Have you ever been somewhere that blows your mind? Its been awhile since I've experienced that feeling, but after yesterday's Glenstone Museum media preview, that feeling hit me hard.
The Glenstone Museum is located in Potomac, MD on over 200 acres of land and is considered one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary art in the world. On October 4, 2018, Glenstone will be opening its doors for the unveiling of their newest building- The Pavilions- which will make Glenstone the largest private museum in America. I had the amazing opportunity to experience The Pavilions yesterday with my friend and fellow DC influencer, Timur Tugberk (also check out his Creative Consultant Agency, Designing the District), along with other DC creatives for the media preview event.
The founders of Glenstone, Mitchell and Emily Rales, established the museum with the belief that art is essential to life, and I personally could not agree more and felt their mission fully while on the Glenstone property yesterday. From the minute you arrive at the gate of Glenstone, you are fully immersed into a world of art, architecture, and landscape. These three areas make for an incredible setting among the Glenstone grounds, and you become a part of the work of art. I can't think of a better way to explain it, other than incredible, of the feeling that I had while there. Upon entrance to the grounds, there is a visitor center which is modern and stark, and sets the setting for The Pavilions. From the visitor center, the walk to The Pavilions is 5 minutes of pure magic. Each step is new- a new perspective or a new visual encompassing the surrounding woods and greenery of Jeff Koon's Split Rocker floral installation, which is made of 25,000+ flowers, housed on top of a rolling hill. Soon after, the visuals of The Pavilions start to emerge, which is built into the hills, with no exterior clues of the extravagance inside its walls.
Within 1 minute of walking inside The Pavilions, I had been blown away. I honestly don't even know where to start in describing how special it felt descending the stairs to the main level of the gallery. The gallery is made up of 13 individual rooms/spaces for art, all connected by a glass-enclosed hall that overlooks a water court with lily pads and seasonal plants. The architecture of the entire gallery was mesmerizing. The modern, minimal design is a work of art in itself. The gallery rooms are accessorized with famous artworks that bring the entire space together for a totally immersive experience.
I'm not the only one who felt this way. Timur was also deeply touched by Glenstone, and provided a few words from his perspective:
“Being an artist and having been raised not only in the area, but specifically down the street from Glenstone, it feels truly like a dream come true! To have a creative space that offers a fully immersive life-meets-art-meets-architecture experience executed to near flawless precision takes DC’s art scene to the next level. The #NewGlenstone presents us as a Tier 1 creative city, to the rest of the world. HIGHLY RECOMMEND AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO VISIT!"
Timur geeking out over the architecture and taking a photo of the ceiling!
To visit Glenstone, you will need tickets (tickets are free!). Tickets are released the first Monday of each month, so set a reminder on your phone as the next ticket drop is this coming Monday, Oct 1. When you visit Glenstone, I hope you will open your sights to all it has to offer and will welcome its artful aurora to impact your life, as it did mine.
XOXO
Blonde in the District