Author: kblanchette14
Final Draft of Open Letter
Dear Director of the American Museum of Natural History,
You’ve been home to many of my school trips over the course of my academic career, and responsible for me meeting one of the coolest teachers I’ve met. Your exhibits are interesting and pretty diverse, which is something that can be lacking in many other places. There are some things though that can be problematic, the main one being the prices people must pay to see your exhibits.
History is said to be taught so that it may never be repeated. If your museum is about history, why does it cost so much for people to learn it? This hurts those who live in lower class families because it prevents them from possibly learning history they might find intriguing. Don’t you think that the more people learn about history, the better off they can be? You claim on your website that the museum was made for those with a passion of discovery, but if they can’t pay the entrance fee, the only thing they can discover is the front door. Your ticket prices for regular entry without any of the fancier exhibits is $23 for adults and $13 for children. If a family wanted to come and see your butterfly exhibit, the ticket prices go up about $5. If the family wanted to see exhibits other than the butterfly exhibit, the prices go up about $10. Many lower class families already have to find a way to live paycheck to paycheck, and prices like these could really hurt their finances if they try to take out the family in a nice outing. The permanent exhibits are nice to look at, but many children really want to see the big, exciting colorful exhibits, which require an extra fee for entry.
In order to fulfill that idea of having the museum made for discovery, how about making the tickets cheaper so that those people can actually go see your exhibits, including the special shows? If this is a money issue, focus on the bigger picture. If the tickets are cheaper, the more people will want to go because odds are, you’ll be cheaper than many other museums around NYC. The more people want to go, the more tickets they will buy and the more people they will tell about the museum. Word of mouth goes a long way, and could really bring good publicity to the museum. In the end, you will have not only sold more tickets and made the museum look good by looking out for those in the lower class, but you would have accomplished your goal for the museum; to intrigue those with a passion of discovery. In the end, you’re in charge of what goes on, so it’s up to you whether or not you want to start that change. Everything I’m saying is just food for thought anyway.
A person with a passion for discovery,
Kaelah Blanchette
Opera Blog Post
When I looked at the syllabus to see that we were going to the opera, the first thing I was told by my friend was that I needed to dress up and look nice because everyone looks nice at the opera. She wasn’t wrong. As soon as I stepped foot into the theater, everyone was dressed as if we were back in the 1900s and it was time for high tea. This was one of the many preconceived notions I had about the opera before I walked in. I figured, just as many others did, that the opera was full of pompous, well off white people that came in suits and brought binoculars. There was a vast difference between the people that usually attend and the Macaulay students that were there. I distinctly remember getting a few looks from the staff, questioning as if I was lost and wasn’t meant to be there. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this experience at all. When we were all seated though, the opera house shed a bit of a different light on some of my previous notions.
Yes, a majority of the people that attended were well dressed, pompous white people, but sitting in the dark with everyone just watching the stage seemed to make those differences fade. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t understand the performance at all and the singing of regular conversation was giving me a headache, but it was nice to see that everyone faded into one group. We weren’t separated by socio-economic class or race or age, we were all just there trying to figure out why there was sheep and why the butler had to drop the ragout. While it was nice to see everyone come together to watch this performance, I don’t see myself attending another opera, mainly because I felt extremely out of place. After the show, a few of my previous notions changed, but one important notion that I think stuck with me as soon as I set foot into the place was that I was an outsider. Everyone had come prepared with binoculars and coat check was selling cushions and I had no clue what was going on. I think watching a performance at the opera is an eye-opening experience to see what it’s like, but I feel like unless you are brought up visiting the opera, it’s a little harder to get used to.
Post About Fusco
At first glance of this work by Belkis Ayon, I was actually fairly confused, and maybe a little scared. All the pictures at first glance seemed very spooky, like something out of a child’s nightmares. Also at first glance, I noticed that there was some sort of a fish in every single piece of art, including this one. Looking at it from first glance, this portrait seemed to reflect those that were well off in life, at least stereotypically. The stereotypical rich family standing beside a campfire with a big chair and a footrest was what this artwork looked like originally, but after studying it, it showed something completely different.
After going back and analyzing this piece of artwork, I noticed things that I didn’t notice before. For example, there are many different religious connotations that can be taken from this artwork. The person in the chair is wearing a cross, along with the serpent along the shoulders of the person standing on the chair, possibly representing the devil in the Bible story of Adam and Eve. Looking closer, I can possibly argue a more political and racial side to this artwork. Going back to the original idea of this artwork representing a rich individual, a political way that this could go would be that it is normally Caucasian people that are found to be the ones well off in life, while everyone else struggles to make ends meet. The artist could have been going for a reversal of that typical scenario, and bringing attention to the fact that others should also be able to be well off as well. The individual shaded in dark could represent someone of color, while the individual shaded in white could represent a person of Caucasian descent. The person sitting in the chair has the posture of someone that is in charge and in control, so it could represent the person that is well off, while the person standing could almost be taken as a person who is inferior.
Another way that this piece of artwork could be taken is deeper into the religious aspect, but not in the way that I originally thought. Instead of a political and racial standpoint, the artist could be making a religious standpoint about Christianity. The person in the chair is completely shaded in black and for most people, black is usually a bad sign. The other person is shaded in white, which is usually taken as a sign of purity, but the only problem with this is the serpent lying around their shoulders. In accordance with the Bible, a serpent is a sign of the devil, so the deeper meaning to this artwork could be that not everyone appears as they seem. While someone may seem like a good person and do good things, they may have the worst intentions towards others, while the other individual who is maybe seen as a bad person or an outcast has just as good a heart and intentions as a saint. Whatever the political, racial or religious point that the artist is trying to make, it is done very subtly, and requires the observer to go past just the obvious of what is going on. This seems to speak volumes about a lot of issues without even saying a word, and this is a prime example of what art can express that physical action cannot.
Open Letter Draft
Dear American Museum of Natural History,
You’ve been home to many of my school trips over the course of my academic career, and responsible for me meeting one of the coolest teachers I’ve met. Your exhibits are interesting and pretty diverse, which is something that can be lacking in many other places. There are some things though that can be problematic, the main one being the prices people must pay to see your exhibits.
History is said to be taught so that it may never be repeated. If your museum is about history, why does it cost so much for people to learn it? This hurts those who live in lower class families because it prevents them from possibly learning history they might find intriguing. Don’t you think that the more people learn about history, the better off they can be? You claim on your website that the museum was made for those with a passion of discovery, but if they can’t pay the entrance fee, the only thing they can discover is the front door. In order to fulfill that idea of having the museum made for discovery, how about making the tickets cheaper so that those people can actually go see your exhibits, including the special shows. If this is a money issue, focus on the bigger picture, that the cheaper the tickets, the more people will want to go, and the more people that go, the more money you will make and lives you will enhance. It’s just food for thought.
A person with a passion for discovery,
Kaelah Blanchette
Short Video Assignment
Many kids are so eager to grow up because it means that they can do things they weren’t allowed to, like stay up past their bedtime, but many people don’t get the importance to just stop and enjoy what’s happening now, so that’s what this video is.
My Memoir- Kaelah Blanchette
When you live and grow up in a city like New York, you learn things pretty quickly. You learn that even when the sign is red, people still cross the street, plan ahead when taking the MTA anywhere, and that snow gets very old, very fast. As a kid and even now, snow has always been one of those things that fascinated me because of how pure it seemed to look. Winter looked the complete opposite of summer, where everything was green, the trees were bushy and full of life, and everyone walked around in barely anything. During winter, everything was a nice fluff of white, the trees were bare and everyone was wrapped so tightly in coats that they’d have trouble putting their arms down. When I was younger and it snowed, I was the most ecstatic person in the world. I immediately wanted to go out and play, make snowmen and jump around, but when I looked at my family members’ faces, they were anything but impressed.
As I got older, my love for snow didn’t fade, but it turned into something else entirely, something more mature. I didn’t want to go out in the snow anymore and run and play, but I wanted to sit and watch as it fell across the streets, the sidewalk, the trees and even on people. One thing I always liked about the snow was that it made everything a clean slate. Cars would drive over streets enough to make tire tracks in the snow, but by the morning, it was reset like no car had ever touched the street. Another thing that I always liked about the snow in a city like New York was how everything seemed to quiet at night. Little to no cars were driving around, no one was walking around outside, and it was almost like the world was at a standstill, and the only thing that was moving was the snow softly hitting the ground.
I chose this picture because this photo represents everything I see when I see snow. Many people see snow as a cold inconvenience or a reason that they have to break out their shovel to dig out their car. I see snow the way this artist portrays it in the picture; a serene, calm wonderland of white that makes you feel at peace, but interested at the same time because you don’t know what’s out there when everything is covered in white. Snow is the one thing I can look at and think absolutely nothing about because all I have to do is look and admire. To me, this picture represents a new start, a clean state, or a new beginning, whether it be in work, in school or in life. It represents the fact that regardless of what has happened in the past, everyone can and deserves to have a clean slate to work on. They shouldn’t forget that the past is there under all the snow, but they can make something new out of what is given to them. To me, snow is a fresh start, something that everyone needs every once in a while… plus it’s also kind of fun to play with.
