Episode Information

Without really knowing very much about art, I've been hanging around museums for most of my life and, lo, after a few decades, I finally started having a few moments where I understood, in a flash, what was going on up there on the canvas.

And I've tried to raise my son in much the same way, although we've recently reached the point where it's mainly fun to take him to MoMA and watch him get mad, all over again, at Barnett Newman.

But I can't help wondering what the place of the art museum will be in an age when so many vivid experiences are had virtually and digitally. There's a chance that, when so many things are rapid and ephemeral, we'll actually actually crave some face time with a 350-year-old Rembrandt. There's also a chance we'll be too busy.

Sp what's the future of the art museum? We have two, in Hartford and New Britain, that are beautiful and storied. We'll discuss them today.