If I am being honest, I never really had any interest in art before coming to college. I could appreciate the talent it took to produce those types of creative masterpieces, but I could never see myself willingly taking time out of my day to stand around and try to interpret different pieces in a museum. Living right outside of Manhattan, I have had access to some of the most famous art museums my entire life and yet I had only ever been to the MET on a school trip and was more concerned with living out my inner Gossip Girl fantasies than looking at the art. Then, I came to UD and became best friends and roommates with an Art Conservation major and began to see paintings and sculptures a little differently.
My roommate can shoot off artists, eras, masterpieces, flops, and underrated pieces easier than she can order off a menu at a restaurant. Her entire world is art; she sees mundane things and compares them to a work from a time period so far in the past we would struggle to trace our family lines back to all while passionately explaining all the colors and images swirling in her mind. After living with her for two years, I decided to try and see what she sees. After all, she had adopted sports and romance novels into her life on an account of me, so I figured it was time for me to embrace her passion and try to actually have a conversation with her next time she ranted about Baroque art instead of just nodding along with her arguments.
This spring break, I enlisted my sister to get on the ferry with me and head over to the Museum of Modern Art. My sister, her brain all science, was reluctant at first but once I promised we could head over to Tony’s Di Napoli for dinner afterward, she conceded. My roommate was texting me the entire boat ride, demanding that I send her pictures and keep her updated as I moved from exhibit to exhibit. Since she lives in Pittsburg, a solid six hours away, she was spending time with her family and had to live vicariously through me for the day. Once my sister and I arrived, we went through the museum slowly and carefully, making sure to take in all the pieces on display, pose for artsy photos with the ones we liked the most, and even participated in the interactive parts of the museum. Now, I am not going to act like I was able to stare at some of these paintings and sculptures and understand what they were trying to portray. For example, there was an entire section of the museum that just had solid colors framed on the walls. It was exhibits like that one that had me doubting this whole “art” thing. However, despite those moments, there were other exhibits that were marvelous and had me so captivated that my sister had to remind me to step away from the piece and move on.
While my time at the MoMA did not transform me into an art-loving fanatic that was ready to switch majors, the experience was such a joy that I cannot wait to go back with my roommate this summer. As a person who shies away from change and finds it hard to be open-minded at times, the MoMA really encouraged me to try new things and get out of my history and English bubble every now and then. As an intellectual, it is so important to be willing to study different areas and subjects to truly broaden our minds and turn us into inquisitive, constructive, and well-rounded individuals. Heading to the MoMA added a new dimension to both Manhattan and my brain that I had been reluctant to explore before, and am now very happy I decided to pursue.
