By Mihir Jaiswal
Last week in Arkansas, we travel back to DC for this week’s memoir. From speculations, we travel back to tangibility. Kreeger Museum has history, art, architecture, and class. However, the most appealing feature is the Jazz. My first visit to Kreeger was in early 2020 and I learned about the intimate jazz performances. Ever since I was looking forward to those performances. Well, later in the year the pandemic hit, and museums shut down, concerts were canceled. When the concerts and museum programs restarted, they were virtual, not quite the intimate experience I became excited about. I even bought the membership. Finally, in the middle of 2021 the Jazz programs started and I am going to my fourth intimate concert on Oct the 2nd.
The next will be my fourth concert at the Kreeger. Their central foyer could host around 65-70 spectators. With social distancing during the pandemic that number has come down to around 40. The foyer has superior acoustics, the piano sound is probably the best in the world and no crazy electric sounds truly make the concerts unique. The artists who play there have fantastic talents, they are generally two people concerts, with one pianist and another musician like a cellist or a saxophonist. When I close my eyes to the music they produce, I feel like I am flying in clouds with no interference listening to celestial music.
The museum is created from the private collection of David and Carmen Kreeger that they acquired during the 1960s. They are some of the incredible art pieces from Europe, a lot of French and Italian influence. Picasso has his own room in the museum. Picasso’s style is easy to identify and guessing his motivation and story behind each painting can be hours of fun. The painting collection is not limited to one style or one artist. Thus, proving Kreegers were art admirers, rather than art experts or opinionated followers.
In addition, the museum has collections of indoor and outdoor sculptures. From birds, abstracts to Asian, African, pre-Columbian. The variety in sculptures is as diverse in style as the paintings. The museum has a collection of books, paper arts, and prints. It also hosts temporary exhibits of contemporary artists.
However, that’s not the end of all. The museum itself is housed in an architecturally exciting building. It is a well-crafted five and a half acres residence built fifty years ago. The great hall adequately doubling as the foyer for intimate concerts, each room with its own flavor, large glass windows overlooking nature and the city alike make the building a treat in itself.
Kreeger Museum, though not the most popular in the sea of museums in DC, is truly unique. Visitors can enjoy architecture, 2-D art, 3-D art, printed art, sonic art, and maestros in one place.
Mihir Jaiswal is a traveler and the author of ‘Portal into a World Unknown’ and ‘Sculpting Revenge’.Blog: mihirjaiswal.tumblr.com; Twitter: @mihirja; Snapchat: @mihirj9″Regards,
Mihir Jaiswal, Ph.D.
Author of Sculpting Revenge. Read it on SmashWords. Read my Travel Column in India This Week.
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