Our family has always enjoyed art. When the kid was little, the Portrait Gallery was one of her favorite places. We have spent a lot of time enjoying the works of famous and not so famous artists. However, this is the first time that we have actually had the opportunity to be in those famous works.
Mom and the kid set out on a sunny morning to check out the exhibit with their VIP tickets, not really knowing what you got with the VIP pass. We got a ride there because we were unsure of parking but found the parking was plentiful and surprisingly free so we should have driven. It is also walking distance to the Metro so we could have gotten there that way.
We were greeted by a kid lady who told us where to check in which we did and then received our VIP badges. Both the kid and mom had their phones. We should have also taken a camera because this has the ultimate photo taking opportunities. You will see replicas of many of the paintings of Van Gogh that you have probably seen before. Then you get to The Bedroom. You can actually walk into this painting and even get your picture taken in it. This painting was on the cover of one of the kid’s text books so she knew the painting well. If your kid has taken third grade Eureka math, they probably know it too.
After enjoying a few more replicas, you head into the immersive experience. There is a large room where the walls are the screens with constantly changing animated works of Van Gogh set to music. You can sit on a bench or even on pillows on the floor. You can spend as much or little amount of time as you want in that room. Although mom could have spent all day, the kid was ready to go after eight minutes.
We then made our way into the art room. This was so cool! You get a template of a Van Gogh painting and then you color it. When finished, make sure you sign it in the painting. Take it to the box in the middle of the room, push the button, and your work of art will appear on the wall with others. Ours looked so great and so much like others that we would not have know which ones we did if not for the large initials on them.
Then we headed to the VR room. If you don’t have VIP passes, you can purchase a VR headset for $5. It is well worth the price. You are guided through cafes and the French countryside learning more about the inspiration to Van Gogh’s works. Mom and the kid both got a little motion sickness from the simulated movement but both still would do it again.
That ended our trip and we were sad to have it end until we got to the gift shop. There were so many cool things. It was hard to decide what to buy. VIP tickets allow you to take home a poster or two pins. We also went away with a hat for the kid, a thermos for mom, cuff links for dad, and a rubik’s cube. There were so many more things that we wanted to buy.
With a CertifiKID voucher, you can snag tickets for as low as $18 per person.
