited." So the whimsy of the sculpture, and the choice of the site by the 'artist' is what it takes to keep it fun. I could go on, but we were banned from our stroll.)