NYC Blog 1- The Met/ Indian Museum

Oxbow Painting by Thomas Cole

I have not posted a blog in a few days because for once the professors are giving us a break! The whole time we are in New York City we only have to do three blogs! I think this is a pretty good deal doing only 3 blogs out of 7 days. I have gotten so sick of blogs I am happy to have this break. The first stop of the day was the Metropolitan Museum or the Met. To get there we had to take the subway. I am sure you all know this by now, but I want to take the time to talk about how obsessed I am with the subway. It amazes me because it is like its own little world under the world and the tile art is so beautiful. You can really tell that the people building and designing the subway were trying to impress the public. Each stop has something different on the walls so you never know what to expect. Another aspect that impresses me is the graffiti on the tunnels throughout the subway. How did those people get down there to do that to the walls? I mean the trains are constantly running. At some stops there are even stores and shopping centers attached. I mean if people can have stores and huge transportation systems underground why couldn't they live underground. What if we stop trying to go to mars and start to use more of the earth. I know this idea seems crazy but it could always be a possibility. Obviously there would be many things to think about like ecosystems and other environmental issues but I am really surprised people have not given much thought to this idea. After we traveled on the subway we then had to take a bus to our destination, the Met. I thought this place was huge! It was definitely the biggest museum I have ever been in. Our assignment was to explore the American Wing which was really tricky to get to. After getting lost Precious and Michelle had to come to where I was and help me because I had no idea how to navigate my way through that building. In the museum the professors asked us to search for certain objects that relate to what we have seen and done before. It is nice seeing these objects again and relating them but I really wanted to see new things so I finished the American wing as soon as I could so I could wander off. One of our tasks was to find the Oxbow painting that was donated to the Met by Mrs. Russell Sage. This painting was done by Thomas Cole and this picture was one of my favorite to find because it stuck out to me. I loved the beauty and it looked a lot better in person then in the classroom on the power point screen. I also liked the fact that it was given to the museum by Mrs. Sage. It was nice to see this painting because weeks earlier we were able to see Thomas Cole's house and learn about the Hudson river school. 

Office Board Painting

There were so many things in the museum that stood out to me. This painting above was really cool because the papers and wrappers in the painting seem like they are actually there and you can touch them, however, this is really just a painting. I was so tempted to tough the painting to make sure, but there was a guard standing near me at the time and I didn't want to harm the painting from the oils on my skin. This was painted by John F. Peto and many of the objects in the painting contained clues to the identity of the original owner. The envelope and post card is addressed to Dr. Bernard Goldberg who was a chiropodist and a neighbor of Peto's in Philadelphia. I thought this made the painting even more personal to the artist. 

Clarinet Display

The last exhibit that I enjoyed was the musical instruments exhibit because I played clarinet in high school and was part of my school band. I participated in almost every activity the band offered.  I learned that in 1700 Johann Christoph Denner invented the clarinet. He was a well known instrument maker and musician in Nuremburg. In about 1760 the clarinet was included in the classical orchestra. In the 19th and 20th century the clarinet the clarinet spread to all forms of music.

Iron Industry and the Native Americans

Next we went to the Native American Museum. This was a little disappointing because the exhibits were so small, I was done looking in about a half hour. One thing I found fascinating was how the Native Americans played an important role in iron and Building railroads. In the early 1900s Mohawks became well known in the iron industry. The would travel from upstate New York to Canada to find sites to work on. It is the Mohawk men that are responsible for working on New York's major projects such as; the George Washington Bridge, the Empire State Building, and the World Trade Center. This was really cool to see because a building such as the Empire State Building which I saw the other day on the architecture walk was built by these natives. Also this just shows that the iron industry was a growing industry throughout the area not just in Troy. A few weeks ago we were able to visit the Burden Iron Works Museum and the information given to us made it seem like Troy was the only place successful in this business in this time period. 

Corn Husk Dolls

Another part of the Museum I liked was the corn husk dolls because of the story. The story is one women was extremely beautiful and she took advantage of it. All the woman would do is look at her reflection in a pond because there were not any mirrors in that time period. When it came to work such as cleaning, harvesting or cooking dinner she was nowhere to be found but she was always the one to eat first. Then one day the creator lectured her on how she has misused her beauty so he took her face and hide it. This is why the corn husk doll does not have a face. This story just shows how the natives passed down this and many stories from generation to generation. Story telling was a huge part of their culture because not much was documented during this time period. After this stop we all rushed back to the dorm to get ready for the Alumni dinner and rush back. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and sat in the patio section of the restaurant. I thought the plants and fountain were pretty but when I looked up I did not like the view of the skyscraper. I think this is because I grew up in the country and prefer the view of the clouds and the stars. I really liked being able to talk to others who went to sage and hearing their stories. I like to know how sage was different back then. Like usual it was a very long day and I was so tired. I think at the end of this program I will sleep for weeks straight.