A lawyer friend of mine says that when he was a kid, his mom had a way of mixing metaphors when she was giving mom advice. “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it, son.” This turn of phrase got his attention not only with words but more memorably with visual imagery.  

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.” Yogi Berra was baseball’s gift to the visual metaphor with a twist. Yogi knew his game.

What could be more rich with visual metaphor than baseball, starting with the American flag waving out there at the ballpark. Metaphors abound as so many peanuts and cracker jacks. “Keep your eye on the ball!”

Visual metaphors are abundant in a culture that has become ever more visual. This is where art museums shine as places to learn how to see anew, to keep our eyes on the ball for real—in real experiential time and place—not just screen time.

If you’re thinking it’s a stretch to compare art museums and baseball, don’t metaphors depend on stretch comparison? Picture the famous comparison of a mustard seed to spiritual growth, a metaphor capturing human imagination again and again across time, place, and culture.

Art museums across the globe tune-in our minds and imaginations to a world of visual metaphors going back at least 30,000 years. Art museum docents, curators, historians, and educators enrich the experience with scholarship and stories of art making and makers.

A giant Pinnochio with outstretched arms at our museum entrance says, “All are welcome here.”  Art Climb invites visitors with a sculpture garden and beautiful urban green space, the outdoors welcoming you indoors. Climb and grow, be who you are, connect with others or—to mix yet another metaphor—recharge your battery.

Aren’t many people looking for ways to recharge, to pursue inspiration in places of beauty, to bridge division? Why not cross that bridge together when we come to it.

See you at the Cincinnati Art Museum.