So the Menil was pretty legit for a museum. We went there as a class i got some excellent sketches of work done that day as well of a good cup of Cubano coffee and the best parfait i have ever had. Still need to  write about the things i saw. Just wanted to blog about the museum in general though. The idea for constructing a building around a work of art didn't start with the Menil's. My favorite sculpture by Bernini, the Ecstacy of St. Teresa, was made specifically for the space it inhabits. Yet with the theme of the artwork being spirituality this aproach to presenting the art is extremely sensitive to the subject. If you stop and think about spirituality in the world it is represented in the same manner. There is originally a source of inspiration that we focus on (this is represented by the artwork), the beliefs and convictions we that we have (the floor plans),the individual rooms that the art is in (how our mind percieves the inspiration) how we live our lives (the museum itself). The fact that a piece of art is dimly or brightly lit could even suggest how serious we percieve that particular belief. I have no idea what the Menil's particularly had in mind, but the fact that they were intentional is clear. Knowing that they took care in their planning and presentation made me focus more on how I was to approach each artwork as a viewer. I ended up enjoying it more than most museums, especially HMFA, and would definately recommend to anyone who hasn't been.