Night at the Museum Blog Post

Having been to the Brooklyn Museum before on a few occasions with my family, I wasn’t sure what to expect going there with my friends and the entire freshman Macaulay community. I was surprised to find it an enriching experience, even though it was difficult at time to stay entirely focused on our assignment.

Both of my parents are very worldly and moved to New York to partake in the various cultural experiences it has to offer. They’ve raised me to appreciate my access to this cultural diversity by exposing me to different events, museums, exhibitions, music, and foods. Going to the Brooklyn Museum with my peers and discussing my appreciation of art was a great opportunity as it not only allowed me express my interpretations on art and cultural, but it gave me the chance to hear others’ insight on the artwork in the museum, and how others interpret art and culture in general.

The “Night at the Museum” was a very different experience from the times I had been to the Brooklyn Museum, or any other museum, before with my parents. Discussing, or even simply viewing, artwork with people my own age found me comparing and contrasting my opinions on art with others’. How I interpreted a painting of Cairo painted by an American artist was different from how my group-mates did. I found our speculation about the purpose of the painting to be really interesting. We each had something different to offer to our combined effort to understand the artist’s meaning. It was also interesting, and funny, to hear conversations other groups were having about artwork they were viewing. Sometimes my group would comment amongst ourselves about what they were saying.

It was obvious at times that our group dynamic led us to quirky conversation about the art. However, I felt that this was as important as our more “academically-inclined” discussion because it showed some of our true feelings about the artwork in the museum and our personal definitions of art. Since we were in the museum alone without adult oversight, I think we all felt more comfortable speaking our mind, even if we just didn’t like a work, an artist, or art in general.