On Friday, November 18th I took a trip into the city for my History of Art and Healing class. The purpose of this trip was to find a piece of art that we would be writing about in our final paper.
Normally this class takes place early in the morning for three hours on a Friday which isn’t an ideal place I would like to be but hey, it’s school. (We all know I would rather be curled up in bed with my laptop watching a show, let’s be real.)
But luckily this wasn’t a normal Friday morning lecture where my classmates and I were stuck in a classroom sitting around trying to keep our eyes open. This was a trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Yes, being from Long Island, I have been to the city with my family countless times. But, this trip was the first time I have ever gone to the city on my own and also the first time I have ever been to The MET.
Immediately when you walk up you see all of these stairs. You just feel yourself having to stop and take it all in. (I honestly have never felt like more of a tourist in my entire life.) Being on the Upper West Side gave it a feeling of being something grand and amazing.
We then were able to go in and have free reign of the museum which I have to say is quite overwhelming. With countless floors to explore all sectioned off by time period, it was like a never ending maze. Every hallway you walked down brought you through another part of history making you feel like you were there in that moment. One of the first hallways you walk down is made of complete marble floors with pillars of statues. The light reflects off everything in the exhibit making it look white and pristine. (I felt like a little kid playing somewhere they’ve been told not to and I was going to knock everything over if I wasn’t careful.)
Again I had to have another tourist moment and took a picture in one of the exhibits. I have never been to this museum before and just being there made me realize how much I truly love being surrounded by art. Not only did I like taking in all of the art but I loved all of the histories. Just knowing everything I was looking at had a meaning or purpose was fascinating to me. (I think you can tell by the smile on my face this is way better than being stuck in a lecture on campus.)
Speaking of being surrounded by art that had meaning and purpose I was able to see and embrace many of the artist’s works we had spoken about in class. My favorite artist, I had seen that day, was Jackson Pollock. He is famously known for his splatter works. I personally can relate to him with some of the struggles he went through which for me made seeing and interpreting his work in person even more impactful.
Now experiencing the MET was actually amazing and I was sad I had to go but I definitely will be going back to look at all the art I didn’t get to cover. Naturally, my friend and I were hungry after spending a few hours in the museum and we were on the Upper West Side feeling fancy. We felt we had to take the chance and eat at a little cafe that was way too overpriced just to embrace this feeling before we were slapped into the reality that we are broke college students. Naturally, I had to get $7 iced coffee and a $20 sandwich but let me tell you it was worth every penny. (It was worth it for the taste and experience 100% but now my wallet is crying…oh well.)
It was the perfect day and a memorable experience and start to a perfect weekend!
(All photos were taken by me via SnapChat)