In the middle of the lush suburban academic oasis of the Cranbrook educational community sits the Cranbrook Museum of Art. (The Cranbrook educational community (319 acres) consists of the Cranbrook Schools (private P-K-12), the Cranbrook Academy of Arts (graduate school), the Cranbrook Institute of Science, and the Cranbrook House and Gardens -- it is a community that inspires the highest scholarship in the arts and sciences.) In line with its edifying surroundings, the Cranbrook Museum of Art re-opened with an encyclopedic review of its vast collection through a thought-provoking exhibit titled, No Object is an Island: New Dialogues with the Cranbrook Collection. The title is a head nod to the sixteenth-century metaphysical poet John Donne (no man is an island) -- a poet that demands deep study to appreciate.
This head nod does not foreshadow an academic exercise where the director and curators create
a show that is only accessible to a few highly educated art historians. Rather, the director and
curators did all the deep thinking to present artists juxtaposed in a way that engages art experts
and art novices alike. The exhibit and the improved space offer a fun, intellectually stimulating,
and extensive lesson in art's ability to rouse the spirit.
On Friday, 11/11/11, the Museum re-opened after a two-year, $22 Million, expansion
and renovation. Below are my pictures from the grand re-opening.
