Visiting the Brooklyn Museum

Macaulay’s Night at the Museum was an experience unlike any other. This was my second visit to the Brooklyn Museum, the first being with my high school senior class. The latter trip was much more knowledgeable or more enriching than the former.

Visiting a museum is supposed to enlighten oneself. This is never the case for high school students, or students overall in that matter. A visit to the museum is just a time to get out of the classroom, hang out with friends, without many of the constraints placed upon them by their instructors. A school trip to the museum entails a more cursory glance at the art pieces, stopping at one for a couple of minutes, and simply “oooing” and “ahhing” at the pieces, without understanding, or trying to understand the piece.  Simply put, no one really cares about the pieces in front them.

This was not so at Night at the Museum. The over 500 Macaulay students that gathered at the Museum were there with a purpose: to thoroughly examine any piece of art they liked and discuss it. With  specific goal, I along with my group went on a hunt for pieces of art that peaked our interest. In this way, our eyes opened to the art in front of us, making us really look at what was in front of us. After thorough examination of three pieces of art we liked, we got into an intense analyses of the art, sometimes even digging into the artist’s intent in painting the work. Looking around, I could see everyone else doing the same. This was something that I had never experienced before.