Open Letter Text Assignment

Final Draft Final Letter

serg319

Dear Museum of Sex,

I recently visited your museum with a friend of mine and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The various interesting and vastly different exhibits really caught our attention as each one revealed new perspectives on embracing sexuality and how people portrayed doing so. After visiting the museum, I realized how educational it was in terms of sexuality: how it’s evolved over the years and different ways in which it can be embraced as well as the different lenses from which its viewed. The museum includes various floors that focus on specific aspects of sexuality such as The Sex Lives of Animals exhibit which shows how homosexuality is seen in all species of animals demonstrating that it is a natural and acceptable aspect of life, the NSFW: Female Gaze in which powerful feminine narratives are used to “reclaim and break out of women’s historical roles as muse and object” to reflect male perspective. These are just two of the few exhibits that provide insight into the taboo subject of sex and its various subtopics.

What stood out to me as I left the museum was they made sure my friend and I were 18 or older to get in. Although I understand the initial idea that anyone younger must be “protected” from a concept that society has decided is “too much” for anyone who isn’t 18 to see, I feel that the museum could actually be very beneficial to certain people under 18. Adolescence is one of the most confusing and difficult times for a human since they are just starting to explore their changing bodies and emerging sexualities. Schools nowadays don’t do the best jobs at educating students and even if they did, there are many groups of students that are left out of the health class conversation since curriculums are so cisgender and straight focused. Museum curator and now consultant Sarah Forbes acknowledged this in an interview with 6sqft where she said the following, “We are so inundated with sexual information and misinformation through popular culture. And really, there is a lack of real sexual education out there either from our young schooling days or even in college. With our exhibitions, we want them to appeal to a wide segment of the population. We are an 18+ institution, so this could mean someone who is not exposed to the subject matter at all or someone who has written a dissertation on the topic”. My question to her and the museum staff is, if you can see that sexual misinformation is so uncommon, why cut-off such an important and unique learning experience off from the teens that need it the most?

The Museum of Sex could be a valuable resource for adolescents in terms of educating them on sexuality and possibly giving them insight of their own sexuality. Teens who don’t have the resources or can’t utilize certain resources due to the risk of being in danger would benefit immensely from the exhibits. An LGBTQ+ teen who isn’t sure of sexuality, a girl who feels that society is placing men at the center of her sexuality, etc. By opening your doors to adolescents who can learn and grow from your museum, you could be helping to cultivate future generations that are more comfortable, positive, safe, and overall understanding of sexuality.

 

Sincerely,

Sergio Flores

Open Letter-FINAL DRAFT

anethnaranjo

Dear senior staff of MoMA,

My name is Aneth Naranjo and I’m currently a freshman at John Jay College. More than being a college student, I’m a Latina living in the United States. Living in this country, it’s difficult to find representation of my community in cultural institutions, especially in positions of authority within cultural institutions. In the recent years, institutions have been more aware and have made a bigger effort to diversify and integrate their staff so it’s representative of our culturally diverse country. It has come to my attention that your senior staff, and staff in general, are predominantly white. While I’m sure that each employee has earned their spot, I would also like to challenge you to build a more diverse staff. There are many museums that lack a diverse and integrated staff, but I picked this museum because MoMA because currently you’re very influential to to a very big and diverse audience. According to a report from the Themed Entertainment Index, in 2016, MoMA was the seventh most visited museum in North America with 2.8 million visitors. These visitors come from all different kinds of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. When you’re serving a wide and diverse audience like you are, it’s important to have a staff that is representative of your audience for several reasons.

Speaking from experience, being a person of color and seeing that almost everyone in an authoritative position is white is discouraging as a young kid. It feels like you can’t ever get there because you don’t look like the people in those positions. This is why a culturally diverse staff is important. We should want all kids, no matter their ethnic and cultural background, to aspire to be whatever they want. We shouldn’t set up barriers by not making an effort to diversify and integrate all staffs in all cultural institutions. We should lead by example and show all kids, especially kids of color, that they are free to aspire to be anything in life, like the director of a museum.

When you have a diverse staff, you are also able to serve your audience more effectively. There are certain experiences that people from certain backgrounds experience. If you have people in your staff that are able to connect with your audience about specific experiences then you will be able to display art that speaks to these experiences and your audience. People’s visit to the MoMA will become more personal and profound if they find something that speaks to their personal experiences. I can personally tell you that my favorite work of art at the MoMA is Frida Kahlo’s painting titled My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree). Apart from the reason that Frida Kahlo is an amazing artist, the reason why this is my favorite work of art at the MoMA is because I am able to connect with it. Her family resembles my family and I am able to see myself in her painting. I know that your staff works hard to display art that is able to connect to a diverse audience with all types of life experiences, and I think that you could do this more effectively if your staff was more diverse.

Thank You,

Aneth Naranjo

The National Archives

dannyfarran

To the National Archives of New York City,

I find great pleasure when I walk the halls of the Historic Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House in Bowling Green. The history that surrounds the building and the history kept within the building astonishes me. I believe it is the only place in New York City where you can walk in and come out with a copy of a New York Times article detailing Kafka’s death, court record, naturalization records, pictures of historical events, and even more. I feel at home in such a place being such a passionate fan of history. I think the best part of the Archives is that all the resources are provided free of charge. I have attempted to access databases and rarely are they free and as complete as the ones present at the Archives.

But I do find fault with the Archives and that is its difficult to locate. It shares a building with the National Museum of the American Indian. That specific portion of the building has a large banner plastered outside the building letting everyone who passes know what is there, however, the Archive’s own banner is much smaller. Additionally, a google search of the area surrounding the archives yields no results. The Archives is overshadowed by its neighbor and all the more iconic building in Manhattan. To find the Archive, one must be deliberately searching for it.  There are so many opportunities, resources, and activities at the National Archives. The community could make beneficial use of such, but to even gather information of the place becomes an onerous task. Why is that when one searches for the Natural History Museum the New York Historical Society appears but when one searches for the National Museum of the American Indian the only neighbor that appears is the Charging Bull?

The Website is fairly active and all the information one would need is present there. But how would one even know there is a website? I passed by the building who knows how many times without knowing that the National Archives were there. It was not until I went on a trip with my history teacher to the archives that I learned of its existence. Prior to that I, a history loving student, had no knowledge at all. I find this really unfortunate. Even after my first visit, I thought the Archives were closed to private use. It was not until after a few visits that I learned it was open to public. This information needs to be more public and more opportunities should be given to students to visit the location.

The best way to combat that would be a number of things. First, the banner must be improved so that both locations recieve equal publicity. I actually came across the National Museum of the American Indian due to their large banner and that is how I became aware of that museum. Another action that would help would be some kind of advertising campaign. It doesn’t have to be excessive with TV commercials and posters everywhere. Something as simple as having ambassadors travel to schools, colleges, and other community centers and discussing the resources available at the archives. Third, host events such as National History Day! Brings students to the location and educate them about the purpose of the Archives. During my times there I only saw the elderly making use of the location and even then their numbers were sparse. Any sort of work to increase awareness for the Archives would be beneficial!

 

With many thanks,

Danny Farran

Open Letter Final

Dylan Senkiw

Dear MoMA,

 

The Museum of Modern art is a fantastic cultural outlet. It brings up and coming art forms to the forefront and displays some of the best work. Although all of this art is being displayed for the public, one concern of mine is that it cannot be appreciated. The efforts to enhance our culture can be overlooked.

 

The MoMA does a good job at displaying lots of art; however, the modern and often abstract art displayed cannot be understood. Personally, I cannot understand, for example, a simple black rectangle. I don’t know why it has to be displayed in a selective museum that carefully curates each exhibit. I know that this is due to my naivety. An artist would not be praised for the mere simplicity of a rectangle. Any person can make the same outcome. Although I strive to understand, no matter how long I stare at the same piece of artwork I can only see so much. I will perhaps never fully understand certain artwork. Although artwork is to be interpreted, I cannot interpret a solid shape; that is all I see. I know this is not the artist’s fault, but at the same time I want to appreciate their works.

 

A resolution that I propose is a simple explanation, or discussion. Often times art pieces will have a short blurb, but this can be limited to the artist’s name, date and artwork name. Particularly abstract pieces need a more detailed breakdown. This explanation could consist of the artist’s mindset or reasoning when creating the piece. This is very easy to implement with the technology of the modern age. If museums do not want to have physical plaque, they can publish the information on a website or app. Essentially, this would be costless since most museums already have a website. With this knowledge, I would be able to appreciate the artwork and value. I would be admiring it for its meaning, not for the fact that it is displayed in a prestigious museum. This would open the museum to the common people, those who do not study art. The populous would be able to respect the artist and his or her work, rather than ignore, or even mock it.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dylan Senkiw

Open Letter to the new york hall of science

Maryam

New York Hall of Science,

Hello. I first stepped foot inside your walls when I was a little seedling in elementary school, and I have to admit, you were pretty cool—very cool actually. I went back a few years later and I found new things to be fascinated about. I haven’t gone back since, but my friend and I got to talking, and we’d like to take her sisters there. We haven’t visited in eternities, and the girls would have fun. Then I got to thinking, why haven’t I gone back since middle school? I don’t think I outgrew you, but more like you outgrew me. You outgrew my reach.

If we were to go, we’d be a pack of four. My friend and I are college students, so we’ve got college ID, and her sisters are on that 2-17 range. That’s already $52. I don’t work, but my parents do give me a bit of money as an allowance, let’s assume that I go, and only pay for myself. My friend works. She’s usually working Tuesdays, Fridays, and weekends, so she’s making a part time pay check, and she’s working every opportunity for free admission. After she pays for her bills out of her biweekly paycheck, she has about $100 to play around with until her next check. That’s 14 days to live on $7, 6 days of which she can’t spend any money at all, just to cover a $39 admission. And with the way your prices and schedule is set up, that is an unavoidable cost.

Both times I visited, I was driven, either in a school bus or by my parents. I don’t drive now, I don’t go have access to a free bus, and I’m not going to ask my parents, so I’ve got to take public transportation—so we’ve got to take public transportation. That’s another $5.50 for each of us. And since we can only go on a weekday (due to my friend’s work schedule) we wouldn’t need to cover fare for the girls. Because their school metrocards work Monday to Friday, we’d be covered for the days we could go. But this is basically another day Liya (my friend… it’s about time she got a name) would have to live in New York City without spending a dollar (not to be obvious, but that’s pretty difficult for a college student).

In addition to admission into the actual museum, the activities have price tags too. The Science Playground, Rocket Park Mini Golf, and the 3D theater are between $4 and $6. The costs keep adding up. Sure, we could get the movie theater ticket, or the all-inclusive tickets, but those are incredibly pricey too! It seems like there is no winning.

And who could forget? Dinner. There is no doubt in my mind that after even a few hours running around room after room of things you just can’t not touch, I’m sure I’d be hungry… and the girls too. And neither me, nor Liya will take the girls on a 2 hour commute if they are hungry. So, whether we’re eating at the food court, or going to a local stop, that’s undoubtedly $5-$10 at least for each of us. So basically another $30 for Liya to cough up, that’s in addition to $39 and $5.50. Liya has to budget two weeks into $25 if she wants to take the girls to a museum where they can be for 2 hours sandwiched between a 4 hour commute, and a 30 minute meal that will cost her $75. And sure, we could save up, but events and exhibits are constantly changing. By the time we’ve got enough money for a day, we might not be seeing what might’ve been in tune with the girl’s interests two weeks ago.

I’m not saying down with admission, or more free days, or free food, or free buses. Although the last two would be particularly nice, I don’t expect them. I’m expecting though, that you rethink the first two. Everyone understands it costs money to maintain institutions such as the New York Hall of Science. But if you’re able to have some kind of college student discount, I’m sure you could make it even more generous, or at least have occasional promotions. Maybe even send vouchers to middle schools? Something. Also, why not add free hours to a weekday, instead of two free on weekends? Perhaps a Tuesday 2pm-5pm slot?

Regardless of what you decide, you’ll be a cool place. But there are bunches and bunches of kids across the city who haven’t experienced your coolness, and will inadvertently outgrow you. Give them a chance to experience science. Give Liya’s sisters a chance to experience science. The only reason we decided to take them, was a mutual epiphany. We had to work harder for girls to be in STEM, and we had the chance right there to do it. Obviously taking them to a museum one day, isn’t enough, but just planting the seeds can be enough. Help us water the garden.

 

Maryam Salmanova