The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth located in the Cultural District is impossible to miss. There's a tall, orange, metal, uhhh, thing which points up, up, up to the sky like a rusted arrowhead right outside the front door. Upon closer inspection of this statue, you will find you can walk inside it. In fact, you will feel a little obligated to do so, hoping you'll gain some greater meaning once you move through the "art": such is often the state of modern art for me. Perhaps I'm too dense to understand it; nonetheless, I try to enjoy it, so a trip to this massive museum in Fort Worth was a must for me. The Modern will truly be a treat for anyone who likes this type of expression. All the modern art giants - most of them in this museum American - are found represented here, including the likes of Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollack. It was interesting for me to see the orignial Twenty-Five Colored Marilyns. Who isn't familiar with this work of pop art? But there were many other great things to take in. I personally loved some of the simpler canvases, Edward Ruscha's Jar of Olives Falling, but my husband and I were both fascinated by the thin ladder suspended in the air like a rickety stairway to heaven.
In addition to some totally cool pieces of sculpture (a mixed media old woman in pearls on a stoop thinking) and some completely over-our-heads-we-don't-see-it pieces (the ooze sculpture that looked like a giant pile of dog poop in one corner), the Modern Art building itself is fascinating. The stark concrete walls, the extra high ceilings, and the gray rooms all seem very fitting for the type of work displayed. The glass windows look out onto a man-made lake that the building actually seems to float upon; it's so perfectly integrated with the water. Designed by Tadao Ando, it by itself was worth the trip to me!
Some particulars:
General Admission is free though you have to buy a ticket for special exhibitions. There's a cafe in the building that offers lunch. Closed Mondays. Open until 5pm on other days. Want to check out a special exhibition? Go to themodern.org to see who's showing.