Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel The Exhibit Photos
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This was a fairly interesting exhibit. It was relatively inexpensive, but there was no street parking available nearby. Thus all parking in their small lot was valet parking at $10 a car. And they didn't even make any exception for handicap parking. The best way to attend is to reserve your space and pay online in advance. They send you a confirmation along with a QR code as your ticket. Make sure you bring this with you as the codes are scanned for admittance. When you arrive, (they advise you to be early),your first stop is a covered tent. While seated and waiting for your entry time, you are welcomed. A bit of history regarding Michelangelo and a few hints on what to look for at the exhibit are provided. The guy who greeted us had a sense of humor and was pretty informative. Once inside, your codes are scanned and you are given a green sticker. There are two small rooms -- the first larger than the second -- with depictions of the art on the walls -- and in the 1st room on the ceiling as well. There are explanatory signs next to each exhibit. In the third room, there is a showing of a PBS film. It's on a loop so you can watch from whatever point you enter. Unfortunately, it's not the easiest to hear. People standing in the back of the room talking and in the gift shop are quite loud. We gave up early as it was frustrating. We then walked through the small gift shop. They have memorabilia of the exhibit -- totes, cups, postcards, books, etc. In addition, there are some jewelry pieces and clay pots from their regular collection on sale. I'm glad we went. It's always nice to get a bit of "culture".
Overall, I loved the content of the Exhibit, because who doesn't love an incredible artist and getting to see something up close that you can't normally view so intricately. However, I do think the Armory does themself a disservice by cramming too much art into too small of a space and letting too many people inside. Main point: I would still go to see the Exhibit, but hopefully someone from the Armory reads my Exhibit and finds my feedback helpful for future exhibits. Parking Pro-Tip: Park in the parking lot North of the Armory on Parker, in between the Armory and the big City of WPB park. There is a free parking lot here that is really for the park but is fine to use for the Armory as well. There is a small signboard pointing the way into the exhibit, past the sparkly tiled wall. Pictures below. If you've been to a show at the Armory before, you know their exhibit space is fairly small. I thought surely they would have opened up some classrooms or something to add more space to host this, but this is not the case. The Exhibit itself is blown up panels of the Sistine Chapel. Not sure what material they are printed on, but it is a real reproduction (as opposed to a projection like the van gogh exhibits use). If you are expecting an immersive experience, you would be disappointed, because there is little attempt for creativity as an exhibit or providing an type of experience beyond the normal 'using your eyes to look at art visually' experience. Unless you purchase a book or an audiotour, your guide is the info cards next to each panel. These panels mostly interpreted the Biblical content of the panel, with zero info on the artistry, such as when it was painted, paint, colors, etc. I found this rather disappointing, and I wished I had done some reading/research ahead of time to know more what to look for in the Exhibit. You are asked to sit in an un-air-conditioned white tent in the Armory courtyard before going into the exhibit and listening to an Armory staff member talk about the exhibit. I assume this is to stagger people going inside, but I did not find the staff member to be entertaining or informative. Frankly, he seemed annoyed to be stuck outside repeating himself over and over, and he was not dressed up for entrance to the Sistine Chapel, which most of the crowd was. Armory, put the right person out there to set the stage! This entrance person could be charming and ENHANCE the experience for us all! Hire a Dreyfoos theater student! Although the crowd is staggered by time, there are entirely too many people crowded in a very small space. When my assigned time came around, I was among the first people to walk in to the exhibit, only to find most of the previous crowd STILL THERE. There is zero way to social distance. The Armory has crammed the reproductions against each other, hanging several from the ceiling, which is so ironic!!! The final panel has little standing room and is crammed into a room with a video playing. Unbelievable that they dedicate a whole room to a gift shop afterwards rather than giving more space for the panels themselves. That being said, of course the panels themselves are incredible and I would have still gone to see this Exhibit despite the issues.
Definitely the most organized part was when we were sitting outside under a tent hearing the history prior to walking in. The employees seemed like they were not ready for a group to walk in. And when we did walk in the rooms were still filled with so many people from the ticket time before our group. It was shoulder to shoulder kind of feel. I was about two feet from reading and looking at a piece of art and I literally had a women walk in front of me, turn towards the art and info I was reading and stand in front of me as if I did not exist. Shockingly so many rude people. I heard other people discussing how they were displeased as well, and commenting on the rudeness of others. It just could have been set up differently to help the flow. A lot of the employees or volunteers did not know what was taking place when asked. They seemed equally disappointed and frustrated.
5 years ago
We went to see the exhibition on a Saturday afternoon, and were lucky to find a parking spot on the street: the Armor Art Center has its own (small) parking, but it's "valet only" and rather expensive in my opinion. Just outside the entrance to the exhibition there was a white tent with signs requesting that you wait there until it is your turn to go in, but it was completely empty and we went in right away. I was really looking forward to this exhibition but ended up feeling a little bit disappointed about it. Besides the fact that (for some reasons) I thought it would be a more immersive experience, the vast majority of the panels reproducing each section of the Sistine Chapel were displayed on the walls and ceiling of a medium-size room; the remaining few were on the wall of an adjacent small room: both rooms seem just too overcrowded. There was no special lighting that would better bring up the beauty of the paintings and make you focus on the details: the ambience was too white and bright, not to talk about the huge crowd and the inside heat that was almost matching the outside temperature! Each paintings has its own brief description: probably the audio tour that is offered at the entrance explains more, but it's not included in the ticket... It was a very quick visit, and we were lucky that at one point the crowd left, so we could actually spend some time to admire the paintings, read their descriptions and "google" some more info. Although it could have been presented and/or explained in a better way, this exhibit is a brilliant idea to "move" around the world the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and I'm glad that West Palm Beach was chosen as one of the stops of the tour: unfortunately, there are not so many cultural events in West Palm Beach. read more
1 year ago
6 months ago
This was a fairly interesting exhibit. It was relatively inexpensive, but there was no street parking available nearby. Thus all parking in their small lot was valet parking at $10 a car. And they didn't even make any exception for handicap parking. The best way to attend is to reserve your space and pay online in advance. They send you a confirmation along with a QR code as your ticket. Make sure you bring this with you as the codes are scanned for admittance. When you arrive, (they advise you to be early),your first stop is a covered tent. While seated and waiting for your entry time, you are welcomed. A bit of history regarding Michelangelo and a few hints on what to look for at the exhibit are provided. The guy who greeted us had a sense of humor and was pretty informative. Once inside, your codes are scanned and you are given a green sticker. There are two small rooms -- the first larger than the second -- with depictions of the art on the walls -- and in the 1st room on the ceiling as well. There are explanatory signs next to each exhibit. In the third room, there is a showing of a PBS film. It's on a loop so you can watch from whatever point you enter. Unfortunately, it's not the easiest to hear. People standing in the back of the room talking and in the gift shop are quite loud. We gave up early as it was frustrating. We then walked through the small gift shop. They have memorabilia of the exhibit -- totes, cups, postcards, books, etc. In addition, there are some jewelry pieces and clay pots from their regular collection on sale. I'm glad we went. It's always nice to get a bit of "culture". read more
5 years ago
Overall, I loved the content of the Exhibit, because who doesn't love an incredible artist and getting to see something up close that you can't normally view so intricately. However, I do think the Armory does themself a disservice by cramming too much art into too small of a space and letting too many people inside. Main point: I would still go to see the Exhibit, but hopefully someone from the Armory reads my Exhibit and finds my feedback helpful for future exhibits. Parking Pro-Tip: Park in the parking lot North of the Armory on Parker, in between the Armory and the big City of WPB park. There is a free parking lot here that is really for the park but is fine to use for the Armory as well. There is a small signboard pointing the way into the exhibit, past the sparkly tiled wall. Pictures below. If you've been to a show at the Armory before, you know their exhibit space is fairly small. I thought surely they would have opened up some classrooms or something to add more space to host this, but this is not the case. The Exhibit itself is blown up panels of the Sistine Chapel. Not sure what material they are printed on, but it is a real reproduction (as opposed to a projection like the van gogh exhibits use). If you are expecting an immersive experience, you would be disappointed, because there is little attempt for creativity as an exhibit or providing an type of experience beyond the normal 'using your eyes to look at art visually' experience. Unless you purchase a book or an audiotour, your guide is the info cards next to each panel. These panels mostly interpreted the Biblical content of the panel, with zero info on the artistry, such as when it was painted, paint, colors, etc. I found this rather disappointing, and I wished I had done some reading/research ahead of time to know more what to look for in the Exhibit. You are asked to sit in an un-air-conditioned white tent in the Armory courtyard before going into the exhibit and listening to an Armory staff member talk about the exhibit. I assume this is to stagger people going inside, but I did not find the staff member to be entertaining or informative. Frankly, he seemed annoyed to be stuck outside repeating himself over and over, and he was not dressed up for entrance to the Sistine Chapel, which most of the crowd was. Armory, put the right person out there to set the stage! This entrance person could be charming and ENHANCE the experience for us all! Hire a Dreyfoos theater student! Although the crowd is staggered by time, there are entirely too many people crowded in a very small space. When my assigned time came around, I was among the first people to walk in to the exhibit, only to find most of the previous crowd STILL THERE. There is zero way to social distance. The Armory has crammed the reproductions against each other, hanging several from the ceiling, which is so ironic!!! The final panel has little standing room and is crammed into a room with a video playing. Unbelievable that they dedicate a whole room to a gift shop afterwards rather than giving more space for the panels themselves. That being said, of course the panels themselves are incredible and I would have still gone to see this Exhibit despite the issues. read more
Definitely the most organized part was when we were sitting outside under a tent hearing the history prior to walking in. The employees seemed like they were not ready for a group to walk in. And when we did walk in the rooms were still filled with so many people from the ticket time before our group. It was shoulder to shoulder kind of feel. I was about two feet from reading and looking at a piece of art and I literally had a women walk in front of me, turn towards the art and info I was reading and stand in front of me as if I did not exist. Shockingly so many rude people. I heard other people discussing how they were displeased as well, and commenting on the rudeness of others. It just could have been set up differently to help the flow. A lot of the employees or volunteers did not know what was taking place when asked. They seemed equally disappointed and frustrated. read more
Pretty unexciting exhibit. Very large, not particularly good quality photos of the panels in the Sistine Chapel. Mostly crammed into one large room. There's a very small room with maybe four or five other pieces, and then one more room that shows a video of how Michaelangelo painted the chapel. Just overall dull. Save your money read more
5 years ago
5 years ago
More info about Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel The Exhibit
Armory Art Ctr
811 Park Pl
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
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