A Day At the Zoo

I will admit from the start that I don’t find very many artistic aspects about a zoo. Even I, a person who sees art in basketball and graffiti, don’t consider small children looking at caged animals an art form. Nevertheless, I do enjoy a nice day at the zoo. In fact, I went to the National Zoo just a couple of weeks ago with my sister. We spent about five tense minutes watching a tiger try to catch a bird for its lunch, and I could have spent the entire afternoon staring in amazement as the sea otters did repeated underwater summersaults. Some parts of the zoo are currently closed for renovations, but we were still able to observe the giant panda, cheetahs, lemurs, and a assortment of other animals.

So I bet you are wondering why I am talking about the zoo in a blog about art. Well, it just so happens that the National Zoo in Washington, DC, is part of the Smithsonian, the same institution that funds the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and a slew of other wonderful museums. While this connection may be minor and somewhat insignificant, it still exists. Like all the Smithsonian art exhibits mentioned in this blog, the National Zoo is absolutely free. So why not use that as an excuse to spend a day at the zoo and maybe even check out one of the Smithsonian museums while you’re at it.