Even nine years ago when it opened, the Vor­dun Muse­um & Gallery was impres­sive — lots of Euro­pean art­works cel­e­brat­ed in the style of the great muse­ums of the world, and it even then had a touch of the inno­v­a­tive using some then-just-emer­gent media and expe­ri­ence tools to enhance resident’s vis­its. Back then it was on a sub-par­cel of the Fan­cy Decor store region, of which Jake Vor­dun is also the creator.

It’s cer­tain­ly grown since then. The Vor­dun Muse­um & Gallery now fills its own region. And tru­ly, it fills it. Not only are there works by Reynolds, Rubens, Gains­bor­ough and a host of lumi­nar­ies from through­out art his­to­ry, but there are gal­leries fea­tur­ing spe­cif­ic exhi­bi­tions — ten in all! The pas­sion of its cre­ator for art, for mod­ern muse­um cura­tion, and for the expe­ri­ence of vis­it­ing a world class muse­um is clear. It begins even before you enter, with the sit­ing of the Muse­um on a rise with its stair­case con­course, its water fea­tures and sculptures.

The Vor­dun offers some unique expe­ri­ences to com­ple­ment the works and themes fea­tured. The exhib­it “Musi­ca Anti­qua”, for exam­ple, focus­es on ear­ly music in art and instru­ments. Both audio and video sup­port are pro­vid­ed to enhance the expe­ri­ence. In the gallery fea­tur­ing “Alle­gories of Artemisia” a series of vibrant­ly col­ored rooms take the vis­i­tor on a jour­ney through the work of Ital­ian Baroque artist Artemisia Gen­tileschi, draw­ing par­al­lels between the sub­jects of the artist’s work and major events in their life. “Proverbs of the Low Coun­tries” explores Peter Bruegel the Elder’s 1559 oil “The Blue Cloak” or “Nether­lan­dish Proverbs.” The paint­ing fea­tures 110 prover­bial phras­es, some of which might be famil­iar to you, such as “armed to the teeth” or “belling the cat.” When you accept the muse­um expe­ri­ence, a HUD will appear on your view­er screen and allow you to nav­i­gate close-up through each of the proverbs depict­ed in the work.

Vis­it­ing The Vor­dun real­ly feels like you are vis­it­ing one of the great hous­es of West­ern art in Lon­don, Paris, Rome, Vien­na or New York.

This episode airs at 12 noon and 4pm SLT/Pacific Time on Wednes­days and Sat­ur­days through the end of November.

Region: The Vor­dun Muse­um & Gallery  – Moderate
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vordun/155/252/26

Own­er: Jake Vordun