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Whether it is a bold brushstroke on a canvas, the brave chisel strike into stone, or the gentle shaping hands of a potter, art in all its forms not only brings beauty and emotion into to our lives yet most importantly gives us pause for contemplation along with space to reflect on the meaning of life. If the beauty within you is captivated by art and the lives of the artists that create then this book discussion may be for you. Leonardo da Vinci wrote “painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen” join us as we read, discuss, and explore a mix of historical fiction, biographies, and memoirs of art and artists from around the world.
Millions of people climb the grand marble staircase to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year. But only a select few have unrestricted access to every nook and cranny. They’re the guards who roam unobtrusively in dark blue suits, keeping a watchful eye on the two million square foot treasure house. Caught up in his glamourous fledgling career at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley never thought that he’d be one of them. Then his older brother was diagnosed with fatal cancer and he found himself needing to escape the mundane clamor of daily life. So he quit The New Yorker and sought solace in the most beautiful place he knew.
To his surprise and your delight, this temporary refuge becomes Bringley’s home away from home for a decade. We follow him as he guards delicate treasures from Egypt to Rome, strolls the labyrinths beneath the galleries, wears out nine pairs of company shoes, and marvels at the beautiful works in his care. Bringley enters the museum as a ghost, silent and almost invisible, but soon finds his voice and his tribe: the artworks and their creators and the lively subculture of museum guards—a gorgeous mosaic of artists, musicians, blue-collar stalwarts, immigrants, cutups, and dreamers. As his bonds with his colleagues and the art grow, he comes to understand how fortunate he is to be walled off in this little world, and how much it resembles the best aspects of the larger world to which he gradually, gratefully returns.
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118 E 2nd St, Casper, WY, United States, Wyoming 82601
