Will You Go Out With Me?: Fleming Museum — Come for the "Sex," Stay for the "Wood" 

The mention of sex is probably long overdue in this column since I’m ostensibly here to discuss our efforts to maintain a healthy relationship. However, this being a family-focused publication, and me being a person you might run into randomly at the grocery store, I’ve left that topic out on purpose. Until now.

But don’t get too excited/appalled. I’m bringing it up now in an academic context. Thinking we might find some inspiration, or at least something provocative to talk about, Ryan and I visited the Fleming Museum on the UVM campus to view the recently-opened exhibition, “Sex Objects: Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality.”

A friend alerted me to the existence of the exhibit (the same friend, by the way, who so generously divulged the location of her secret skinny dipping spot) and I knew it would be an easy sell.

“Hey, babe," I asked Ryan. "Do you wanna go see a museum exhibit about sex?”
“Yes.”

The tricky part was finding the time. The Fleming is open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, but generally speaking a museum date means a daytime date. Since both of our kids are in elementary school now, we have some flexibility as long as work allows it.

(Sidenote: I highly recommend daytime dates. The novelty of getting out together in the daylight adds an element of unfamiliarity that can be just enough to start the date off on a fresh note.)

We agreed that we could each carve out a two-hour block of time on a Wednesday morning to go get arty.

We had been to the Fleming once before, but not to look at art. It was for a PechaKucha night years ago and I didn’t even remember that until we walked into the atrium, so this date qualified as going somewhere new to us. The “Sex Objects” exhibit is the first one you pass upon stepping foot in the building, which makes me think someone there thinks it’s a pretty special collection of art. And where a thong from Bertha Church can sit alongside a pair of ancient Turkish shoes with turned-up toes in a glass enclosure, you know there is at least something to talk about.