An item recently added to my bucket list has just as recently been struck from it, and I can now safely say that everybody should follow suit and experience what I have: sleep over a museum. For the purpose of collecting research for an English essay (and of course, for the purpose of having fun), some classmates and I did just that at the Rubin Museum of Art’s Dream-Over, which would ultimately turn out to be a magical experience well worth the $55.

At 8:15 PM we arrived at the Rubin and were greeted by some friendly employees dressed in kimonos and socks. After our shoes were checked in the coatroom, we were led to the café that was lit with faint purplish-blackish lights. Serene new-age ambient music played in the background as we joined our pre-assigned groups and met our equally friendly group leaders who gave us a brief description of what was to come.

My group was assigned to sleep on the RMA’s 6^th and uppermost floor. Each person was assigned a piece of artwork to sleep under: I was assigned to four medieval trinkets from pilgrimages done on behalf of Saint Thomas Becket, as well as a beautiful stained-glass depiction of Saint Margaret, famous for having been swallowed by a dragon and emerging unscathed.

After a few minutes to set down our sleeping bags and get acquainted with our artwork, we were led to the theater where a workshop on art meditation and dreaming was to take place. There, we listened to a Q&A between psychoanalyst Dr. William H. Braun and a real Tibetan monk, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche; two occupations I never thought would ever have any reason to meet. While this Q&A was surprisingly boring (the language barrier caused by Rinpoche’s poor English/projection didn’t help), there was a lot of talk about how one can control one’s dreams. The talk got rather in-depth; further than my mind cared to go. It was at this point that I realized the event was particularly geared towards dreaming and its importance to our lives. While I didn’t mind this, I wish that dreams were something I felt more strongly about. I enjoy having dreams and recording them on paper, but to talk as passionately as several people in the room were doing made me wish I had stronger feelings about them. I instead let my mind peacefully wander.

The workshop ended with the entire audience closing their eyes and meditating for about ten minutes (the last couple of minutes had Rinpoche vocalizing and hitting bells together as we meditated), which was incredibly relaxing. I was ready to go to bed right then and there, though afterwards we were brought to the café for our midnight snack that consisted of assorted teas, dried fruit, fresh fruit, hummus with pita chips, organic hot chocolate, and more. The energy of my conversation with my classmates (and Professor Davison) woke me up again, but as soon as we left the café, I became intent on sleeping once again. We met with our groups once before bed to help mentally prepare for the night ahead.

We all got ready for bed to the sound of an Asian flute-like instrument floating up from the first floor up through the grand spiral staircase to all the other floors. As I lay in my sleeping bag, my group leader sat beside me and read me a bedtime story inspired by my artwork (since I was quite tired, I remember nothing about my story except it was wordy and had Kubla Kahn and Marco Polo in it). Before I knew it, she had whispered “good night” to me and left.

As peaceful as the atmosphere was, I tossed and turned all night and didn’t get much sleep due to the elevator constantly moving and beeping, the hard floor, and the insufficient head support from my ridiculously small pillow. I did manage to have a vague dream despite the immense (yet unintentional) pressure the Dream-Over puts on you to remember it at all, exhibit A, being awoken by a dream-gatherer eager to hear you talk about what you dreamt of during the night.  I told my dream-gatherer in a very hoarse voice about my dream that, I kid you not, consisted of watching Seinfeld bloopers with my dad and a Macaulay senior telling me about a revered historical figure famous for owning one of two blue monkeys in the world.

We all slowly made our way down to breakfast where the same kinds of food from the midnight snack were served, with the addition of traditional (and disgusting, sorry!) Tibetan hot cereal. Amid the cheerful conversation and [overall decent] food, we posed for a huge group picture and listened to some friendly announcements and thank-you’s from the coordinators of the event. We then met with our groups for one final meeting about the dreams we had the night before. Again, I felt inadequate next to the people in my group who were deeply analyzing every tiny detail of their dreams- one woman had a dream about her father who had died, which brought her close to tears. I meekly raised my hand to share my boring-by-comparison dream, but was smilingly received nonetheless.

By 9 AM, I was out the heavy RMA doors and in the real world, slightly dazed from my lack of sleep. My commute home was peaceful and serene, however, and I felt the calming power of the museum for the rest of the day. My main criticisms for the Dream-Over were that they could have offered more universally-eaten food, in addition to extra blankets and pillows for those who needed them. They also could have put more focus on the art- it was only after the Dream-Over that I realized I still had virtually no knowledge of the museum and its art at all. Either way, I am incredibly glad I went and would certainly consider going again, only next time with an air mattress.

to read more about the Dream-Over, click here!