Woodmere Art Museum

Today there was a break in the weather so we went over to the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill. The museum has a straw hay maze on the front lawn every Fall in recent years and Katie and Todd had been meaning to stop by and let the kids run around. Also the museum is free on Sundays so today was a good day with us in tow to check it out after squeezing into their car.

I have been driving by this museum in Chestnut Hill my entire life and never went in there. Until recently it just held the collection of an old industrial baron in his old Victorian estate. With the many art museums downtown and around Philadelphia there wasn't much of a reason to stop by this local robber baron's small collection in his old mansion.

Well, the kids had a great time running around the hay stack maze and even ran into some classmates on the site to hang with. For a while me and Todd sat on the porch overlooking the maze where I took this photo.

Then Becky and I went into the museum while the kids still played outside. We were surprisingly impressed by the collection which has expanded in recent years way beyond the original owner's collection. It can now be said to be more focused on contemporary Philadelphia artists although Becky says it is still somewhat limited. There were a couple of interesting shows currently on display. There was also an impressive collection of outdoor sculptures.

One of the galleries that caught our attention was the Children's Gallery and the current display "A Walk on the Wissahickon" which was very interesting and the kids loved it.