Getting to spend time with Penny Arcade was an experience to say the least. I can safely say that she wasn’t anything I expected her to be. I really appreciated her perspective on the world, more specifically New York City. I love that she’s spent all of her adult life here and watched the culture of our neighborhoods change over the decades. The idea of gentrification was very important to our discussion with Penny because she explained how artists brought value and originality to communities and how capitalizing on that has taken a great toll on Manhattan life.

She talked to us a lot about life and how we would be constantly growing and redeveloping over the years. Penny explained how even at her age she is never done learning, trying new things, and finding herself through creative expression. I find that to be very inspiring because she sees the world not just for what it is but also what it still has to offer. I believe that mentality is what contributes to her success. Penny’s content is always evolving with her and New York City. She showed us clips from several shows she has put together, and they were all empowering in their own way. For example, they promoted strong female figure ideologies and had meaningful dialogues and monologues.  The shows were a little scandalous and the humor element was a tad strong, but it felt like a very “real” class. We were able to sit down and listen to how art factored into someone’s daily life and not just for economical reasons to make a quick profit. Penny really takes the time to develop her thoughts and flesh them out, and even though she was on the bolder side, I greatly enjoyed hearing the wisdom she passed down to us and appreciated how much effort she was willing to put into our personal development.