Being someone that is in love with ambient lighting, I recently discovered an art exhibit opening in Silicon Valley featuring a European artist who is exhibiting in the Western U.S. for the very first time. I immediately got tickets and took the family one warm fall evening (I chose to go while we are still having unseasonable warmth in the Bay Area). What we saw, did not disappoint any of us. I had told the little ones that I was taking them to see magical flowers glowing in the night and they were delighted.
Those familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia books will be delighted to know that this artist, Bruce Monroe, designed these light exhibits with inspiration from those books.
The journey begins with you purchasing your tickets here: https://www.munromontalvo.org/
As you get ready to head over… make sure your tickets are printed. Bring warm jackets, gloves (depending how cold it gets), wearing warm pants/layers and bring a water bottle, especially if you’re bringing little ones. Leave the stroller at home as it’ll be a pain to get on/off a small bus, very difficult to maneuver through the grounds, and there’s a lot of people that you might bump into.
Make your way to the parking lot and wait in line for the bus. Our ticket time was 7:40p but some from our group were able to get there early and board the 6:30p bus without issue. So if you are unable to get earlier tickets, but for whatever reason (little kids?) you need to get there early, it’s possible you can sneak your way onto an earlier bus. Be warned that the earlier you go, the more crowded it will be and the longer the line will be to get on the bus and back.
You will take a nice evening ride on a small comfortable bus, winding it’s way up towards the Montalvo Arts Center. The children with us were delighted by the bus ride and took pleasure in thumbing through the program booklet.
Once you get off, you will be directed to Bruce Monroe’s other exhibits while you slowly follow the signs and wind your way to the featured Silver Sea exhibit, as well as other exhibits.
At the exhibit you will have the opportunity to purchase drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol) as well visit their gift shop. When finished, make your way down to where you got off the bus and wait in line for a returning bus. If bringing little ones, be prepared to carry them and that they may complain of being cold. Though this exhibit runs until March, due to it’s evening nature, I would recommend going as soon as you can to take advantage of this abnormally dry and warm weather we are experiencing.
I hope you will enjoy this beautiful exhibit as we did… our little ones still talked about it the next few days, especially about the magical flowers.